Hot Mess (Messy Love Series Book 1)

by R. Linda

  “I love you too.”

  As always, my family for giving me the space and time to write. For encouraging me and being my biggest supporters.

  My reader group, for being the most awesome group of people I know. I love hanging out with you guys on a near-daily basis and sharing my life and writing with you. You guys are what makes it worth it.

  Stacey and Petrina for polishing this baby and making it shine. Without you two, no one would be able to decipher my words and we’d end up with words like choinge.

  Cassy Roop for once again killing it with the cover design. I give you a generic description and you pull out a killer design like this. It might be my favorite yet. Your vision knows no bounds.

  Susanne and Anita for bouncing ideas and reading the story in the initial stages and encouraging me to actually get off my ass and write the book even if I failed to send you the rest of the book. Oops. But look, I did it.

  Alley Ciz… I’m not video chatting with you, so stop asking. {MISSING SYMBOL Wide-headed leftwards arrow} it’s in a book now, so it must be true.

  And lastly, Nick Bateman for providing unending inspiration in the form of your face, smile, abs, chest, arms and sweatpants. Thank you.

  R. Linda drinks wine and writes books. A coffee-addicted, tattoo-enthusiastic fangirl with a slight obsession for a particular British boy band and solo artist, she is a writer of Contemporary YA/NA Romance and Suspense.

  Renee lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her husband and two sons. When not writing, she can often be found with a wine in her hand and Supernatural on repeat. She’s a huge fan. She loves reading books to her children and cuddling up with them on the couch to watch their favorite movies.

  Get up close and personal with R. Linda along with some sneak peeks and exclusive giveaways and more in her reader group.

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  Read on for an excerpt of Indie and the Brother’s Best Friend.

  Chapter 1

  Indiana

  MY CLOTHES STUCK TO my skin the moment we stepped off the plane and onto the tarmac. It was gross. The heat. The sun. The bugs. Humid was an understatement.

  “Welcome to paradise,” Jack announced, pulling his sunglasses down over his eyes.

  I was not looking forward to the next week. Sure, I was happy my parents were renewing their wedding vows. And the break from studying was much needed. Who could say no to an all-expenses paid tropical getaway for me and my friends? All of them. Bailey, Ryder, Jack, even Kenzie was flying out. Kenzie and Ryder’s mum was looking after Cole, so she could have a break and come to the wedding.

  Even the friend I didn’t want to see was here.

  The one who was standing just outside the airport with my brother, waiting for us.

  The one who broke my heart a million times.

  The one who reeled me back in over and over with nothing but a smile.

  The one who…

  Who was I kidding? The one I wanted to see more than anyone else.

  I stopped in my tracks, and Jack crashed into my back. “Whoa, baby cakes, how about a little warning?” He grabbed my waist to steady me before I fell flat on my face.

  Linc.

  He was there, casually leaning against a black rental car and talking with Nate. In his denim shorts, loose-fitting white tank, and black designer sunglasses covering half his face, he looked better than ever. I was really liking the dreadlocks growing in his hair now, and the fair scruff on his face made him seem so much more…manly. My mother would make him shave before the wedding, though. I could guarantee it.

  I was frozen to the spot. Bailey stopped beside me and squeezed my hand gently, trying to reassure me, but it only made me more nervous. Jack whistled admiringly in Linc’s direction and whispered, “Does he have a brother?”

  I couldn’t even answer him. I couldn’t move. I didn’t want to move. This was a bad idea. I should have flown in the night before the wedding and flown out immediately after. It hurt too much to see him. Loving someone who didn’t love you back sucked.

  Nate saw us first. He pushed off the car and ran straight for me with that big, goofy grin on his face, sweeping me into his arms and spinning around excitedly. He was much taller than I was, so I hung limply in his arms like a ragdoll.

  “I’ve missed you, sis. Glad you made it. Mum was freaking out that you wouldn’t come, because you’ve avoided coming home for so long now.” I could hear the disappointment in his voice.

