by Alley Ciz
I’m surprised my dog is the only one he’s enlisted to run with him. What about his teammates?
“Jake and Chance are lucky I didn’t pull their asses out of bed.” It’s scary how well he can still read my thoughts.
“I agree about Chance since you live in the same house, but I call bullshit on Jake.” He arches a brow at the mention of his brother-in-law. “There’s no way you would risk facing the wrath of your sister if you woke up any of her babies.”
I don’t bring up the fact that it’s weird for a group of professional athletes—multi-millionaire athletes—to share a shore house together, even if it is a mansion. Those comments fall on deaf ears anyway. No use wasting trash talk on it.
“You got that right. I would prefer not to be the victim of one of JD’s revenge plots, thank you very much.”
“Plus, you run the risk of seeing her naked since she and Jake like to—”
“Not cool, Madz. Not cool at all.” He is quick to cut me off before I can go on about his sister’s sex life. Torturing brothers is one of my favorite pastimes, one that is also enjoyed by some of my fellow Covenettes.
Who are the Covenettes, you ask?
Only the most awesome women in existence. It started with the original six—the founding members, if you will—but we’ve added to our ranks the last few years.
“If you want, I can text her to see if it’s safe?” I reach for my phone only to have it snatched away.
“No way. I don’t need to be the topic of a Coven Conversation this early.”
I snort, like I do any time one of the guys uses the name they assigned to our group chat. I highly doubt Ryan’s brother Jase—Jordan’s twin—and his best friend Vince knew what they were getting into when they gave us our nickname in college. Too bad for them we’re the type of women to take the ball and run with it.
Plus, those Coven Conversations are life. It is seriously the best thing to happen on my phone, and that’s saying a lot. Think about it; I write romance—can you imagine all the research I’ve conducted on it?
“Don’t be a baby,” I tease, poking him in the side.
“Let me see what you’re working on anyway.” He slides my MacBook Pro toward him as he squirms away from my tickling touch.
“Nope.” I slam the lid shut before he can get a peek. Only my girls get to read the rough, hasn’t-been-edited word vomit I come up with.
“No fun.” There’s that damn pout again.
I pop a shoulder and bite back yet another yawn.
“Come on, you.” He takes one of my hands in his and pulls me to stand. “Off to bed.” He cups his hands over my shoulders, turning me in the direction of the stairs that will take me to my bedroom.
“But—”
“Nope.” He cuts off my protest, the captain in him taking charge. “I’ll drop Trident at JD’s after our run so you can sleep as long as you need.”
Gah! Again he has to go and be perfect. I really am an asshole.
Pausing at the bottom of the stairs, I turn to watch my ex-boyfriend-turned-bestie corral my dog, wondering how I can be so good at writing other people’s happily-ever-afters when I can’t figure out my own.
Also by Alley Ciz
The Royalty Crew (A #UofJ Spin-Off)
*Savage Queen*- Preorder, Releasing April 29, 2021
*Ruthless Noble*- Preorder, Releasing June 2021
#UofJ Series
Cut Above The Rest (Prequel) Freebie
Looking To Score
Game Changer
Playing For Keeps
*Off The Bench*- #UofJ4 Preorder, Releasing December 2021
BTU Alumni Series
Power Play (Jake and Jordan)
Musical Mayhem (Sammy and Jamie) BTU Novella
Tap Out (Gage and Rocky)
Sweet Victory (Vince and Holly)
Puck Performance (Jase and Melody)
Writing Dirty (Maddey and Dex)
*Scoring Beauty*- BTU6 Preorder, Releasing September 2021
About the Author
Alley Ciz is an internationally bestselling indie author of sassy heroines and the alpha men that fall on their knees for them. She is a romance junkie whose love for books turned into her telling the stories of the crazies who live in her head…even if they don’t know how to stay in their lane.
This Potterhead can typically be found in the wild wearing a funny T-shirt, connected to an IV drip of coffee, stuffing her face with pizza and tacos, chasing behind her 3 minis, all while her 95lb yellow lab—the best behaved child—watches on in amusement.
