Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 85484 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85484 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
“Yeah.” She glances at Jess. “Your brother broke my sister’s heart so completely that I will never, ever forgive him.”
Jess shrugs. “Hey, you’re not going to hear an argument from me. The little shit does stuff all the time that I find unforgivable.”
“Like what?” I ask.
“Well, like the fact that I’ve spent the past two fucking weeks finding stickers with his face on them stuck to everything in my house.”
My jaw drops. “You’re kidding?”
“Nope. He ordered one thousand of them and broke in and plastered them on every surface. Cups, the floor, condoms—my toothbrush. They’re in the bottom of my shoes. I went to use my debit card the other day, and there he was.”
“You should kill him,” Kerissa says. “Do the world a favor.”
Jess looks down at his phone and laughs. “Speaking of the devil, I need to go. He picked me up from a job site, and I rode over here with him. He’s ready to leave—he even paid our tab—and if I don’t go out there now, the fucker will leave me.”
His gaze lands on mine once again. It’s like being held—a contactless form of support that I’ve rarely found in the world.
It’s probably because I’ve known him for a long time.
“It was good to see you, Jess,” I say.
He pushes away from the table and says goodbye to Kerissa. Then he walks over to me.
My heart thumps as he bends, lowering his lips to my ear. “Pip?”
I hum, staring straight ahead and trying to ignore the heat of his breath on my skin.
“I’ll let you call me daddy if you want,” he whispers.
A surprised laugh sputters from me as I turn to swat at him. He laughs, darting out of the way before my hand contacts his shoulder.
“Bye,” he says, walking backward.
“Bye.”
He gives me a little wave, then turns, opens the door, and leaves.
“What the hell was that?” Kerissa asks.
I stare at the door and grin.
That was trouble if I don’t watch it.
Sexy, dirty, six-foot-three trouble all wrapped up in a sinful package.
3
JESS
“Imagine the worst thing in the world that could happen to you.”
My youngest brother, Banks, closes his eyes. He rests the back of his head on my couch, his forehead wrinkling as if he’s deep in thought—something I’m certain he’s incapable of, but whatever.
“Okay,” he says. “Got it.”
“That’s how I feel when I think about letting you move in.”
His eyes pop open, and his jaw hits the floor. “That’s … really hurtful, Jess.”
“Oh, please.”
He grabs the remote off the coffee table and turns down the volume on the television.
I never should’ve let him in my house tonight. I knew better. But my mind was on Pippa as I climbed out of the truck, and my defenses were down just enough to leave me vulnerable.
It’s as if Banks senses my weakness. I swear the guy could be across the planet and still know when there’s an opening for him to manipulate. I don’t get it. I’m also kind of jealous of his abilities, but I have no idea how he does it.
“You act like you don’t even like me,” he says from across the living room. Moonlight streams through the window beside him.
“I do?” I hum, bringing a beer bottle to my lips. “That’s interesting.”
“You like me,” he says as if he’s trying to convince both of us. “I’ll even go out on a limb and say we’ve bonded over the past couple of weeks—really cementing our new two-man wolf pack—”
I choke on my drink, spraying bits of alcohol through the air like tiny pieces of surprise confetti.
“What?” Banks turns his palms toward the ceiling innocently. “What did I say?”
“Did you just say our two-man wolf pack?” I clear my throat, blinking back tears. “Is that what I heard?”
“Yeah. That’s what we are now, right? I mean, Moss has a girlfriend. Maddox got married last week,” he says, rolling his eyes. “So it’s just you and me now. Well, there’s Foxx, but he’s not the wolf-pack type. He’s more … lone, possibly rabid wolf.”
I stare at him. What would it be like to be in his head? Is it lonely in there? Can he hear gears grinding when he thinks too hard?
I stretch out in my recliner, my feet dangling off the edge.
My body aches from a long day of tearing down drywall. My head hurts from an afternoon spent with Banks. Worst of all, my stomach is all tied up after seeing Pippa Plum.
That woman has been my crush since I was fourteen years old. One day, she was Greg’s little sister. The next, she walked into the gym early on a Saturday morning, and everything was different. Her legs were longer in her black workout pants. A yellow top hugged curves that I’d never noticed before. The hidden layer of mischief in her grin didn’t feel childish anymore. It was curious. Secretive. Hot.