Hate 2 Lovers

by J. D. Hollyfield

  “Head of steel,” he assures me as he taps his noggin. “All good.”

  We’re both dressed in warm clothes now, and sitting next to one another on my couch watching TV. Linc managed to find a full bottle of Fireball in the back of my liquor cabinet and we’re watching reruns of Game of Thrones, casually matching each other shot for shot.

  “So what time do I have to take off?” he questions as he stretches his arm along the back of the sofa behind me. “When’s your owner coming over?”

  I smack him in the chest before bending over to grab the bottle. “Shut up,” I grumble. “He’s not my owner.” I fill up our shot glasses again and then hand him one.

  “Rey,” he mutters, a slight hint of disgust in his voice. “He calls you Pet.” He regards me with an annoyed stare. I have about three seconds of seriousness in me before my smile breeches and we both begin to laugh.

  “God, I know,” I say with a curl of my upper lip. “Isn’t it just horrible?” And it is. I mean, I know Chase is being sweet giving me a pet name, but I cringe just thinking about the day he calls me that in front of one of my older brothers. He’s been wise enough not throw it out while in front of either one of them so far.

  “Super fucking horrible,” he agrees.

  We clink glasses and the warm liquid soon makes its way down my throat. I should probably stop drinking any minute now. The guy on the television show is quickly forming into two.

  “Why the fuck do you let him call you that shit, anyway? Makes me want to pummel his ass every time…” He growls, and I stare at him thoughtfully. “What?” he demands, a defensive tone in his voice. “You’re my favorite friend in this world, and I don’t like the way he treats you sometimes. As if he’s the motherfucking catch. Plastic boy has it so wrong.”

  I offer him a thankful smile. I pat his thigh and let out a huge sigh as I lean my head against the back of the couch where his arm is still stretched across the back. “I don’t know. I guess I should tell him I hate it,” I agree.

  When I turn to face him, he’s staring at me with his brows scrunched together. “So tell him tonight when he shows up.”

  I bite on my bottom lip. “Friends right? No judgment?”

  “Thick as thieves.” He raises his hand pretending to hold an imaginary sword.

  I give him an eye roll, but his usual I-can-do-no-wrong smile wins me over.

  “Fine. Well, for starters, he’s not coming over. He blew me off.” I swear, for a second his eyes look pleased, but then he masks it with a sad smile.

  “Sorry, Rey.”

  “Oh, its fine. I just… I was just hoping we would…” I stall because I’m not sure this is something I should be sharing with Linc. Friends or not, it’s still pretty personal.

  But on another note, I’m pretty drunk, and so is he, so there’s a chance neither of us will remember this talk tomorrow, anyway.

  “Okay, don’t laugh.”

  “Promise.”

  “No judgment either!”

  “Friends don’t judge friends.”

  I stare him down one last time before I take the plunge.

  “I was hoping tonight we were going to take it a step further…in the bedroom.”

  Linc’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise at my words.

  “Ugh. Wow…” I trail off in a half whisper. “That’s embarrassing. I should have kept that to myself. You don’t want to hear this.” I sit up and reach for the Fireball. After refilling our glasses, we both clink and knock another one back. The slow burn making its way down my throat is enough to keep any other stupid words from spurting out.

  “Hey,” he says, his voice soft and warm. “If you can’t share things with your favorite friend, then who can you share them with?” He smashes the sweet moment to smithereens when he waggles his eyebrows at me, causing me to snort. This boy is such a clown sometimes.

  At least he makes you laugh, unlike Mr. Serious.

  I shake away the abrupt and inappropriate thought. “We are thick as thieves.” I laugh at his previous comment. “Okay, so screw it. I wanted to get kinky in the bedroom. There. I said it. Chase isn’t really an outside-the-box kind of guy. He knows how to pleasure me, but it’s like Sex Basics 101.” I glance at Linc but his smile is long gone. “What? Are you judging me?” He probably thinks I’m some sort of sicko now.

  “No, sorry…” He clears his throat and scrubs his palm along his scruffy cheek. “Go on.”

  Feeling more confident, I sit up and tuck my legs underneath me as I turn to face him. “It’s just… I want more passion. I want to try new things, like spanking and maybe hair pulling. I want to know how it feels to have such hot sex that you fear blacking out from such intense pleasure.” I look at Linc to see if he understands where I’m coming from. I bet he does. He looks like a man who knows how to toss a girl around. I’ve never seen him with one, but it’s probably because I’m ruining his game by always being nearby. “Anyway, I was hoping to…you know…test it out with him tonight.”

  Linc is unusually quiet. I probably just made things weird. For a moment, I get caught up staring into his deep, enigmatic eyes, watching his jaw tighten.

  “I’m sorry,” I murmur and unlock my gaze from his to stare down at my lap. “That was probably way too much information for you. How about you tell me about some chick to even out the awkwardness?”

  He doesn’t say anything at first.

