Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 157273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
The door burst open, and Uncle Jared—Dad’s brother—rushed in. “We’re ready for the ice in the cool . . . What’s going on?” Couldn’t help but notice he had a similarly bedazzled shirt that read Carnival Operator. God help me if they had one around here with my name on it.
“Hudson here was just telling us that his girlfriend, one Alessandra Rousseau, will be joining us,” Gavin answered, clearly enjoying himself.
Uncle Jared blinked, then laughed boisterously as he crossed the room. “Good one, Hudson. And here I was thinking Gavin was the prankster.”
Knock. Knock.
Everyone turned at the faint sound on the screen door, and Gavin pivoted quickly to open it. “Speak of the devil. Welcome to our private little hell.”
Allie walked through the door, and my pulse skyrocketed.
Her long, incredible legs were on full display in a pair of thigh-length khaki shorts that held my attention for a heartbeat too long to be considered platonic. She’d rolled the sleeves of her white button-up shirt, and her hair fell in soft waves to just above her breasts. What would it look like finally spread out on my pillow, tangled in my hands?
I blinked those thoughts straight out of my head.
Yeah, there was nothing fake about how much I wanted her. I’d never stopped thinking about her, missing her, wishing we’d had our shot at something beyond the friendship we’d both hidden our feelings behind. But I remembered . . . and she didn’t, which was both a curse and a blessing.
She lifted her oversize sunglasses to the top of her head and offered my family a tentative smile that didn’t reach her eyes as she clutched a gift bag at her side. Her shoulders relaxed when her gaze landed on me. “Hey.”
“Hey.” This was how it should have been back then, me introducing her to my family, us walking together in broad daylight instead of sneaking around in the cover of darkness.
This was what we could have had if I’d been strong enough to hold on to her.
You’re strong enough now.
But I was ten years and one enormous mistake too late.
She gave me that fake-ass show smile as I crossed the kitchen to her, and I shook my head. That wasn’t going to fly. My family needed to see her, not whatever mask she thought they’d expect. I hooked my arm around her waist and hauled her against my chest.
Her pretend smile vanished, and a very real but faint gasp escaped her lips as her eyes flared. There she was. Right there in that little spark of surprise that swiftly ignited to indignation and was immediately stoked by . . . Was that interest?
I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t going to have to fake attraction.
“There you are.” I grinned. “Glad you could make it.” Forget climbing her walls, I’d tear them down brick by brick. This arrangement might be fake for her, but my intentions were very real. Allie had given me the summer, and I was going to use it to bring her back to life.
“You can’t seriously be dating my brother.”
Unless Caroline ruined it.
Chapter Eleven
Allie
Bway11te: Your control is breathtaking. Stunning. Better than your sister, to be honest.
For a second, I forgot how to breathe. Forget the nerves of walking into hostile territory—who cared about his family staring when Hudson had me pinned against his hard chest.
Friends. You’re just friends. Ex-friends at that. And this was just pretend, but damn did he feel real.
Maybe it was the pep talk I’d given myself on the way over about committing to this part, or the fact that I’d gotten up this morning and forced myself to put thought and care into my appearance for the first time in months. It could have been that I hadn’t taken anyone to bed since before Giselle—or even wanted to—but my entire body woke up and took notice of Hudson like someone had flipped a switch on my sex drive.
He was wearing a different Bruins cap, black board shorts, and a white monotone athletic shirt with the letters Sar emblazoned across his massive chest. A chest I really wanted to see without the shirt.
“There you are.” He grinned, and my brain ceased all function as that dimple popped in his cheek. “Glad you could make it.”
No, no, no, I lectured my stupid, inconvenient hormones. He was the last person on earth I should be attracted to, but the truth was he’d been the first. First real friend, first crush, first unrequited . . . whatever, followed by a real and lasting first heartbreak. I needed to play the besotted girlfriend, not actually get besotted.
“You can’t seriously be dating my brother.” Caroline glowered at me.
The spell broke, and I remembered we were anything but alone as Hudson moved to my side and shot a glare at his sister. I recognized the members of his family from pictures and the quick moments I’d bumped into them as a teenager, and my grip tightened on the gift bag containing the present I’d brought for Juniper as I plastered a smile on my face. This was just a part, and I was an expert at acting. No big deal.