Built on Love (The Peterson Brothers #1)

Chapter 1

Emmy

I love my morning coffee.

I love it so much that I genuinely cannot function without it.

It’s June, and the heat outside today is stifling.

Even though I showered for over an hour this morning, I’m now getting boob sweat.

Just great! Chad still isn’t home, which has been happening a lot lately.

Working late or staying out with his friends.

He tells me that they’re just planning his brother’s stag party, and they get carried away, but seriously how many freaking times a week does he need to prepare one night? Something feels off with him lately, but I don’t know what.

Scrolling through my phone for the fiftieth time this morning, I can’t see any new texts from him.

My best friend Hayleigh tells me I must confront him and discover what he’s hiding, but I’m not like her.

I can’t stand confrontation, and I’m scared to find out if something has been going on; I think deep down I already know.

It’s part of why I don’t speak to my parents anymore; they were never bothered about me.

My god, I sound like an utter coward.

Hayleigh told me that sometimes she jots down her feelings to sort through them, which helps her deal with them.

I haven’t written in a diary since I was 13, but I guess I could give it a go when I have more time.

I looked at my phone one last time, and he still hasn’t messaged me back.

Oh, crap, it’s already 10 am, and I need to get a move on.

Tomorrow is Hayleigh’s hen party, and as her maid of honour, I have the job of planning said party and ensuring it goes off without a hitch.

I picked a nice meal and drinks, but I would’ve picked something riskier if not for Chad squashing the idea.

Downing my coffee, I rush into my bedroom to get ready; I’m supposed to meet Hayleigh in 20 minutes to go over the plan for tomorrow night.

I look in the mirror in my room and sigh; I really should have stuck to that diet.

I hope I don’t embarrass Hayleigh on her big day.

Chad told me I was getting a bit thick around the hip area last week before our date night.

Swiping some tinted BB cream and mascara on my face, I get dressed at lightning speed and fire off a quick text to Hayleigh.

Me

Hello and good morning, you beautiful bride!!! I have literally just got ready and will be making my way out of the apartment as soon as I have finished texting you! Don’t forget the reservation is under my name; I will be as quick as I can love ya, sweet cheeks!! X

Grabbing my bag and car keys, I take one, last look at my phone, and sure enough, he hasn’t texted me back. I wonder if he is ok? Indeed, if something terrible happened, I would have found out. He hates it when I text him too much, so I’ll text Hayleigh instead. Given that he’s going to be her new brother-in-law, she might know where he is.

Me

Hey, me again! Have you heard from Chad? He stayed out again last night and hasn’t been home or messaged me! You know how he gets when I message too many times, so I was hoping you know what’s going on.

Three little dots appear on the screen as I lock my door. Taking the stairs because you know, to lose weight, she finally messages back.

Hayleigh

Good morning, Sunshine!!! I am sooo excited for our lunch date AND my hen party tomorrow!!! I know you have everything planned…. BUT…. there is this place that Tanya at work recommended, and you know how crazy she is, and I reallllllyyyy want to go, and it’s perfect timing, really considering once my hen is over, I can start that new detox before the wedding!!! (smiley face emoji) I will tell you all about it when you finally get here. Love ya too babes xx

I chuckled at that; Hayleigh, for some reason, thought that she needed to have her hen party 4 months before the wedding to give her time to detox before she had to fit into her dress. In my opinion, she was perfect, but we all have our insecurities. Then, almost straight away, more little dots appear. I get in my car and wait for her to finish.

Hayleigh

Hang the fuck on! You mean to tell me that the dickwad didn’t come home? He didn’t even have the fucking courtesy to message you and tell you? Not to mention, that as his girlfriend who he LIVES WITH, you’re too scared to text him to find out where the fuck he is? I am so fucking mad right now with that piece of shit! I cannot believe Pete is related to him, let alone his brother!! I am going to ring Pete now!!!

I knew I shouldn’t have messaged Hayleigh; this is precisely what I wanted to avoid. I hate that I’m so scared even to message Chad, but at the same time, I’m pissed off that I’m afraid to message him. Lately, it just feels like I’m just not me anymore. There isn’t much to do about it now, but knowing I will be late, I start the drive to the restaurant.

I finally get to Coco’s, where I’m meeting Hayleigh, and I give my name to the front desk. The server shows me to the table, and my stomach drops because it isn’t just me and Hayleigh. Chad and his brother, Hayleigh’s fiancé Pete, are sitting there waiting for me. Pete smiles at me, and something flickers across his face. Was that sympathy? It’s gone in a flash as he says, “Hey there, Emmy, hope you don’t mind us joining?”

