Boyfriend Maintenance
Page 14
If Jake’s happy, I’m happy.
Just as I finish up my turn, there’s a knock at the door. Becca announces she will get it and I briefly wonder if this is the moment we will finally meet stuffy Marshal.
It’s not though, because I hear a familiar voice. My brother walks down the short hall behind Becca. A surprise visit from Levi; it doesn’t happen very often.
“Hey, big brother. What are you doing here?” I walk over and give him a hug. Since the night he came over to tell me he broke off his engagement, I’ve made it a point to hug him more. It’s not something we would normally do but it turns out that we need each other a little more than we thought.
“I was in the building.” He drops the words casually and leans past me to shake Jake’s hand. Things with Jake and Levi were rocky at first. Jake didn’t like the way Levi talked to me the night of the engagement party and he didn’t like the way Levi gave him such a hard time about not knowing me, back when we were still a fake couple. Levi didn’t love that Jake couldn't handle my upbringing at first. But after a few dinners, they seem to have worked things through.
“Hey, Levi.” Jake drops his hand. “I don’t think you’ve met my brother, Kevin.” He jerks his head toward the couch.
Kevin stands and shakes his hand and they exchange pleasantries.
“You a Bears fan?” Kevin asks Levi.
“I am but I missed the first half. How are they doing?” They chat about the game for a few minutes. I don’t miss the look Levi gives Becca when she slides past him and sits down on the couch next to Kevin. She doesn’t sit close, but there are a few other places to sit.
Interesting.
“Levi, so what were you doing in the building?” To my knowledge, he doesn’t know anyone else who lives here.
“Ah, yes. Well, I wanted you and Becca here to be the first to say hello to your new neighbor.” He performs a little bow.
“What?” He has a great little place a few blocks from here, so I wonder why the move. He’d only lived there for about six months. I peek over at Bex and notice that she's eyeing him with curiosity.
“Yeah, you know my place over on Lexington? Well that was actually mine and Darcy’s. I was living there, but it was in both our names. She decided last month that she wanted it. Since I called off the wedding, I decided just to give it to her. Finding a new place and moving was easier than having to deal with her.”
“Didn’t she also go on the honeymoon?” This comes from Bex. Like me, she never liked Darcy, so she was thrilled when I told her Levi wasn’t marrying her. Now that I think about it, maybe it wasn’t because she didn’t like Darcy.
“Yup.” Levi walks over to the couch and sits down next to her. He takes up way too much room when he stretches out and makes himself comfortable.
“So, you’re moving into the building?” I try to get him back on track.
“Yeah, right across the hall. I was looking for a two-bedroom and that unit has been vacant for a while. So, Mr. Eastman cut me a deal.”
“A deal?” Becca looks at him in disbelief.
“Yeah, it’s move-in ready. And he paid half of my down payment.”
Kevin whistles and Jake mutters something under his breath.
“So, you bought it?” Becca crosses her arms.
“I sure did. I’m moving in this week.” He smiles cockily at her, then looks at me, “Looks like you’ll be seeing more of me.”
I smile. I love my big brother, and I couldn’t think of a better neighbor.
“Well, that’s great news, Levi.”
With that, we all enjoy a few more beers, chips and salsa, and then watch our team kick butt.
Later, after the game ends, Levi and Kevin leave and Becca heads out for drinks with Marshal. I sit on the couch with my legs draped over Jake’s legs, watching a Netflix documentary. Jake looks over at me and I catch his eye and smile back at him.
“I wanted to ask you something.” He looks a little nervous.
“What’s that?”
“Well, you know I’ve been looking at houses on Staten Island for several months now, right?”
“Yeah, did you find something?” I hope he did. I don’t love that he will be farther away, but it would make him so happy to have his own place. He’s looked at a couple of houses, but none of them have “spoken” to him. Plus, he doesn’t have the down payment quite yet.
“I didn’t but I’m finding that a house on the island isn’t what I want anymore.”
I arch an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”
“Yeah, I was thinking that it was time to find somewhere else, maybe closer to 425 Madison as well as the Envirogal office.”
It takes a moment for me to register what he’s saying. I cock my head. “Jake …”
“I was hoping we could find a place together. I know it’s entirely too soon to ask you to marry me, but we could at least start thinking about moving in together and maybe see what that looks like.” He looks so hopeful.
“Are you for real?”
“I am.”
A smile slowly spreads across my face and his follows suit.
“I’d love to move in with you.” Happiness bursts through my chest as I tell him he had nothing to worry about.
“Really?” He seems to be just as happy as I feel right now. He leans toward me like he isn’t sure he’s hearing me correctly.
“Really, really.” And I launch myself into his arms. I kiss him and giggle when he finds my ticklish spot.
I lean back from him and tell him, “I’ll move in with you, as long as I can bring the Skee-Ball machine.”
He laughs deep from his belly, leans in, and kisses my nose.
“Whatever you want, Emmy. Whatever you want.”
* * *
Thank you for reading BOYFRIEND MAINTENANCE! I hope you enjoyed Emmy and Jake’s story. Please consider taking a moment to leave a brief review on Amazon (even one sentence counts!). Reviews are the kind of love that keeps us indie authors alive. Many thanks!
If you loved BOYFRIEND MAINTENANCE, you’ll love the rest of the books in the 425 MADISON SERIES. Continue reading for a glimpse of Jameson and Olivia’s story, plus details on the other books in the series.
What About That Grilled Cheese?
