“Opening day?” I guess.
“Not just opening day, champ, although I guess that’s as fitting of a term as any…”
I frown, and she giggles softly.
“It’s been six weeks since Sienna was born,” she replies, her voice implying she’s got more to tell me. “The doctor gave me the all clear. I guess the doors to the gym won’t be the only thing opening tonight.”
Jesus.
“Is it time to leave?” I groan. “I think I’m ready to go.”
She giggles again and shoves my chest lightly. “You can’t ditch your own opening night.”
I don’t care what she says. I couldn’t care less about cutting a ribbon or schmoozing the sponsors.
There is one thing and one thing only on my mind right now.
She must be doing a fine job of reading my mind because she laughs and rolls her eyes.
“Go,” she insists. “I’m not going anywhere; we’ve got all the time in the world.”
We sure fucking do.
But I still haven’t moved.
“Hudson, go.” She giggles, shooing me in the direction of our guests.
I chuckle and do as I’m told.
If someone had told me a year ago that I’d be here, opening my own gym for the purpose of training underprivileged kids and keeping them out of trouble, I’d have said they were insane. I guess if someone had have told me that I would have a baby with my best friend’s little sister, I would have laughed too. But all that changed with just one look.
“Horror!” Justin bellows across the room. “Photos!” I wave at him in acknowledgement and head over, shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries with our guests as I go.
Justin tugs me to his side, and we pose for half a dozen photos.
Justin, Ramsey and I are business partners in the gym – Justin and I coach, and Ramsey will run her physiotherapy clinic from here whenever she’s ready to work again.
“Over here, boys.” One of the photographers clicks his fingers at us and we look in his direction.
“Better work on that grin before the big shoot,” he taunts me.
I flip him off. “Fuck off, Ryan, I won’t be smiling, trust me on that.”
“What’s this?” Justin asks excitedly.
I groan. I’d done so well at keeping this from him.
Once that loud mouth finds out, the whole world will know.
“The champ here has agreed to do a photoshoot for a sexy calendar,” the photographer tells him, and I groan.
“A fucking what?” Justin demands, his grin widening. “You’re joking?”
I shake my head in disbelief.
“Oh, this is too good.” He howls with laughter. “Like nude?”
“No, not fucking nude,” I growl.
He looks at me expectantly.
“Shirtless.” I grind out the word.
He laughs even harder. “I can’t believe this. Wait until I tell the guys.”
“Justin, I’ll kill you, you know I can,” I threaten.
He wipes away the tears in his eyes from laughing so hard. “You can, but you won’t.”
He strolls away, and I know full well the whole room is going to know about this within about two minutes.
“Justin,” I warn him.
“What month are you, bro?”
“July,” Ryan says when I don’t answer and Justin bursts out laughing all over again.
I turn my glare on the photographer whose neck I’m about to snap.
He holds up his free hand in surrender. “C’mon, man, it’s for charity, and they were going to find out eventually.”
I don’t even blink, and he pales slightly.
“I think you’re going to be the irresistible fighter or something like that. That sounds good, right?” he asks, as he takes a few steps backwards.
I hear laughter across the room and see Rusty and Beast both doubled over.
Pricks. Every last one of them.
“Take it off!” Rusty calls to me, and I flip him off.
I glance across the room and see Ramsey leaning against the wall, an amused expression on her face.
“Don’t you start,” I warn her.
Her grin grows.
“Pinky.”
She giggles, and I crack, a chuckle escaping my lips.
That woman, she’s my damn kryptonite.
THANK YOU!
Thank you for reading Mr. July, I hope you enjoyed it.
If you did enjoy it, please consider leaving a review; they give authors valuable feedback, help other readers find new books, and I’d really, really appreciate it!
If you are interested in getting sneak peeks into my work, freebies and giveaways, you can sign up for my newsletter HERE.
If you’re into Facebook, please join my reader group HERE.
Please remember:
This book has been written using UK English and may contain euphemisms and slang words that form part of the New Zealand spoken word.
Please remember that the words are not misspelled. They are slang terms and form part of everyday, New Zealand vernacular.
I.e: I’m from New Zealand and sometimes we say weird things down here… please try and be cool about it.
Thanks again!
