KEPT: A Small Town Second Chance Romance Novella (Reckless Falls Book 0)
Page 24
“And where will I live?” I’d asked him.
“You’ll move in with me.”
It had been so obvious that it just seemed inevitable. I moved into Derek’s carriage house on New Year’s Day. He moved some of his equipment around, creating enough space for my studio setup. He’s given up the hacking and had been hired on full time to design and manufacture the custom prosthetics that he’d been perfecting these past three years. His work was being lauded across the country and he’d made all of his designs free and open source so that other people could 3d print their own custom prosthetics.
Killian had faded into the woodwork once he realized I wasn’t coming back to him. There were rumors that Wrecked as a band was on the verge of a breakup and I felt genuinely bad for Jules, Niall, and Ewan. They were good guys and fantastic musicians and they deserved to have something better come along.
There was always time for second chances.
The studio and I had cut a deal to release me from my obligations to Wrecked in exchange for a three solo album contract. I’d been working on the first one all winter, with Xavier providing backing vocals on most of the tracks. Now that spring was here, it was nearly finished. I was prouder of it than anything else I had ever done.
Someone, probably my mother, finally turned off the lights from the great house, plunging us into darkness. “Wow,” I breathed as I looked up at the stars. “How hard do you think they’ll be to see?”
“The meteors? They say this is supposed to be one of the best showers in decades.”
“Was that one?” I asked eagerly.
“That’s a plane, Aria.”
I smiled sheepishly as I leaned over my mug. “You know, I don’t even care if we see a meteor shower tonight.”
“Yeah?” he asked, slinging his arm over my shoulder.
“We should do this more often,” I told him. “We have this big lawn and we’re above all the lights up here. We should look at the stars every night.”
“That sounds great,” he said.
There was something odd in his voice. I turned my face up to look at him. “What? You don’t want to look at the stars every night with me?”
“I do. Every night.” He shifted in his seat and then held out his hand. There was something in the palm of his hand, and even in the dim light of the stars I could see that it sparkled.
“Derek?” I breathed.
“Whatever you want to do. Whether it’s looking at the stars or just vegging on the couch. I don’t care what it is; I just want to be with you. Every night. For the rest of my life.” He took my hand. “Will you marry me?”
“Oh my god!” I squealed as he slipped the ring onto my finger. Then I squinted down at my hand. “I can’t even see it!”
“Yeah,” he rumbled. “I may not have thought this proposal all the way through.”
“I’ll look at it later, it doesn’t matter, Yes! Yes, of course, I’ll fucking marry you, you asshole!”
“Baby, you talk to me so sweetly,” he complained, but I could feel the shape of his smile under my lips as I kissed him.
Something winked overhead. “Shit! Did you see that? It was a meteor, right when I was kissing you!” I laughed out loud. “Did you see it?”
He took my face in his hands. “No, I was looking at you.” And then he kissed me again, out there under the stars.
THE END
If you want to read a special, subscriber only epilogue to WRECKED: A Small Town Bad Boy Romance, sign up to my mailing list using this link!
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And if you want even more Reckless Falls, keep reading! TWICE is next!
BOOKS BY VIVIAN LUX:
Sons of Steel Motorcycle Club:
Steel My Heart
Steel Me Away
Steel My Love
Steel My Soul
Rockstar Romance
JAX: A Rockstar Stepbrother Romance
RANE: A Rockstar Stepbrother Romance
WILDER: A Rockstar Romance
LOW: A Rockstar Romance
TRUE: A Rockstar Romance
The Reckless Falls Series:
KEPT: A Small Town Second Chance Novella
WRECKED: A Small Town Bad Boy Romance
TWICE: A Small Town Menage Romance
TIED: A Small Town Bad Boy Romance (March 2017)
PLAYED: A Small Town Bad Boy Billionaire Romance (April 2017)
Sports Romance
FORCE: A Bad Boy Sports Romance
IMPACT: A Secret Baby Sports Romance
I love to hear from my readers!
Email me at mailto:velvetfirepress@gmail.com
Friend me at facebook.com/vivianlux.romance
Like me at facebook.com/vivianlux.author
Amazon Author Page
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TWICE:
A Small Town Menage Romance
RECKLESS FALLS BOOK TWO
by
Vivian Lux
Copyright 2017
All Rights Reserved
This book contains adult themes, explicit language and sexual situations. It is intended for mature audiences.
NOTE: All characters in the book are 18+ years of age, and all sexual acts are consensual.
If you want to read a special, subscriber only epilogue to TWICE: A Small Town Menage Romance, sign up to my mailing list using this link!
Click here!