Emmy’s Grilled Cheese
What you need:
2 slices of thick-cut bread (Emmy likes country white or sourdough)
Butter
American cheese from the deli (Emmy always adds a second kind of cheese)
A flat skillet (a regular skillet works too)
Spatula
Directions
1. Preheat skillet on medium
2. Butter BOTH sides of each piece of bread.
(Jake is dumb and doesn’t like the outside of his bread buttered. He’s clearly wrong. Always butter the outside, if you don’t, you might as well just use a damn toaster.)
3. Place one or two slices of each type of cheese on the bread to make a sandwich.
4. Let the sandwich grill on medium heat for about 5 minutes before flipping and grilling the other side for about 3 minutes.
5. The grilled cheese is done when you’ve achieved your desired toastiness.
(Emmy likes a nice even grill and isn’t a fan of burnt bread. But Jake is still learning and only burns the bread fifty percent of the time now.)
6. Remove from skill and let sit for 2-4 minutes before cutting.
(It’s hard, I know, but it’s worth it. Jake never waits and hot cheese oozes out the sides and he burns his mouth and fingers. Every flipping time.)
A note on cheese:
It’s best to use a cheese that melts well.
(To name a few: American - from the deli, cheddar, jack, mozzarella, and provolone)
When you use two cheeses, they should complement each other.
Here are some suggested cheese combos:
American and cheddar (Emmy’s favorite)
American and pepper jack (Jake’s favorite, though he likes it ext
ra spicy, so try habanero pepper jack)
cheddar and pepper jack
American and mozzarella
If you make Emmy’s Grilled Cheese at home, please share it on Instagram.
Tag me @Author_LaurenHelms and use the tags #EmmysGrilledCheese & #MaintenanceManFakeBoyfriend
Love Under Construction - Book #6
Love Under Construction, an enemies to lovers romance (book #6) by Aubree Valentine, releases on 5/16/19.
Jameson
She hates me.
I can’t say I blame her, in fact, I thought it was best this way.
That was until I realized just how much I really cared for her.
Now all I want to do is protect her.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
Olivia
I hate him.
He's always been a thorn in my side.
When my life is flipped upside down, and I'm fighting to stay above water, things between us shift, and I begin to question everything I thought I knew about the boy next door.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. I never should have kissed him. It was only a matter of time.
After all, 425 Madison is the perfect place to fall in love!
Each story is completely standalone, but you’ll want to read them all. Trust me.
* * *
Don’t miss updates about Boyfriend Maintenance. Visit www.425madisonseries.com for all the details.
The 425 Madison Series
Welcome to 425 Madison Ave, the perfect place to fall in love! Nine delicious romances set in fast-paced & sexy NYC just waiting for you to read.
For more information, visit the series website:
www.425madisonseries.com
Must Love Coffee by Leigh Lennon
Book #1
A Second Chance Romance
Release: 1/31/19
Let Me Love You by MK Moore
Book #2
A Best Friend’s Sibling Romance
Release: 2/21/19
Just Swipe Right by Allie York
Book #3
A Love Triangle Romance
Release: 3/14/19
Two for Holding by Kay Gordon
Book #4
A Sports Romance
Release: 4/4/19
Boyfriend Maintenance by Lauren Helms
Book #5
A Fake Relationship Romance
Release: 4/25/19
Love Under Construction by Aubree Valentine
Book #6
A Enemies to Lovers Romance
Release: 5/16/19
Back For More by Sylvia Kane
Book #7
A Brother's Best Friend Romance
Release: 6/6/19
Accidentally in Love by Katy Ames
Book #8
An Ugly Duckling Romance
Release: 6/27/19
Sightseeing in Manhattan by C. Lesbirel
Book #9
A Soul Mate Romance
Release: 7/18/19
Also by Lauren Helms
Gamer Boy Series
Level Me Up (Morgan & Dex) - Gamer Boy #1
One More Round (Gia & Simon) - Gamer Boy #2
Game All Night (Ruby & Link) - Gamer Boy #3
Gamer Boy #4 (Bernie & Wade) - coming 2019
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Acknowledgments
As always, I couldn’t have made Boyfriend Maintenance what it is without my team of VIPs. There’s a group of people that I have come to rely on every time I write and publish a book. I’ll keep this super short, because honestly, once you write one of these acknowledgment sections, it’s hard to come up with new material.
Robert, I love you.
To my little monster’s, thank you for making sure I’m always on the brink of insanity.
Cassie Graham, thank you for all your help when it came to plotting this bad boy. We have some mad plotting skills when we work together. I look forward to writing our book someday, which is hopefully sooner rather than later. I also want to mention that you are now obligated to alpha/beta read every book I write from this point on. #SorryNotSorry.
Aubree Valentine and Allie York, both of you helped me develop Jake and Emmy’s story when I was stuck. You both mean the world to me.
Leigh, M.K., Allie, Kay, Aubree, Sylvia, Katy, and Claire: you all took a chance with me and this journey of ours. Thank you for making it amazing.
Laura, Joy, Debbie, and Kristina: thank you for all the invaluable feedback on my story. Your support and excitement gives me the confidence I need to send this book baby of mine out into the world.
Lastly, to all you amazing bloggers and readers: without you, all my words would go unread. Thank you for all your support of my books as well as the whole 425 Madison series.
About the Author
Lauren Helms has forever been an avid reader from the beginning. After starting a book review website that catapulted her fully into the book world, she knew that something was missing. Lauren decided to take the plunge and write her first novel. While working for a video game strategy guide publisher, she decided to mix what she knew best--video games and romance. She decided to take the plunge and joined NaNoWriMo and a month later, she had her first draft.
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Lauren’s Romance Game Changers
www.authorlaurenhelms.com