by C. J. Welles
Dare to Want
Texas Boys #2.5
By C.J. Welles
Dare to Want
Texas Boys #2.5
PublishedJune 2018
Copyright© 2018 C.J Welles
All rights reserved
Cover photo licensed from Shutterstock
Cover designed by C.J. Welles
Formatting by C.J. Welles
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Disclaimer: This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, incidents, and businesses are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
All song titles, lyrics, film titles, trademarked statuses and brand names mentioned in this book are the property of, and belong to, their respective owners. C.J. Welles is in no way affiliated with any of the brands, artists, musicians or songs mentioned in this book.
Titles by C.J. Welles
Texas Boys Series
Dare to Dream
Dare to Love
Dare to Want
Texas Boys Standalone Spinoffs
Meant to Be
Eight Seconds
Bianchi Empire Series
Claiming Luca
Loving Arianna
Marcus’ Maid
Zander’s Valentine
Standalones
Forever Yours
Table of Contents
Dedication
Preface
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Author Notes
Playlist
Upcoming Titles
About C.J. Welles
Contact C.J. Welles
Dedication
To my Mumma Bear, you are one of the strongest people I know.
When I look back over the years and think of you, I honestly do not know how you do it. No matter what gets thrown your way, you always kept yourself together. Not only that, but you have helped hold my life together.
You will always be my hero.
Love you always, Mum.
xxxx
Preface
Jolene
THE PAST
“I HATE YOU,” I scream when I walk in on the two people in the kitchen. Running over to Nathan on shaky legs, I punch his back as he turns and does his jeans up “You, asshole.” I hit him again.
“Wait, Jo-” he slurs as I turn and rush out of the house. I’m too hurt to stop and rearrange the girl's face who he had bent over the bench.
As I quickly climb into Bryson’s truck, Nathan stumbles out of the house and calls out my name. I slump down into the seat as I ignore him.
I can’t talk to him.
I can’t.
I love him, and I just found him having sex with another girl.
It hurts.
It hurts so fucking much.
“Jolene,” he shouts out. “Come back.” I shudder when I hear him kick the trash can sitting by the side of the house. “Fuck,” he roars, and tears drop faster down my cheeks. “Fucking hell, Jolene. You were the one who told me to forget about it all. To forget about us. You were the one who has ignored me for the past three days.” I hear him kick the trash can again before the front door slams.
Tears are streaming down my cheeks by the time he gives up and goes inside the house. I pull my legs closer to my chest and curl up into a ball. Sitting in the back of Bryson’s truck, I make a vow to never let Nathan hurt me again.
***
Chapter 1
Jolene
PRESENT DAY
I SLIDE MY voice recorder back into my purse as Trevor Allan walks away from me, with a blonde-haired bimbo on each arm. I love my job, and I love interviewing the cowboys, but I hate being glared at by buckle bunnies who only find me as an obstacle that gets between them and the cock that they want to ride for the night.
What the hell will one man do with two girls, anyway? Like how does that work? Two guys and a girl, I could understand, even though that’s not my thing. But the other way around? I don’t see how I could share a guy like that.
Why am I even thinking about this? I’m what you would call a prude when it comes to sex. God, I blush just thinking of the word sex. I can feel the heat rising onto my cheeks as I stand in the middle of the arena where Trevor finished second to Bryson Miller.
I’ve known Bryson for as long as I can remember. He’s a family friend who my sister also dated. Dated isn’t a strong enough word for what they had. They were engaged and were expecting a baby until Casey had a miscarriage.
I would love to interview Bryson, he’s everyone’s favorite on the circuit, but Daryl has been assigned to him. I only freelance for Bull Riders Star, so I am limited to what I can and can’t do, unlike Daryl who is their main reporter.
Pulling myself out of my thoughts, I turn and head outside via the back entrance. Just as I make it out into the fresh air, I hear that voice which makes me halt. It’s the voice that makes my body come alive at the same time it makes my tummy churn. I didn’t think it was possible to feel two conflicting emotions for the same person, but I do.
I back up against the wall, hoping I will blend in and he won’t notice me when I hear his voice getting louder as he gets closer.
“I know, but the more you push him, the more stubborn he gets,” he says before he lets out a loud sigh.
“Push him? That wasn’t a push. It was a tiny nudge. Bry needs to be tossed off a fucking cliff before any sense gets knocked into him.” It’s been a while since I’ve seen Ryan, but that’s his voice. He’s also the only one who would talk about Bryson like that.
I hold my breath when their footsteps get closer. I should have turned around and walked back inside, instead of standing here like an idiot trying to hide.
“You just don’t understand…” Nathan’s words trail off, and I continue to hold my breath.