MR. AUGUST
Mr. August – Calendar Boys Series, Book Eight, will be releasing August 10th 2019.
Visit www.nicolegoodinauthor.com for the cover reveal and to read the first chapter.
Amazon links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon AU
Amazon CA
OTHER TITLES
Love like Yours Series
Rushed – Book 1
Pierced – Book 2
Hunted – Book 3
Chased – Book 4
Love like Yours Box Set – Books 1-4
Rock Games Novels
Paper, Scissors, Rock: Vol. 1
Hide and Seek: Vol. 2
My Heart Duet
My Heart Needs
My Heart Wants
Every Last Beat – The Heart Duet Box Set – Boks 1 & 2
Calendar Boys
Mr. January
Mr. February
Mr. March
Mr. April
Mr. May
Mr. June
Mr. July
Calendar Boys Box Set – Books 1-4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The songs that inspired this book – Closer – Kings of Leon, I’m on Fire – The Starves and Walk Me Home – P!nk.
Hudson and Ramsey’s story just flew out of me, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I loved writing it.
I’m not going to lie, after writing this many books in the past few months, I’m running out of new ways to say thank you to the people who help me out so often, so thank you all and please refer to the last book for something more specific lol.
I can’t wait for Mr. August!
PLAYLIST
Hall of Fame – The Script
Fans – Kings of Leon
17 – Kings of Leon
Lose Yourself – Eminem
How You Like Me Now – The Heavy
On My Mind – Kora
Fast Car – Taio Cruz
Cold In LA – Why Don’t We
This Is What You Came For – Calvin Harris
Hurricane (Arty Remix) – Halsey & ARTY
Show Me Love – Sam Feldt, Kimberly Anne & EDX
Overload – Life of Dillon
Find You – Zedd, Matthew Koma & Miriam Bryant
I Will Follow You Into The Dark – Death Cab for Cutie
Eastside – benny blanco, Halsey & Khalid
Bad At Love – Halsey
Sorry – Halsey
Rewrite The Stars – Zac Efron & Zendaya
Walk Me Home – P!nk
Start Again – Conrad Sewell
Use Somebody – Kings of Leon
Closer – Kings of Leon
Hold On, We’re Going Home – P
ia Mia
Dusk Till Dawn – ZAYN & Sia
PILLOWTALK – ZAYN
fOoL fOr YoU – ZAYN
Call Me Back – Disco Hue
Losin Control – Russ
That Kind of Love – MAX
Night Changes – One Direction
Seasons – Greyson Chance
Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? – Amy Winehouse
Best Thing I Never Had – Beyoncé
I Knew You Were Trouble – Taylor Swift
Slow Dancing in a Burning Room – John Mayer
I’m on Fire – The Starves
Only Place I Call Home – Every Avenue
Girl All the Bad Guys Want – Bowling For Soup
Wild Ones – Flo Rida & Sia
We Found Love – Rihanna & Calvin Harris
Into You – Ariana Grande
Better – Khalid
Secret Love Song – Little Mix & Jason Derulo
11 Minutes – YUNGBLUD, Halsey & Travis Barker
Can I Be Him – James Arthur
Naked – James Arthur
I Like Me Better – Lauv
Low – Greyson Chance
I Was Made For Loving You – Tori Kelly & Ed Sheeran
The Story Never Ends – Lauv
Bumper Cars – Alex & Sierra
White Blank Page – Mumford & Sons
In The Air Tonight – Phil Collins
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
NICOLE S. GOODIN is a romance author and mother of two from Taranaki in the North Island of New Zealand.
In mid-2015, she started to write about a group of characters who wouldn’t get out of her head. Her first book, Rushed, was published in mid-2016.
Nicole enjoys long walks on the beach, pillow fights and braiding her friends’ hair. She dislikes clichés, talking about herself in the third person, and people who don’t understand her sense of humour.
Please feel free to contact her either via her website, email, Instagram, Twitter or on her Facebook page, she would love to hear your feedback. If you’re feeling really game, you can even sign up for her newsletter HERE.
UPCOMING TITLES
Calendar Boys Novels
Mr. August
Mr. September
Mr. October
Mr. November
Mr. December
Mr. July: An MMA Sports Romance (Calendar Boys Book 7) Page 15
