Free Sweet Sunshine by Jessica Prince

one I figured I didn’t want to. “We took some pictures to upload to a couple dating websites,” she answered casually, as if it were no big deal.
    “Dating websites?” Noah and I spoke at the same time. “Woman, do you have any idea how dangerous those can be?” He asked in outrage, voicing the exact thoughts that were suddenly racing through my head. “There are rapists and murderers on those sites! Have you lost your mind?”
    “Oh come on!” Harlow scoffed with a roll of her eyes. “It’s 2016, online dating is how most couples now-a-days meet. You’re being ridiculous.”
    I didn’t bother hanging around to listen to her defend such a fucking terrible idea. Instead, I stormed back into the house to find Chloe standing at the kitchen island pouring some light green, slush concoction into her glass.
    “Are you crazy?” I spat, earning a startled yelp from her.
    “Jeez, Derrick, you made me spill my margarita.” Grabbing a napkin, she began dabbing at her top, drawing my attention to the way it hugged her tits. It was at that very moment that I noticed, for the first time, just how curvy she was. Usually her clothes hid her body, obscuring her figure to the point a man’s imagination didn’t really have anything to go on. But the shirt she was wearing just then showcased breasts that had to have been a generous c-cup, at the least, and the way it flowed against her body, moving with her curves instead of masking them, showed she had a nice, tiny waist with generous hips a man could grab onto and…
    Son of a bitch ! I clenched my eyes closed and gave my head a shake. I could not get hard over Chloe, for fuck’s sake. She was off limits. Off. Limits.
    Online dating?” I asked, pushing the unexpected twitching behind my fly from the back of my mind and focusing on the issue at hand. “Do you want to get murdered and buried in the woods? ‘Cause that could happen, Chloe.” Yes, I was well aware I sounded completely ludicrous, but it happened! Right? I mean, there was that Craigslist Killer guy. And I’m sure if I looked it up, I could find more.
    The sound of Chloe’s tinkling laughter cut through my mind as I inventoried all the serial killers I knew about, trying to come up with irrefutable proof of just how bad an idea online dating was. Damn, she really did have a fantastic laugh.
    “You’re crazy,” she giggled. “Everyone online dates.”
    “Yeah! If they want to be decapitated and dumped down by the river!” I crossed my arms over my chest and leveled her with a look that normally made Eliza squirm. “You’re not doing it. That’s final. I’m your friend and I want you to live a full, healthy life, preferably with all your body parts still attached.” Don’t ask me why I was being so irrational over the thought of Chloe meeting a guy or… God forbid, guy s online. I didn’t have the answer to that, all I knew was I couldn’t have stopped my mouth from running in that moment if I’d tried.
    “You watch way too much Criminal Minds , Derrick, you know that? Nothing’s going to happen. It’s not like I’d accept an invitation to meet a guy in a dark, secluded basement or something. It would be in a very public setting, at least at first, anyway, until I got comfortable around the guy.”
    That statement made the hairs on my arms stand on end. “Not happening,” I said with finality.
    Her face scrunched up adorably as she glared at me, challenge flashing in her green eyes like fire. “Is that right?” she asked with deceptive calm, mimicking my stance, her arms folding over that ample chest.
    “Damn straight it is.” A slow smile stretched across her mouth, and I should have been scared, I should have heeded the warning that look gave me. Unfortunately, I was a man, therefore stupid to most things when it came to the opposite sex until it was too late.
    “Harlow!” Chloe shouted. Yep, it was too late.
    “What?” she asked, stepping through the door with Noah on her