Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
“What?” Reese grabbed the phone.
Lucas turned a little sheepish but hid it fairly well. “It’s complicated.”
“No, it’s not,” Reese said. “Because that’s an option. You can list yourself as complicated with someone on Facebook, but this just says—as of fuckin’ yesterday—that you’re in a relationship with a Colt Carter.”
I withheld my snickering, because I didn’t want the show to end. Hell, make me some popcorn, please!
“An airman?” Greer looked a little grossed out. “Aim higher, Lucas. You can do so much better.”
This was too funny! And if this was the banter they shared, I so wanted to belong.
“Oh, knock it off,” Lucas said. “It’s complicated because he’s been on deployment. We met in Richmond before the summer—twenty-four freaking hours, and I can’t get him out of my head. And apparently, he can’t stop thinking about me either, so we decided to go for it.”
Aw, that was sweet!
“You’ve been stressin’ about somethin’ this week,” River noted.
Lucas scoffed and folded his arms over his chest. “I’m learning that’s what happens when you worry about someone overseas. He’s going to give me gray hair before he comes home next spring.”
“Is he a Little?” Greer furrowed his brow.
Lucas cleared his throat. “Uh, no. He’s an arrogant, loud, dominant, and sadistic pilot from Texas. He drives me crazy already.”
“I’ll be damned.” Greer smiled. “What kind of pilot?”
“I have a better question.” Reese walked over to him, with a big smile on his face too, and threw an arm around Lucas’s shoulders. “Does he make you beg, West?”
I pinched my lips together as Lucas pushed Reese off him.
“Fuck me, he does,” Reese laughed. “This is serious. Oh man, I can’t wait to meet this guy.”
I couldn’t wait to be part of this. I fucking couldn’t. They had to let me join them.
ONE BY ONE ONLINE
You are now friends with Greer Finlay
I was one step closer.
This was going to work. Lucas and Reese might worry about my workload, but they liked me. Greer was on my side too.
I grinned to myself and returned to working on my presentation. My kitchen was my classroom, and I was going to impress everyone with my fried shrimp with chipotle aioli and black bao sliders.
CHAPTER 9
That following March
Colt Carter
“…and in the end, we couldn’t say no,” Luke said, turning onto the dirt road. “Macklin was in, Lucian was in, and then Penelope followed after Reese flew into a fit of rage about paperwork. He literally came out of the house and kicked a stack of documents—like a football—and papers flew everywhere while he cursed about rezoning and liquor permits.”
That sounded like something I could do too. Fucking red tape.
“But this Penelope chick—she knows all about that?” I guessed.
“Pretty much. She works in city planning,” he said. “She’s very funny. The dynamic between her and Lucian will crack you up. He can be somewhat reserved—but always nice,” he added. “And then she came along as his ball-busting sister.”
I knew a thing or two about the annoying effects of baby sisters.
All right, then. I was up to speed, I was fairly sure.
Maybe I was a teensy bit nervous to meet his friends, but I couldn’t say I was worried. I just wanted to make a good impression and fit in. I mean, the idea was fantastic. To run a community from an actual physical location—what a luxury.
The house came into view soon enough, and I leaned forward in my seat.
Fucking hell, this was gonna be good. The place was bigger than I’d anticipated.
“I thought you said it had peelin’ off yellow and green paint,” I said.
“It used to. When Reese and River first got the keys, every previous shade was seemingly peeling off the walls. It’s been yellow, pastel green, and light blue, as far as we know. But now…” He smiled to himself and pulled in next to a truck.
Now the house was black, and the outside appeared to be finished.
I remembered Luke had told me they’d started replacing rotten boards earlier this year, but I didn’t know they were done.
Made sense, though. Finish the exterior so the inside was protected from leaks and weather damage.
I unbuckled my seat belt and climbed out of the car, and I took a deep breath.
Yeah, I could see this in my future. We hadn’t worked out the logistics yet, and I wanted to be closer to Luke than Langley, but…we’d make it work. I did get time off, and I could picture us spending a lot of time working on this place together.
“We haven’t painted the shutters yet—or that, uh…the…the panels that go around,” Luke pointed out. “We’re gonna replace all the windows first, and that’s evidently not cheap.”
I smirked at my dork. “Do you mean the framing and the casing?”
He shot me a look. “I’m sorry I’m not fluent in carpenter.”
I laughed and pulled him to me, and I smooched his temple. “Don’t worry, darlin’. You have me now, and I clearly know everythin’.”