BOOKS BY VIVIAN LUX:
Sons of Steel Motorcycle Club:
Steel My Heart
Steel Me Away
Steel My Love
Steel My Soul
Rockstar Romance
JAX: A Rockstar Stepbrother Romance
RANE: A Rockstar Stepbrother Romance
WILDER: A Rockstar Romance
LOW: A Rockstar Romance
TRUE: A Rockstar Romance
The Reckless Falls Series:
WRECKED: A Small Town Bad Boy Romance
TWICE: A Small Town Menage Romance
TIED: A Small Town Bad Boy Romance (March 2017)
FIRE: A Small Town Bad Boy Novella (March 2017)
PLAYED: A Small Town Bad Boy Billionaire Romance (April 2017)
Sports Romance
FORCE: A Bad Boy Sports Romance
IMPACT: A Secret Baby Sports Romance
I love to hear from my readers.
Email me at mailto:velvetfirepress@gmail.com
Friend me at facebook.com/vivianlux.romance
Like me at facebook.com/vivianlux.author
Amazon Author Page
Dedication:
This book was far more of a collaborative effort than usual for me, and as a result, I enjoyed writing it a LOT more. But it means I have many many people to thank.
Special thanks go out to Jen Talty and Roxie Noir who both read early drafts of the book and made invaluable suggestions.
Thank you too, to Amelia Wilde, Joanna Blake, Aubrey Irons, Willow Winters, Crystal Kaswell, Athena Wright, BB Hamel, Linnea May, Lucy Lachance, Isabella Starling, and Roxie Noir (again) for giving advice on the cover, helping me decide whether or not Rett should punch Cal (the answer was yes), and for keeping me laughing. You always remind me what I love about my work.
Thank you Jill Bridgeman for keeping me on task.
Thank you to my husband for sitting down at the kitchen table and working out the mysteries of the "bro-code" with me. This book was complicated and you made it easier.
Thank you Sennah Tate for being a fantastic, and fantastically fast editor.
Thank you to Kelley Austin for being a reader from pretty much the beginning.
And thank you Sienna Valentine for dealing with my near constant need for validation and reassurance.
About this book:
Callum:
I've been in love with my best friend's sister for as long as I can remember.
Her green eyes and soft body are dr
iving me crazy.
She's back home for only a week, and I have to have her.
Even if it means I have to share her.
Grayson:
May the best man win, Cal said.
Clearly, I'm the best man here. Our best friend's sister should see that.
But we agree to leave it up to her.
Then she says she can't choose.
And I realize I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make her mine.
Including make her....ours.
Author's Note: TWICE will end right around the 50% mark. After that, keep turning the pages to read WRECKED, the first Reckless Falls book, included as a special bonus!
Prologue
Callum
I stumbled, bleary and scratching, into the kitchen. On autopilot, I opened the cupboard to pull out the canister of coffee.
Only to find that the coffee was already out, grounds sprinkled liberally over the countertop like a trail of breadcrumbs leading to the coffeemaker.
Which was somehow already on, with a full pot sitting there waiting for me.
I stared at the coffeepot warily, like it had somehow gained sentience, and tried to quell the anger that was already heating up my bloodstream. But as I did, I became aware of several things.
The first thing I noticed was the overwhelming silence in the house. Grayson's snores were normally the soundtrack to my mornings, so loud they rattled the windowpanes.
The second was the already brewed coffee itself.
The third thing was the open carton of milk sitting on the counter — sweating condensation and slowly spoiling — number one on my list of pet peeves.
The pieces slid together and I sighed heavily as I reached up for my mug. I was pretty fucking proud of how even my voice sounded as I called, "Merry Christmas, you're up early. You trying to catch Santa?"
I heard the scrape of a chair across the floor as my housemate leaned back. "I'm not up early," Gray protested. "I'm usually up and out the door by now."
Frustration mingled with disbelief as I turned to face my best friend and recently acquired housemate. It was in the spirit of Christmas itself that I didn't leap across the room and strangle him to death.
"Bullshit," I said deliberately as I poured the milk into my coffee. Then I made a great show of opening the fridge and placing it back on the shelf with much flourish and fanfare. "See? See how easy this is?" I repeated. "I'm not asking you to move fucking mountains here. Just to put the fucking milk away when you're done with it. Like I've asked you to. Thirty billion times."
Gray grinned. "Sure man."
I closed my eyes and counted to ten, trying to call up happy memories that would remind me that I'd miss him once I buried him. "You got something going on this morning?" I asked. My voice sounded high and tight and unnatural.
But if he heard the tension there, he ignored it. Like he always did. Instead he blinked and said, "Nothing," far too innocently.
I turned and stared him down with my arms folded across my chest.
He tried to maintain eye contact over his coffee mug and failed miserably. "Just going out and getting a tree for the party."
I lifted my chin and resisted the urge to yell out "Gotcha!"
"The party," I said instead.
"Yeah," he said, squirming and not meeting my eyes. "The party, you know?"
"The McCabes' party?"
"Yeah man," He actually had the nerve to look excited. "Ma McCabe was all worried and shit about the tree they already have set up. Thought it was too little for that new place they have. I told her not to worry about it, that I'd handle it."
"Uh huh."
"What?"
"Nothing," I seethed. "So you're heading over to your uncle's place to buy a tree? Is he even open today?"
Grayson grinned. "Who said anything about buying?"
"Isn't Uncle Gerry gonna notice a giant tree missing from his farm?"