  “I missed you too.” Guilt coursed through my veins. It was true. I had avoided going home since my second year at university when we returned for Ryder’s nephew Cole’s birthday, and I found out Linc had a fia…fi…I couldn’t even think the word—my brain short-circuited and I developed a twitch every time I tried.

  A girlfriend with a stupid ring on her finger.

  He was twenty-two, and that was far too young to marry anyone, but her in particular. She was an idiot. I didn’t like her. And I couldn’t bear to see him with her all the time, so I’d not been home for over a year, instead choosing to spend holidays with Jack and his family. It was easier that way, kinder on my heart.

  Jack was my best friend at university other than Bailey—and Ryder, I guessed, though he pissed me off more than anything. We met at orientation and became friends soon after discovering he and Ryder were sharing a room. And since Ryder and Bailey were always preoccupied with sucking each other’s faces off, it left a lot of time for Jack and me to bond. I loved him and all his inappropriateness.

  Nate dropped me back to the ground and stepped to the side to make room for Linc, who was suddenly right there with a smile on his face. His hands were clasped and resting on top of his head. The action caused his t-shirt to ride up enough to reveal tan skin and a very defined lower abdomen I really wanted to trail my…

  “What? I don’t get a hug, In?” he said, interrupting my fantasy.

  I blinked at him a few times and reluctantly stepped forward with the help of an elbow in the back from Ryder, and into Linc’s open arms. They wrapped around me tightly, pulling me to his warm, hard body. I breathed him in. He smelled like the beach, and coconuts. Damn lifeguard smell.

  I took it all back. I did want to see him. And touch him. And hug him. And kiss his stupid, handsome face.

  “I’ve really missed you, In. I’m glad you’re here. It’s not the same without you,” he said quietly in my ear before releasing me all too soon. Couldn’t I just wrap my legs around his waist and attach myself to his hip a little longer?

  He reached over to shake Ryder’s hand in that manly back slap, half-hug thing guys did and gave Bailey a kiss on the cheek before noticing Jack standing directly behind me. They glared at each other. Jack’s jaw ticked. He was quite familiar with my Lincoln Andrews obsession, and he was not impressed. Except maybe by his face.

  “Hey, man, sorry.” Nate stepped forward and introduced himself. “Nate, Indie’s brother. This is Linc.”

  “Hi. Jackson,” he replied and held his hand out, his voice sounding much rougher than normal. I guessed he was trying to make a good first impression.

  “And you are?” Linc raised an eyebrow in his direction, planting his feet hip width apart and crossing his arms over his chest. I knew that stance all too well. I’d seen it so many times growing up from both Nate and Linc. Their protective, intimidating, “I’m going to hurt you if you mess up” stance.

  “Jaaack-suuun,” the smartass repeated slowly, as if Linc was stupid. “Indie’s boyfriend. Nice to meet you, man. Call me Jac
k,” he said confidently, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me close to him. My head dropped, and I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Why did I bring him with me?

  “Ahhh, shit,” Ryder said under his breath as Bailey coughed out a laugh, knowing this could only end badly if Jack was involved. He meant well most of the time—unless he was only doing it for his own entertainment, then all hell could break loose. Jack had no filter. He said whatever he was thinking at the time without considering the repercussions. Occasionally, it was funny and worth it, but most of the time it made you cringe and want to hide from embarrassment, like now.

  “Boyfriend?” Nate looked back and forth between us, a puzzled expression on his face. I’d told them I was bringing at friend at the last minute, not a boyfriend.

  “Umm…surprise.” I forced a grin but was sure it looked more like a grimace. What on earth was Jack thinking? He wasn’t my boyfriend. Two seconds earlier, he was checking Linc out and wanting to know if he had brother.