“Understand what?” Ryan asks.
I look up from where I’ve had my gaze on the ground, and my eyes lock with Nathans dark brown eyes. In the dim light, they appear as dark as the night sky around us.
Nathan Miller.
The one and only Nathan, who I gave my heart and virginity to. Who then went and slept with someone else only days later.
“Jolene?” Ryan asks. “Hot damn, haven’t you changed since I saw you last.”
I slowly nod my head in agreement, but I don’t part my eyes from Nathan's. As much as I want to rip my gaze away from him and stomp on his foot, I can’t break the connection we have.
“What are you doing here? You’re the last person I expected to see anywhere near a bull, let alone anything country.”
“I, ah… well, I just… working. I’m working,” I reply to Ryan.
“Working?” Nathan questions and a shiver sweeps from my head down to my toes when his deep, gravelly voice reaches my ears.
“I have to go,” I blurt out, as I turn and run
away from him. I can’t be near him.
“Jolene,” he calls out, but I don’t stop. I keep running until I make it to my car at the other end of the parking lot.
I have been dreading the day I come face to face with Nathan because I knew it would hurt.
I had planned on visiting Casey while I was in town, but now I need to get out of here. I can’t stay here, knowing he’s here. Instead of driving towards Casey’s house, I head to the freeway.
I knew Bryson was on the circuit. Who didn’t? Everyone knows Bryson. But I didn’t know the twins would be here as well. I’d been following the bull riding championship on the East coast for the past two months and had not run into them once.
But now… Now I don’t think I can do it anymore.
I keep driving until I hit Pittsburgh, just before midnight. I was going to continue until I got home, but I’m too emotionally tired, and I don’t want to end up a statistic for why you should rest during long trips.
After finding a small B&B, I grab my overnight bag and head inside. I need sleep, but first I need a shower to remove the smell of sweat and dust, from being in the small arena.
*
Nathan
I WATCH AS Jolene runs away from us. Her light blond hair flicking around in the breeze as she fades away into the dark.
She’s not running from us.
It’s Me.
She’s running from me.
I didn’t miss the pain in her bright blue eyes as she looked directly at me. She’s still hurting, and I’m to blame.
“Damn, she’s hot. Last time I took a good look at Jolene, she was flat chested. Now? Her tits were about to spill out of her top. She’s filled out and isn’t a stick anymore,” Ryan says.
Hearing him talk about her like that makes me want to punch him. I clench my fists together as I remember that he, along with everyone else, doesn’t know about my feelings for Jolene. And no fucking way am I hinting to him that I do have feelings for her. Ryan is a meddler. He can’t admit that he’s stuffed up his own love life, so he tries to butt into everyone else’s.
“Don’t you think?”
“Do I think what?” I ask, not following whatever Ryan’s rambling on about.
“That she’s gotten hotter?”
I’ve always known Jolene was hot, attractive, sexy and beautiful. But I can admit that her looks have gone from that to a goddess. Christ, every woman I see walking around us has nothing on Jolene.
“Yeah, I guess,” I reply, trying to sound unaffected.
The truth is, my cock is hard as steel and pushing against the fly in my jeans.
“I’m going to the motel. Are you coming, or staying here to find some innocent girl to help you erase memories of Kayla?”
Usually, I don’t rib Ryan like Bryson does, but he pissed me off when he talked about Jolene like he did. I expect him to argue with me or to deny what I said, but he only glares at me before he walks off.
***
Chapter 2
Jolene
THE PAST
I LEAN BACK in my chair, holding my hand over my chest as I try to control my laughter. “It’s not funny,” Casey shrieks as she stares at me.
“Oh, it is.”
“You’re a terrible sister.”
“You still love me,” I answer as I laugh at her.
“It was embarrassing,” she cries as she buries her head in her hands.
“That’s what you get for having sex in a public toilet.”
“We didn’t,” Casey huffs as she looks up at me then crosses her arms over her chest.
“Only because you smacked your head on the tile wall as an old lady walked in on you and Bryson. Did it not cross your mind to lock the door?” I laugh louder as I toss my head back. Usually talking about sex makes me squirm and blush, but this is too funny to even worry about blushing.
“I was in too much of a hurry,” she mumbles.
As I lower my head back down, my gaze catches on Nathan dancing with a tall, leggy blonde. Their bodies move against each other as his hands hold her hips.
I hate it.
The way they’re touching, the way they’re dancing and the way it makes my heart ache. I want to be the one that he holds like that.
I sit at the table drinking my soda, as I’m under twenty-one, and torment myself by watching them. Nathan leans down and says something close to her ear, and a moment later, she nods. I glare in their direction as she leads him off the dance floor and towards the back of the bar.