"Nah," Gray said, waving me off. "He always spends Christmas Eve until New Year's blind stinking drunk. It's a brotherly tradition."
I winced at the thought of Pierce Abbott, Grayson's piece of shit father and Uncle Gerry's sadistic older brother, getting blind stinking drunk. When Gray lost his job in August, he'd made mention of moving back into Pierce's house to save money on rent. I told him to cut the shit.
And that's how he ended up here, at my place, snoring like a motherfucker and leaving my milk out to spoil on the counter all the time. "So you're gonna give Ma McCabe a stolen tree for Christmas? You're one classy motherfucker."
Gray shrugged and slurped his coffee. "That's for damn sure. And I'd better get going, too."
I startled so badly that I nearly sloshed coffee down my chest. Fucking hell, I thought I had more time, I thought to myself. "You're seriously leaving now?" I said. "It's barely even eight o'clock."
Gray stood up from his chair and gave me one of those grins that made me want to smack him upside the head. "Aw, Callum, are you going to miss me?" he teased as he came over and dumped the rest of his coffee down the drain. "Did you want to wear matching footy pajamas while we open presents?"
I rolled my eyes. "No, asshole. I'm trying to figure out what you're up to."
"What?" Again with that innocent look and inability to maintain eye contact. "I already told you. I'm picking up a tree for Ma McCabe. I'm gonna cut it down and then run back here for a shower before I go to drop it off."
I stabbed my finger into his face. "Aha!"
"What the fuck, dude?" he asked as he swatted my finger away.
"You're showering before you bring it over."
"Yeah, you know, wrestling a tree into a flatbed is hard work. You'd know that if you bothered to do a bit of manual labor in your life."
"Fuck you, I lead outdoor expeditions for a living."
"Yeah, for overweight yuppies from the suburbs."
He had me there. I leaned back on the counter and flipped him off. He laughed that big dumb laugh of his. "So can I go now, Mom, or are you not done giving me the third degree?"
I sighed. I was. There wasn't any reason to ask anymore. I knew exactly what he was up to, because I was up to the same goddamned thing. Even though it was Christmas, we were both up early, ready to spend the day helping our friend's parents get ready for their annual Christmas Party. The earlier we started, the more time we'd get to spend staring at her.
Harper.
"Yeah, go, dumbass. I'll see you there," I said. He punched me a little too hard in the shoulder — Grayson's preferred method of saying farewell — and headed out the side door to the rusted out pick-up he somehow kept running.
He skidded out on the gravel drive, digging out another fucking rut in his haste to get going. To get the tree, to bring to the girl.
Harper.
My cock still did a little reflexive twitch when I thought about her. We'd had that one little moment at her graduation party. A stolen kiss down by the creek that ran below her parents' old place. The steep walls of the gully amplified every whispered promise I made, until I was sure we'd be caught. But she wasn't the one who'd called things off.
I was.
I couldn't do that to Gray.
She was my best friend's little sister, yeah. But more than that, Gray loved her in his ferociously obsessed way, and I couldn't break his heart like that.
Even if it meant I had to break mine.
It would be nice just to see her, though, I told myself. Just to catch up. She was tearing it up in New York, winning all these fancy children's literature awards and getting a ton of press. I was proud of her. She'd come a long way from the bossy kid sister who we'd tolerated tagging along. Even if nothing could happen between us, I still wanted to see her.
And fuck it. I wanted to see her first. Before him. It's why I'd woken up so early on Christmas morning in the first place. I'd wanted to have her to myself, just for a moment.
But Gray was apparently thinking the same thing.
Fucker.
So this
was how it was going to work apparently. A fucking footrace to see her first. He was bringing his tree to the McCabes, and I was bringing booze, and whoever got there first got Harper all to himself.
There was no starting gun, but we were definitely off and running.
I poured my coffee down the drain and headed to the shower. I only needed to load up a few cases from my Dad's bar. It wouldn't take me long. If I got going right now I'd definitely get to Harper first.
Before I had to share her with Gray.
Chapter One
Harper
It was one of those deceptively brilliant winter days in Reckless Falls. Where the sun shines brightly in the clear blue sky, but the air is so cold it takes your breath away. I woke up late in my parents' guest bed after the deepest, most restful sleep I'd had in months, possibly years, feeling pretty warmly nostalgic about spending the holidays at home with my family after missing it for so many years. I splashed some water on my face and hurried downstairs in my sloppy pajamas to be with them.
Only to realize that no matter how many years have passed, you'll always be the same in your family's eyes.
After we exchanged our presents, we gravitated naturally towards the gourmet kitchen of my parents' brand new showplace of a house. To eat, but mostly to drink and give each other giant, festive amounts of shit.
"And remember how she got stuck?" my mother laughed, already on her third cup of viciously boozy eggnog in spite of it being not quite noon. Her eyes were shining so happily that I cringed and let her tell the same story she always told about Christmas and my quest to prove that Santa was real. "I come downstairs to see these two little green legs dangling in the fireplace..."