  I’m assuming he’s just as drunk as I am, and slow on the receiving end, until he lifts his hand as if to touch me. Our eyes meet again, and a storm brews in his gaze. He seems to think twice about touching me because he drops his hand back in his lap.

  “Rey,” he mutters and then clears his throat. “When Chase kisses you, how does it make you feel?”

  I’m caught off guard by his question and frown. “I’m not really sure what you mean.”

  “Exactly what I’m asking. How do you feel when plastic boy kisses you?”

  I stop to think. I try to picture the last time Chase and I were locked in a passionate kiss. I can’t say any extraordinary word comes to mind. All of our kisses are brief and simple.

  “I don’t know, nice?” I reply, hesitation in my voice. “It feels nice.” And the kisses are nice, I suppose.

  His eyes darken, and I feel like I gave him the wrong answer.

  “Thick as thieves, right?” he questions, his voice husky. I’m not sure what our friendship has to do with this. “You’ll forgive me if I ever do something stupid?”

  “Yes,” I tell him with a smile. “You always do stupid things. But we’re thick as thieves. Always.”

  I’m not given time to prepare before Linc’s palms are gripping my face and his lips are on mine. My eyes bulge out of my head at his sudden move. I’m about to tug away from him when his tongue pushes past my lips, parting them and inviting himself in to explore.

  My mind is beginning to race. The warmth from the liquor is starting to boil in my belly. The temperature in the room spikes, and all I can focus on is the way his soft wet lips brush against mine. The way his tongue tastes of liquor and him.

  Embarrassment ripples through me when a moan filters up my throat, and I find myself leaning into his kiss. His touch is still gentle but the pressure of his lips has increased. I’m suddenly lost, wrapping my hands around his neck matching him, my tongue dancing around his. A strange buzzing starts in my chest and shoots all the way down to my toes.

  This is crazy.

  Insane.

  I’m kissing my best friend.

  But…

  I need more.

  I bring my hands up into his nearly black hair, which has recently grown longer. I’m craving more of his mouth and lean in for more when he abruptly pulls away. I blink away the dizziness of our kiss and meet his eyes. We’re both breathing heavily and his lips are wet and somehow fuller looking than normal. I can’t help but lick my own, which draws his eyes down to them.

  He runs his thumb along my bottom lip and his voice is low. �
��That’s how you should be kissed.” His eyes lift to mine and all playfulness is gone as he regards me with a fierce stare that makes my entire body tingle. “If that ain’t what he’s giving you, then you ain’t getting what you deserve.”

  To be continued…

  Thieves 2 Lovers

  Coming soon!

  Dear Reader,

  We hope you enjoyed our little book and thank you for taking the time to post a review. Thieves 2 Lovers will come out before you know it and we’re pumped to write all about Reagan and Linc—those two have a story we can’t wait to tell!

  If you were wondering, K Webster wrote Roman and J.D. Hollyfield wrote Andie. Hollyfield can write some feisty, hilarious females and Webster has a knack for growly, bossy males. Together, it’s magic. HA!

  If you want to have more fun with us, come find us in our active reader groups on FB. We like popping into each other’s groups and harassing each other from time to time (okay every day)! See ya there!

  K & J

  J.D. Hollyfield’s reader group, join here.

  K Webster’s reader group, join here.

  A huge thank you to my amazing friend J.D. Hollyfield. You’re my hero. You cheer me up when I’m down and make me laugh when I truly need it. And sometimes you entertain me when you try to talk me off my ledge but I jump off anyway because we all know there’s no controlling me ha! I do what I want. I’m so glad we started this journey together. You get me (except when I start talking about murder and mayhem) but for the most part you get me. I cunt wait to see what else we concoct, friend!

  Thank you to my husband, Matt. I love you more than words can describe. Your support means the world.

  I want to thank the people who read this beta book early and gave us incredible support. Elizabeth Clinton, Jessica, Viteri, Ella Stewart, Amanda Soderlund, Amy Bosica, Shannon Martin, Brooklyn Miller, Robin Martin, and Amy Simms. (I hope I didn’t forget anyone.) You guys always provide AMAZING feedback. You all give me helpful ideas to make my stories better and give me incredible encouragement. I appreciate all of your comments and suggestions. Love you ladies!

  Also, a big thank you to Vanessa Renee Place for proofreading our story after editing. You truly are an amazing person and I can’t thank you enough!! Love ya, friend!

  A big thank you to my author friends who have given me your friendship and your support. You have no idea how much that means to me.

  Thank you to all of my blogger friends both big and small that go above and beyond to always share my stuff. You all rock! #AllBlogsMatter

  I’m especially thankful for my Krazy for K Webster’s Books reader group. You ladies are wonderful with your support and friendship. Each and every single one of you is amazingly supportive and caring. #Cucumbers4Life

  I am totally thankful for my author group, the COPA gals, for being there when I need to take a load off and whine. Y’all rock!