  “Since when?” Linc scoffed, like it was so hard to believe I could ever have a boyfriend. But I guessed that was true. I’d never had a boyfriend. Not because I didn’t want one. I did. I just wanted the one who didn’t want me. The one who thought of me as a little sister, and I refused to settle for anyone less. Stupid, right?

  I met Linc’s hard glare. His jaw was clenched, and I was slightly amused by his reaction. He wasn’t impressed that Jack was my boyfriend, and that thought sent a thrill through me.

  “Oh, about a year now. Yeah, baby cakes?”

  “Yep.” I beamed up at Jack and snuggled closer to his side, deciding to roll with it for the time being.

  I heard Bailey sigh and Ryder mutter something that sounded like, “Here we go again,” and I had to stifle a laugh because it was like history repeating itself. Only this time it wasn’t Bailey and Ryder fake dating to make someone jealous, it was me and Jack pretending for…reasons unknown. I’d have to ask Jack what he was thinking. Why would he do this? I couldn’t very well come out and say we were only joking now. We’d look like fools. We were going to have to act like a couple for the entire week.

  Nate and Linc exchanged a look, with Linc nodding the smallest fraction. This would have been completely unnoticed by anyone other than Nate because they had that sort of friendship—they didn’t need words, could have an entire conversation with only looks—and by me because I was aware of every move he made when he was around.

  Obsessed? No. That was too harsh a word. Made me seem crazy. I preferred the term “enthusiastically invested,” because I was very invested in everything that man, with the sudden scowl on his face as he snatched my suitcase off the ground and began stomping over to his car, did.

  Nate pointed a finger at Jack. “We’re going to have a chat later.” And then he turned and walked over to the rental car, some sort of SUV with extra seats to accommodate us all.

  Jack looked at me with alarmed eyes for a moment before brushing the fear aside with a wave of the hand. “Meh, he’ll love me. Who doesn’t, really?”

  “Me, right now. What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  “Making that handsome specimen over there realise what he’s going to lose if he doesn’t act soon.”

  A spark of hope ignited in my stomach. If the fake relationship worked for Bailey and Ryder, making Chace, her ex-boyfriend, insanely jealous, then maybe it would work for me. Maybe pretending to date Jack would make Lincoln so blind with jealousy that he finally saw me for what I’d always been. His. Cheesy, I knew, but true nonetheless.

  “And if he doesn’t want me that way?” My voice cracked.

  “Then he’s an idiot and doesn’t deserve you. But from the looks he’s giving me right now, I’d say you’ve got nothing to worry about, baby cakes.”

  Chapter 2

  Lincoln

  I DIDN’T LIKE HIM.

  He seemed like a dick.

  Loud and obnoxious, making jokes that weren’t even remotely funny.

  She couldn’t seriously be dating that guy. I wanted to wipe that smug look off his face when he bragged about them being together for a year. A whole damn year. How did I not know about this? How did Nate not know about it? I hated that we’d drifted so far apart once she left for uni, without even a goodbye, after her birthday.

  We’d had a moment, the night of her eighteenth birthday. A moment that I may have planned for a little while. A moment that happened by planting a seed in a kid’s mind that Seven Minutes in Heaven would be a great game to play. A moment that came to fruition after spending endless hours mastering how to spin a damn bottle, so it stopped where I wanted it to—on Indie. A moment that resulted in Nate nearly walking in on me kissing his sister.

  The car ride back to the hotel was loud and full of chatter with Indie and her friends—her three friends, since I refused to think of him as her boyfriend—though I wasn’t really listening. I was too busy sending death glares into the rear-view mirror every time Jack uttered something in Indie’s ear. I told myself it wasn’t jealousy, because it wasn’t. I’d been looking out for Indie since we were kids growing up next door to one another. She was Nate’s sweet little sister, naïve, innocent, and too trusting. We looked out for her until she left and moved across the country, as far from home as possible. I’d fought every instinct in my body not to pack up and follow her. Doing that would have been suicide.

  “When does Kenzie arrive?” Indie twisted in her seat to look at Ryder, who was crammed in the back with all their luggage.

