That Secret Crush

by Quinn, Meghan

  Getting our relationship back to where it used to be won’t be easy, but then again, like my parents always taught me, love is never easy. Love is a foundation of challenges that stem from two souls colliding as one. There will be miscommunications and moments where we hurt each other, because we are human after all, but what truly matters is the realization that the person standing in front of you is the one person who makes you the best version of yourself.

  And I can honestly say Reid is that person.

  He challenges me more than anyone, keeps me guessing—never letting me settle but always pushing me instead. He helps me feel, helps me explore a gauntlet of emotions, and holds my hand on this roller coaster of life; even before we were together, he was there by my side. The intimacy I crave he gives me in spades; the hole I have for caring for someone he fills so easily by letting me take him into my arms. And most importantly, he puts me first.

  It took me a bit to realize that, given the fact that I thought he was choosing the restaurant and Eric over me, but he wasn’t. He was choosing my happiness, helping me obtain and reach my goals. He’s always had me at the forefront of his mind. I come first, and for that, I will always love him.

  “I love you, Eve. Please tell me we can work this out, that we can have the restaurant and the relationship.”

  “Well, that depends,” I say, eyeing his getup. “Are you returning this armor to wherever you got it?”

  “Do you want me to?”

  “Desperately.” I nod.

  “Consider it returned,” he says, a giant smile pulling at his lips.

  I step toward him and stand on my toes as I loop my arms around his neck and let him pull me into a kiss, right in front of my brother, the Knightlys, and anyone in Port Snow who cares to witness the crazy show playing out in my apartment parking lot.

  “I love you, Reid,” I whisper, pressing my forehead against his.

  “I love you, babe. Forever.”

  And as Brig cheers and takes pictures, his family clapping and hooting, I realize that not only am I holding the man of my dreams and listening to him pledge his love for me, but I’m also being accepted into a family, one that I’ve been missing for so long.

  A line of support.

  A line of love.

  I have the job, the man, the family, the brother, the love. I don’t think I could ask for anything more . . . besides some immediate private time with Reid and the “legend.”

  And I’m not talking about the curse.

  EPILOGUE

  REID

  “Oh my God, yes! Reid, right there.”

  I flex my pelvis and push all the way inside of Eve, my teeth nearly shattering from how hard I’m grinding them together.

  “Please, babe,” I croak. “Fuck, I’m going to come.”

  “Me . . . too. Ah God,” she groans and digs her nails into my back as her pussy convulses around my cock, spurring on my orgasm.

  White-hot pleasure shoots up my spine as I spill myself inside of her.

  No matter how many times I take this woman into my bed, it doesn’t seem to be enough. It’s been a month since we got back together, and I still can’t keep my hands off her. It’s distracting at work—but in a good way. She’s not making me burn shit, but she does get me riled up when she walks into the kitchen, clipboard in hand and pen tucked behind her ear. She does it on purpose, knowing full well what the entire look does for me.

  We always meet up at my house after work and fuck like crazy until we pass out and spend the rest of the night cuddling. It’s perfection. Eric has grown to accept that Eve doesn’t come home at night, which was fine until Eve went back to the apartment to get some clothes and came face to face with her brother’s bare ass as he was doing some girl from Pottsmouth. They now text each other their plans. It’s an image that’s been . . . difficult for Eve to get out of her head.

  Breathing heavily, I collapse onto Eve and kiss her neck as I try to calm my racing heart.

  “God, I love you so damn much,” I whisper.

  Her hand sifts through my hair. “I love you too.”

  “Enough to say yes to my proposal one day?”

  “One day,” she says, giving me the same answer she always does.

  I want to ask her, badly. I want to make her mine forever, but I also know that I have a lot to learn about love and putting it first, so I’m waiting until I feel confident enough that I can give her everything I have.

  “And kids?”

  “Two.” She smiles against my skin.

  “Pets?”

  “A cat that only loves me.”

  “And a house?”

  “Up on Wobbler’s Hill with enough land that we can have our own greenhouse.”

  I rise up onto my elbows and kiss her lips. “And vacations?”

  “Only ones where we can be fully naked for an entire week.”

  “That’s my kind of vaca—”

  The door to my houseboat bursts open, and a distraught Brig calls out, “Are you home?”

  Eve squeaks, pulling a sheet over her even though we’re up in the loft and Brig can’t see her.

  “Dude, try knocking,” I say, scrambling to put on a pair of shorts.

  Brig paces the living room below, his hands in his hair. “I don’t have time for knocking—not when I’m the laughingstock of the town.”

  Oh Jesus. What now?

  I hop down the stairs, bare chested, my hair a mess from Eve’s relentless pulling, and go to the fridge. I grab a can of beer and toss it at Brig, but he doesn’t even bother catching it, letting it land on the couch instead.

  Okay, this can’t be good.

  “What happened?”

  “I am going to die alone.”

  I’ve heard that before.

  “If this is about the curse—”

  “This isn’t about the fucking curse,” Brig says, looking really distraught. Oh crap. I drop the sarcasm from my voice and try to dig in deep.

  “Okay, let’s talk it through. What happened?”

  Eve joins me in the kitchen, wearing sweatpants and a nightshirt, and falls into my automatic embrace, her arms wrapping around my waist.

  Brig stares at us and groans before rolling his eyes and flopping on the couch. “You know how I’ve been trying out different dating apps?”

  “Yeah, weren’t you going on a date tonight?”

  “Yup, and I did.”

  “Was the girl not who you expected?”

  He sits up ramrod straight and stares me down, his eyes looking completely crazy. “No, she was not who I expected.”