  Vanessa Bridges and Jessica D. from Prema Editing, thanks so much for editing our book!

  Thank you Stacey Blake for working through a time crunch and always being so flexible. I love you! I love you! I love you!

  A big thanks to my PR gal, Nicole Blanchard. You are fabulous at what you do and keep me on track! And also thank you to The Hype PR gals for sharing the love!

  Lastly but certainly not least of all, thank you to all of the wonderful readers out there that are willing to hear my story and enjoy my characters like I do. It means the world to me!

  Thank you first to my bomb ass husband. Who always puts me before himself. I know it takes a lot to deal with a writer. So thank you for all those times you’ve questioned my sanity at two in the morning, and just turned and walked away. Since they haven’t invented a word strong enough for how much I love you so we will stick with the four letter word for now.

  To K Webster. Thanks for being the peanut butter to my jelly. Even though I think you are absolutely crazy, I still find you to be one of the most amazing humans in this industry. Thanks for such a fun, wild ride. Thank you for being awesome and funny and scary all in one. This friendship has been one big laugh after another. You are talented and kind and one giving human. My heart feels funny just knowing I have such an amazing friend in my life and I cunt believe how lucky I am. I’m thankful for you. And always remember, “We’re so cute.”

  Thank you to my editor Vanessa Bridges and her team at PREMA for their efforts in this story. Thank you to my amazing Beta team, and all the ladies who offered their eyes on this project. Amy Wiater, Jennifer Hanson, and anyone else I missed who took the time to jump on my story and work together to make it what it is today. I appreciate you all!

  Thank you to All by Design for the amazing cover! You nailed it. As you nail everything else. (Not everyone. Whole nother conversation…)

  Thank you to my awesome reader group, Club JD. All your constant support for what I do warms my heart. I appreciate all the time you take in helping my stories come to life within this community.

  A big hug and wine clink to Stacey at Champagne Formats for always making my books look so pretty.

  And most importantly every single reader and blogger! THANK YOU for all that you do. For supporting me, reading my stories, spreading the word. It’s because of you that I get to continue in this business. And for that I am forever grateful.

  Cheers. This big glass of wine is for you.

  K Webster is the author of dozens of romance books in many different genres including contemporary romance, historical romance, paranormal romance, dark romance, romantic suspense, and erotic romance. When not spending time with her husband of nearly fourteen years and two adorable children, she’s active on social media connecting with her readers.

  Her other passions besides writing include reading and graphic design. K can always be found in front of her computer chasing her next idea and taking action. She looks forward to the day when she will see one of her titles on the big screen.

  Join K Webster’s newsletter to receive a couple of updates a month on new releases and exclusive content. To join, all you need to do is go here.

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  Books by Author K Webster

  THE BREAKING THE RULES SERIES:

  Broken (Book 1)

  Wrong (Book 2)

  Scarred (Book 3)

  Mistake (Book 4)

  Crushed (Book 5 – a novella)

  THE VEGAS ACES SERIES:

  Rock Country (Book 1)

  Rock Heart (Book 2)

  Rock Bottom (Book 3)

  THE BECOMING HER SERIES:

  Becoming Lady Thomas (Book 1)

  Becoming Countess Dumont (Book 2)

  Becoming Mrs. Benedict (Book 3)

  ALPHA & OMEGA DUET:

  Alpha & Omega

  Omega & Love

  PRETTY DUET:

  Pretty Stolen Dolls

  Pretty Lost Dolls

  WAR & PEACE SERIES:

  This is War, Baby

  This is Love, Baby

  This Isn’t Over, Baby

  This Isn’t You, Baby

  This is Me, Baby

  2 LOVERS SERIES

  Text 2 Lovers

  Hate 2 Lovers

  TABOO TREATS

  Bad Bad Bad

  STANDALONE NOVELS

  Apartment 2B

  Love and Law

  Moth to a Flame

  Erased

  The Road Back to Us

  Give Me Yesterday

  Running Free

  Dirty Ugly Toy

  Zeke’s Eden

  Sweet Jayne

  Untimely You

  Mad Sea

  Whispers and the Roars

  Schooled by a Senior

  Surviving Harley

  Blue Hill Blood by Elizabeth Gray

  Creative designer, mother, wife, writer, part time superhero…

  J.D. Hollyfield is a creative designer by day
and superhero by night. When she is not trying to save the world one happy ending at a time, she enjoys the snuggles of her husband, son and three doxies. With her love for romance, and head full of book boyfriends, she was inspired to test her creative abilities and bring her own story to life.

  J.D. Hollyfield lives in the Midwest, and is currently at work on blowing the minds of readers, with the additions of her new books and series, along with her charm, humor and HEA’s.

  Read MORE of J.D. Hollyfield

  My So Called Life

  Life Next Door

  Life in a Rut, Love not Included

  Life as we Know it

  Faking It

  Unlocking Adeline

  Sinful Instincts

  Passing Peter Parker

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