  “Tomorrow.” In the whole time I’d known him, I came to realise he didn’t say a lot unless it was absolutely necessary. I liked that about him. Unlike Jack, who seemed to love the sound of his own voice.

  I glanced at the clock on the dashboard and frowned. It’d only been twenty minutes since she strolled out of that airport in those cut-off denim shorts showing off her smooth legs, and that oversized black t-shirt that looked like it might have come out of Jack’s closet. My grip tightened on the steering wheel. Was it his shirt? Be cool man. Be cool. I didn’t want to draw any attention to myself, but I seemed to have the attention of a certain pair of stormy blue eyes watching me in the mirror.

  I winked, unable to hide my amusement. Damn, did I really wink at Indie? What was I, a teenage boy? Her cheeks reddened, and she ducked her head in embarrassment at being caught. Why was she watching me? I had a feeling she wasn’t all too pleased to see me, given that she was hesitant to even say hello for some reason. Maybe she was planning all the ways she could torment me over the next week, but little did she know, just having her here was tormenting enough, and now I had to watch her flaunt her relationship with Jack-ass back there.

  Finally, after the longest thirty-minute drive in history, we pulled up at the front of the hotel. I was exhausted and just wanted to get us all checked in. We’d flown in about three hours ago, and rather than heading straight to The Falls hotel, we stupidly hung around the airport with our luggage and hired a car big enough for all of us. It seemed pointless going to the hotel when we couldn’t check in until after 2:00 p.m. It was now 2:08, and I was more than ready to get out of that car and put some distance between Indie and me.

  Parking the car to the side, Nate and I ran in to check us all in first, so the valet could park the car, while the others waited outside with their bags.

  “Welcome to The Falls. How may I help you?” The pretty little blonde receptionist smiled at Nate, and of course, he went into full suave mode, leaning one elbow on the counter and giving her that grin that never failed. I’d seen it work countless times.

  “Hi, we’re checking in. We’re here for the Kellerman wedding,” he said smoothly while I stood off to the side and tapped the keys on the counter.

  “Right, sure.” The girl—Jasmine, her name tag read, making me cringe—said, looking flustered as she began typing on the keyboard. Jasmine. Why couldn’t I get away from that name? A chill ran up my spine every time I thought about my ex-fiancée w
ith the same name and the same hair as the woman sitting in front of me. “What name?”

  “Kellerman, Nate,” he said, pointing to himself, making Jasmine blush more. What was wrong with this girl? “And Indie,” he continued.

  “Uh-huh. Indie is your…wife?” She hesitated, a sour look on her face. I barked out a laugh. You’ve got to be kidding me. Subtlety wasn’t this chick’s forte.

  “No. She’s my sister,” Nate corrected immediately.

  “Oh, okay. Great! That’s just perfect,” Jasmine chirped. “It’s just we have a double room booked, and I thought it would…Never mind. Anyone else?”

  “The double room would be for Jones and Mitchell,” Nate assured her before gesturing to me. “Lincoln Andrews. And we also need another single room for Jackson Meyer.”

  “Let me see.” Jasmine bit her lip, whether in concentration or seductively, I didn’t know, but Nate turned to me and wiggled his eyebrows.

  “Batshit crazy, man. It’s in the name,” I said faintly.

  He laughed. “She’s alright.”

  His funeral.

  “Okay. I have a single room for you, Mr. Kellerman.”

  “Call me Nate.”

  I groaned and turned away to look around, but my eyes landed on Indie standing outside, with Jack-ass’s arms around her waist, laughing at something he had said.

  “Okay, Nate. I have the double for Miss Mitchell and Mr. Jones. Now, with the singles, there appears to have been two adjoining rooms booked. I have managed to secure a regular single room as well. You just need to let me know whether Miss Kellerman, Mr. Andrews, or Mr. Meyer would like the single room. And I’ll place the other two in the adjoining rooms.”