  Uh oh.

  “What happened?”

  “I planned this great evening at Jake’s Cakes. Share some crabs, watch the sunset, get to know each other better. When it started to get late, past when we agreed to meet, I thought she was going to stand me up. Well, until I saw a teal tissue box.”

  “Uh . . . what does that mean?”

  “It was our symbol. We talked about all the Lovemark movies we liked and how sometimes we cried while watching them. We’d always joke about handing each other tissues, so we decided that would be our symbol, our way of showing each other we’re the right person when we met up, since we didn’t have pictures.”

  “Okay, so she showed up.”

  “No, Reid,” Brig deadpans. “He showed up. Fucking Walter the Uber driver catfished me!”

  Holy.

  Shit.

  I purse my lips, trying desperately to hold back the laughter that threatens to pop out.

  “What?” Eve says, taking over—thank God—as I try to compose myself. “Walter wanted to date you?”

  “No, he was making a mockery out of me. He gave me the tissue box and said it was for all the lonely nights I must have.” Brig clutches his chest. “He catfished me and broke my heart. I thought he was the lady of my dreams.”

  I can’t.

  I’m sorry.

  Don’t judge me, but I laugh.

  Brig’s eyes narrow as he
stands and adjusts his shirt. “I should have known you were going to be a dick about this. You know, I came here and bared my soul. The least you could do is give me a hug.”

  Eve pinches my side, wordlessly telling me to console my brother, the most gullible person I know. Wanting to make her happy, and also feeling a little bad for him, I walk over and pull him into a hug.

  “I’m sorry you were catfished by a sixty-year-old Uber driver.”

  “Thanks,” he says, burying his face in my neck. “This means a lot to me, Reid.”

  I grit my teeth as he snuggles closer. I’m not loving this warm, fuzzy shit, but I know this is what he needs.

  “Do you think I’m going to die alone?”

  Yes.

  “No, not at all. The perfect girl is out there for you. Who knows? She might be right under your nose, and you just never noticed.”

  He sighs and pulls away. “I don’t know, I think I’m going to go on a dating hiatus.”

  “You know”—Eve steps up and pats Brig on the shoulder—“whenever someone says they’re not dating anymore, that’s when they find the love of their life.”

  Brig perks up. “Shit, you’re right. Classic movie meet-cute. Lovemark has done it at least a dozen times. That’s it, I’m going on a dating hiatus,” he announces. “Did you hear that, universe? I’m no longer dating. I’m celibate.”

  He’s been celibate for a while . . . not by choice.

  “Do you think I’ll meet her tonight?” he whispers.

  Eve smirks and shakes her head. “You have to actually go on a dating hiatus for it to work.”

  Sighing heavily, he nods. “Okay, sure. Fine. I will go on a dating hiatus.” He walks toward the door but turns back. “Franklin, that motherfucker, took pictures of Walter and me, and I know they’ll be in the newspaper tomorrow. Please, just tell people to be gentle—that’s my heart they’re messing with when they gossip.”

  “Sure thing, bro.” I give him a curt wave. “Here’s to the dating hiatus.”

  “May it bring me love.” He clasps his hands together and then takes off. The minute the door shuts, both Eve and I bust out in laughter.

  “Oh my God. Your brother, I just love him so much.”

  “Uh, excuse me?” I lift a brow.

  “Not like that.” She pushes my eyebrow down with her finger. “Come on, we have some cuddling to do.”

  She takes my hand and leads me back up the stairs, and as I stare at her ass on the way up, I can’t help but think how far I’ve come—how, against all odds, I really have matured as a man. I might not actually know the truth about what happened in New Orleans, if we really were cursed, but I do know that I’m no longer threatened by the thought of broken love—because what Eve and I have will last a lifetime. From a secret crush to growing old together, it’s the perfect love story.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Going into Reid’s book, I was nervous to explore him as a character because I really didn’t know who he was. I remember talking to my agent about him, asking her, Who is Reid? And that’s when we realized Reid doesn’t even know who Reid is, so we took that knowledge and ran with it.

  Out of all the brothers he was the most fun to write so far because it was rare when he had a filter, and I noticed quickly during edits how often I would snort or gasp at his ballsy reaction. I truly believe there is a little piece of Reid inside of me, that no-filter, obnoxious side, and I let it out big time in this book.

  Kimberly Brower and Aimee Ashcraft, my agents, thank you for encouraging me while I wrote this book and having confidence in how fast I could write it. Aimee, huge thanks to you for being strapped to my back during this whole process and being my own personal cheerleader. Also, I think from here on out, the term set the scene will be permanently ingrained in my head.

  Huge thank-you to Lauren Plude for having confidence in this series and my ability to deliver a manuscript that everyone will enjoy. Your support of my work will never go unnoticed. Thank you so much for putting up with my crazy and loving it.

  To the bloggers and readers, thank you so much for loving these Knightly brothers and following their journey to rid themselves of their broken-love curse.

  To my good friends who have clung to their phones, texting me back when deadlines were heavy and filling me with words of encouragement, Sara Ney and Meghan March, you make this journey easier. Thank you.

  Jenny, you are the reason why I can just focus on writing. Thank you for keeping me in line and being my number one fan. I adore you.

  And lastly, thank you to my wife, Steph. I will say this till the day that I die: you are my backbone, my soul mate, and one of the reasons why I am happy on a daily basis. I love you.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Photo © 2019 Milana Schaffer

  USA Today bestselling author, wife, adoptive mother, and peanut butter lover. An author of romantic comedies and contemporary romance, Meghan Quinn brings readers the perfect combination of heart, humor, and heat in every book.