Reed blinked. “Follow through on what?”

“I told Darcy I’d help her with this self-defense thing at her school.” AJ’s expression darkened. “You heard about that kid who was attacked in Dorchester at the beginning of the summer, right? The ten-year-old who was jumped by a group of teenagers for his allowance money?”

Reed nodded. He’d seen it on the news, and he’d been overcome with anger when he’d found out what those older boys had done to the poor kid.

“Well, that boy went to Darcy’s school,” AJ said grimly. “I don’t think he was in any of her classes, but she knew who he was, and she was so damn upset when she heard what happened. I was over at her place a few days later and we came up with this idea to run a self-defense workshop for her eighth-graders. The school barely has enough money to keep the extracurricular activities going, so I offered to come in for free and go over some of the basics with the kids.” AJ let out a breath. “I feel like a jackass for backing out, but I figured maybe you could take my place. The workshop is scheduled for the first week of school. Next Wednesday, I think.”

Reluctance rose inside him, not because he didn’t want to help out, but because agreeing to do so meant putting himself in close proximity to Darcy again. “Oh. I’m not sure if, uh…”

AJ frowned at him. “It’s only a few hours of your time, man. One hour after school for three days. And the club doesn’t open until seven, so it won’t interfere with work.”

One hour a day for three days? That was three hours. Three hours in Darcy’s company, three hours of looking at her gorgeous face, three hours of fighting the urge to taste those sweet lips again.

God. He’d never survive it.

But what kind of heartless jerk said no to teaching a bunch of kids how to stay safe? Darcy taught at a public school in a low income, high crime area, where most of the students walked to and from school, crossing through some of the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods. Knowing self-defense was imperative for those kids, and the fact that AJ and Darcy had come up with a plan to make that happen only confirmed what Reed had already known: the two of them were goddamn saints.

He stifled a sigh. Clearly this was a damned-if-he-did, damned-if-he-didn’t situation.

“Sure,” Reed said with nod. “I’d be happy to help out.”

AJ looked pleased. “Thanks, man. Do you mind contacting Darcy to tell her about the switch? I can forward you her number right now.”

Reed tried not to choke on the guilt as AJ picked up his phone and swiped his finger across the screen.

Damn it, what was the matter with him? The whole point of meeting AJ tonight had been to confess the truth, and instead, he’d agreed to place himself directly in the path of temptation again.

It was becoming glaringly obvious that he was a glutton for punishment. That seemed to be the only justification for all the screwed up decisions he was making lately.

Though if there was another explanation, he sure as hell would love to hear it.

…

Girls’ night was always a fun affair, but tonight, it was also a life preserver. Or maybe sanity preserver was a more accurate description. Ever since her thrilling, incredible, immoral encounter with Reed, Darcy had been caught up in a never-ending freak-out session, and she was in dire need of a distraction.

Since that night, she’d felt like she’d boarded a seesaw, alternating between bone-deep shame and uncontrollable longing. She’d almost called him a gazillion times demanding they do it again, except this time without a stitch of clothing acting as a barrier between them.

God, just thinking about him naked, imagining all those sculpted muscles pressed up against her, his powerful body crushing hers as his c**k pumped inside her…it was enough to send a spike of desire straight into her core.

And, apparently, it was enough to bring her to countless self-induced orgasms, which she’d done frequently this week.

But whenever the urge to reach for her phone arose, she swiftly reminded herself that seeing Reed was not an option. Her breakup with AJ wasn’t even a week old, and even if the two men weren’t best friends, Reed Miller was the last candidate she’d consider for a relationship.

You could always take him for a fling, a naughty voice pointed out.

She immediately silenced the thought. Nope, couldn’t do that, either.

Oh, and had she mentioned that Reed was AJ’s best friend? What she and Reed had done was so wrong it ought to be illegal. What kind of woman threw herself at her ex-boyfriend’s best friend like that?

And great, now she was slut shaming herself. Fun times.

“She’s not paying attention to us.”

The dry observation came from her friend Shannon, who taught art at Darcy’s school. Since nearly half the teaching staff at Jefferson Middle School were in their mid to late twenties, Darcy was friends with most of her fellow teachers, and often hung out with them out of school hours. Tonight, though, only Shannon and Jayani had shown up to the Italian bistro where their weekly girls’ night usually took place. It was Labor Day weekend, so everyone else was either busy or out of town.

Skyler Thompson, Gage’s girlfriend, rounded out their little group. Darcy had hit it off with the younger woman from the moment they’d met, but the pretty brunette’s presence tonight only reminded Darcy of Sin, which in turn reminded her of AJ, and from there, it didn’t take long before her thoughts drifted right back to Reed.