Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56256 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56256 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Anya walks into the dining room and the wind is knocked out of me.
Holy fuck.
I haven’t seen her since her freshman year of high school and wow how she’s grown up. She’s a knockout.
The tight shirt and jeans she’s wearing show off her body, which up until right now I never would’ve noticed. But now I’m noticing, and I can’t pull my eyes away.
She’s always been pretty, but she’s gorgeous now. Her big green eyes, full lips, and long brown hair, somehow seem matured, in the best possible way.
I stand up as she makes eye contact with me. “Anya, you’ve grown up,” I say, wrapping her in a hug that is a little too tight and lasts a little too long.
“Hey, Griffin,” she replies, almost like she’s out of breath.
I force myself to let go of her, which is harder than it should be. My eyes run up and down her, which I swear causes her a chill. “How’s school?”
“It’s great. Couldn’t love being away from all these boys more,” she says, laughing as her brothers join us.
“Please, you miss us,” Brock says, wrapping his arm around her.
I can’t keep my eyes off her. It’s impossible.
Even as we sit down for dinner, I can’t help but constantly glance in her direction. I may even have laughed a little too hard at something she said, causing everyone to look at me. I played it off by coughing, but it was embarrassing.
“Mom, this meal is outstanding as always,” Callum says.
“Truly, thank you again for having me,” I say.
Carol smiles, waving my comment away. “You’re always welcome, Griffin, you know that. No thanks needed.”
“Boys, clear the table since your mother did all the cooking,” Don says, grabbing a few plates.
All the Atwood boys and myself, get up and clear everything off the table.
Carol and Anya continue to sit at the table laughing as they talk. I don’t even realize I’m staring until Callum slaps my shoulder.
“Griff, you good?”
I try to act unaffected as I look at him. “Never better. Can’t stop thinking about the brewery.”
He puts his arm around me and leads me into the living room, away from everyone. He sighs. “You sure about that? It seemed more like you couldn’t stop thinking of Anya.”
“What? No, come on. No, absolutely not,” I say, tripping over my own words.
He lifts an eyebrow as he shakes his head. “You can date anyone you want, Griff. I’m always supportive. But my baby sister is off-limits. Starting this brewery, you’re like family now. You get that, right?”
It feels like a knife to my chest, but I’ll never admit it to anyone. It’s just another secret I’ll keep buried inside. “Of course, man. I would never cross that line.”
He smiles and steps back out of my personal space. “Good.”
But I don’t feel good. In fact, I feel very, very bad.
Chapter 1
Anya
Present Day
Four Years Later
It’s surreal being back from college and staying with my parents again. I flop onto my old bed, breathing in a deep breath. When I graduated college I had every plan in the world to go out on my own and make something of myself.
Interior design just wasn’t for me, and it’s why I changed my degree to business. Mainly Hospitality business, and I dream of the day I can be a part of Atta Boy Brewery and Restaurant.
I’ve been back for nearly five months now, and getting Callum to let me work at the brewery has been hard. He dismisses my ideas. Like they’re nothing. He won’t even listen to me when I tell him the back room of the restaurant isn’t being utilized to its full potential.
Callum’s always been sort of bossy. Especially to me. Maybe it’s because he’s the oldest, he feels he has the right to boss around the other Atwood siblings. Shepherd and Paxton are older than me, but don’t treat me like I’m at their beck and call. However, Callum acts like a second father, always butting into my personal life, my professional life, just my life in general all the time.
It pisses me off. But when I evaluated the brewery on my own, I saw all this chance for future revenue potential. Private parties are a huge market. That room is just sitting there, empty. Not completely empty, it’s got all the junk the boys toss in there when they can’t be bothered to find a proper home for the stuff.
“Dinner’s almost ready,” my mother’s voice rings from downstairs, and I put on a bright pink lip gloss, fluff my brown curls in the mirror, and head downstairs.
Callum stops me at the bottom step. “Fine,” he says in a gruff voice.
“Fine what?”
“Fine, I’m giving you six months to increase revenue with your private parties idea. You’ll work hand-in-hand with Griffin. He knows, and he’s ready to design menus for the parties.”