“Why don’t you say something to him?” Casey says as she clicks her fingers in front of my face.
“Who?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. It’s obvious you like Nathan in a way that’s not just friends.”
I suck in a deep breath as Nathan lowers his face to the blonde’s and their lips lock. My heart gets heavy like a boulder has been dropped on it and my stomach lurches like it’s going to bottom out. As much as it hurts to watch him kissing someone else, I can’t rip my eyes away from them.
“Here, drink this.” Casey pushes her drink towards me. “Pretend he isn’t here and enjoy your night.”
I pick up her beer and skull it until the glass is empty. I don’t feel any better though. All it has done is sit heavy in my stomach because I drank it too quickly.
Bryson walks back from the restrooms and holds his hand out to Casey. “Come dance with me.” The smile that forms on her face is bright enough to light up the entire bar.
I like seeing my sister happy.
A little while later, I drink the two tequila shots that were left on our table, when everyone abandoned me to go off dancing. I tried to do what Casey said, and forget about Nathan, but my eyes have followed him for the past half an hour. He’s still at the back of the bar with his lips locked onto the blonde girls.
Getting courage from God knows where I stand up and walk through the crowd towards Nathan. I tap the girl on the shoulder, and when she pulls away, Nathan looks up, his eyes locking with mine.
“Jo?” he questions, his voice sounding low and gravelly.
I push between him and the blonde girl and lean up on my tippy toes and place my lips against his. I hear the girl behind me bitching that I stole her man, but I ignore her and focus on my lips against Nathans.
He stays frozen.
His arms hanging by his side, his eyes wide open and locked on mine.
Oh, God.
What have I done?
I’ve ruined everything.
He doesn’t want me.
Why would he want me? I’m only one of his closest friends. The shy friend who doesn’t party with him. I’m just Casey’s little sister. The little sister who buries her head in books while she stays locked in her dorm room, instead of socializing.
He isn’t going to kiss me back.
I should have known it.
My lips wobble against his as tears threaten to break free.
I’m stupid.
So. Fucking. Stupid.
I pull away from him and take two steps back.
No words are spoken as we stand, staring at each other.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper as I turn away before running out of the door.
I wipe away tears that roll down my cheeks. “You’re a stupid idiot,” I mumble to myself.
This is why I shouldn’t drink. Why I bury my head in books.
Because I do stupid things.
I kiss the closest thing I have to a best friend and ruin everything we have.
I’m halfway up the street when a hand grabs onto my elbow and spins me around. I catch sight of Nathan before his mouth crashes down onto mine. His lips part and his tongue flicks against my lips, seeking entrance. When I open my lips to him, his tongue slips inside, and his hands pull me closer.
I moan into his mouth, and he swallows the sound before he lets out a low growl. The sensations of his mouth devouring mine and his hands on me cloud all my senses, as the next thing I know, my back is against a tre
e and Nathan is pulling my jeans down. I rip my lips from his and open my mouth to speak, but his mouth is covering mine again in a kiss that is both pleasurable and painful.
I know in the back of my mind that I’m going to lose my virginity to Nathan against a tree and it’s not the way to do it, but all I can think about is having him in my arms and inside my body.
Breaking the kiss again, I help him shuffle my jeans off my feet then watch as he pops the button open on his jeans. He pulls the zipper down, then his long shaft pops free, slapping his stomach before standing erect.
I have fooled around once before with a boy at the first and only party I’ve been too. All we did was kiss as he showed me how to give him a hand job. That was the only time I’ve seen a penis in real life, and it was a lot smaller than Nathans.
I swallow nervously as I lift my eyes and meet Nathan’s. He gives me a panty-melting smile as he steps up closer to me and puts his hands on the back of my thighs. In one swift movement he lifts me up, and I wrap my legs around his waist. He moves his hand between us and his fingers slide against my opening, causing me to moan.
“Just having my fingers slide between your pussy lips has my cock about to explode.”
I have no words to reply. What am I supposed to say?
I don’t have to worry, because he captures my lips again as he lines his erection up with my sex. He pushes in slowly, to begin with then pulls his hips back a little before thrusting deep inside me.
A deep burning pain develops, and my insides feel like they’ve been cut open. Like Nathan has started a fire, and it intensifies as I feel myself stretching around him. I hold back a whimper as I fist my hands in his shirt.
He breaks the kiss and looks down at me. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” I reply as I plaster a smile on my face. It’s not Nathan's fault it hurts like a bitch.
“Good, because I need to move. Your tight pussy is squeezing my dick, and I need to feel myself moving inside you.”
