 by Kaylee Ryan.jpg)
Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 85270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Overhearing my cousin’s best friend confessing that she’s never been satisfied wasn’t my fault… but offering to help her change that definitely was. Her brother is a friend of mine, and while this has a bad idea written all over it, it doesn’t stop us from becoming friends… with benefits.
Palmer is gorgeous, off-limits, and stubborn as hell. For the first time, I’m the one left wanting more.
I’m tired of watching her walk away. I’m ready for her to stay.
Palmer
I never dreamed having my crush overhear my most embarrassing confession would land me in his bed… or that I would want to stay there.
But our secret relationship has rules. No strings. No expectations. No feelings. What’s that saying about rules? Oh yeah, they’re meant to be broken.
But when it comes to Brooks, I’m afraid if I’m not the one to walk away, it won’t be just the rules broken.
FULL BOOK START HERE:
CHAPTER
ONE
Brooks
I’m standing in the back of the room, watching as my little cousin smiles up at her future husband. I admit that Deacon and Ramsey together is not something I would have predicted. He’s ten years older than her. The same age as Orrin, and Ramsey, she lands in the middle of Archer and Ryder. I never saw it coming, but to see the two of them together, no one questions the love they have for each another.
The crowd, and by the crowd, I mean most of my brothers, chant for them to kiss as they stare lovingly into one another’s eyes. Deacon wraps his arms around her, pulling her into his chest, and drops his lips to hers. The moment is so intimate I have to look away, feeling as though I need to give them privacy.
My eyes land on Palmer, and the smile that lights up her face as she watches her brother and her best friend kiss can only be described as pure joy. She radiates happiness for them, and I’m sure there’s a little bit of pride there as well. She’s the one who got them together, and I’ve heard her boast about it many times. Even though she brags about setting all of this in motion, she can’t hide her happiness for the couple.
“When I get married, I’m not doing any of this engagement party shit,” Maverick, one of the twins and the babies in the family, says, stepping up beside me.
I huff out a laugh. “Trust me, my man, when you feel like that”—I point to where Deacon stands with his arm around Ramsey’s waist, holding her close to him while they talk to his parents—“about someone, there likely isn’t much you wouldn’t agree to.”
“How would you know?” my little brother challenges.
He and his twin, Merrick, just turned nineteen, and they have so much to learn. “Call it a hunch,” I tell him.
He’s quiet for a few minutes, and when he speaks again, his words surprise me. “You ever been in love, Brooks?” His voice is softer than it was previously.
“Love like that?” I point to our cousin and her fiancé. “No. There has never been anyone to hold my interest long enough.” It’s true. I’ve dated here and there but never anything or anyone serious. Not because I’m against the act of falling ass over heels in love. It’s the opposite, in fact. I grew up watching my parents and the love they have for one another. I’ll never settle for anything less than what they have.
“Dad’s always preaching about working hard and loving harder, yet all of us are still single. I mean, Merrick and me, we’re the babies, but the rest of you, well, except for Orrin, are still single.”
“Love takes time, kid,” I tell him.
I feel a slight punch to my arm and grin. He and Merrick both hate it when we call them kids. “It took Orrin thirty-two years to find the one, and Deacon too. They’re the same age. But they found it. We will too. Besides, you’re too young to be thinking about settling down.”
“I’m not. Not really. I just… you know, these things make you think, and the way Orrin fell so fast for Jade, I was just curious if it would be like that for the rest of us.”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I think that sometimes it’s fast and others it’s like a slow build. There is no timeline you have to follow.”
“Yeah,” he agrees as Rushton, the middle brother of the nine, joins us.
“What are you two talking about all serious?” His eyes bounce from me to Maverick.
“Mav was just telling me that when he gets married, he’s omitting the engagement party,” I tell him.
Rushton nods. “You might be on to something, little brother.”
After draining the last of my beer, I hold up the empty bottle. “I’m grabbing another. You want one?” I ask Rushton.