I look at Chad and see his face, which is thunderous; he doesn’t even get up to greet me. Hayleigh, as usual, is beaming at me. She knows exactly what she’s doing winding him up, and the best thing about it is that she doesn’t even care what Chad thinks. I can guarantee that I am going to hear about it later.

I sit down and turn to Pete. “No, of course not. Are you looking forward to your stag party, Pete?”

Chad shifts uncomfortably next to me. I look at him, but he isn’t even looking my way; no, he’s glued to his phone as usual. I lift my gaze and catch Hayleigh’s but shake my head before she can say anything to him.

“I sure am. Chad has been helping plan it, but I haven’t a clue what we will be doing. That’s why we’ve tagged along today; with it being tonight, I wanted to make sure I got enough time in with Hayleigh”

he turns his gaze to her, and I feel a pang of jealousy, not because I find Pete attractive, God no, but for the way he looks at Hayleigh like she’s the only one in the room, I wish Chad would look at me like this.

I turn to Chad while Hayleigh and Pete are talking away. “Hey babe, are you ok? You haven’t spoken to me yet. Have I done something wrong?”

I hate how small my voice sounds; I’m some meek little mouse who is too afraid to speak up.

He huffs out an annoyed breath and slams his phone down on the table, turning his head, his eyes so hateful “No, I’m not fucking ok, Emily. In fact. I’m pretty pissed off. So what if I didn’t come home last night? Big deal. I told you I was helping plan Pete’s stag party with the guys, and instead of believing me, you constantly text and ring and then have your friend and my brother ring me and give me shit as if it’s my fault! Do you not trust me? Because I’ll tell you now...”

I stop him with a pleading look. “Baby, no, I’m sorry! It wasn’t that at all; I was just worried. I didn’t expect you not to be there when I woke up in the morning. Of course, I trust you! I’m sorry I overreacted; that’s on me. I’m sorry.”

With that, he huffs again and returns to his phone. I can feel my face burning and know I’m bright red. I turn back to Hayleigh and Pete; the looks of pity on their faces are more than I can bear. I get up and rush to the toilets, just making it in time before the tears come flooding.

Not a second passes before Hayleigh is there, wrapping me up in her arms. She strokes my hair and holds me. Eventually, she wipes the sticky hair from my face. “You know you deserve more than that prick, right?”

I chuckle; Hayleigh always has a way with words. “Yeah, I know I do, but what can I do when I love him? Don’t answer that, because I know how pathetic I sound,”

I sigh, straightening my shoulders and looking in the mirror. I clean up my face. “Come on, let’s get this over with so they can get to their boy’s night. Then you can tell me about Tanya’s crazy idea for your hen party.”

We walk back to our table; Chad at least has the decency to look ashamed, although I suspect that’s more to do with his brother probably laying into him rather than because he’s sorry for how he spoke to me. We ordered our food and discussed the wedding, which seemed like a safe topic to cover.

The rest of our meal goes by uneventfully; before I know it, it’s time for the boys to leave. While Hayleigh is busy saying goodbye, Chad comes over to me. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me close. I hate that I automatically forget every nasty word he has ever said.

He looks down at me, not hard, considering I’m only 5’ 3’, and he gives me the sweetest kiss. Once the kiss breaks, he looks at me. “I’m sorry for being a dick, Emily, I’ve just been stressed with all the best man duties for Pete. You know I love you, don’t you?”

I nod at him, and he continues, “You know I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you? It’s all just in your head. Don’t let anyone get in and make you think less of me. I promise there is only you, hun,”

he says and I can’t help the grin that splits my face; that’s all it was, just stress, and as he says, he’s sorry. I was overreacting.

“I know. I love you too, Chad. I hope you enjoy tonight; will you be coming home or…”

I let my sentence drift off, not wanting to annoy him further.

He looks at me and smiles. “Tonight, I’ll be heading home with Pete. Can’t let him out of my sight, or your little rottweiler and his new bride will have my balls”

We both chuckle, knowing full well Hayleigh will eat him for breakfast if he doesn’t look after her husband-to-be.

I relaxed, knowing he was with Pete. “Yes, of course, no problem. Well, I hope you have fun.”

I didn’t even realise that Hayleigh was standing right by us. She turns her death glare on Chad, “You best make sure my husband is going to be ok tonight.”

Chad rolls his eyes but quickly schools his features when Pete comes back. “No problem, Hayles; I’ll look after my big brother.”

She scrunches her nose up. “It’s Hayleigh! Not Hayles! Oh, I completely forgot to tell you. You won’t be seeing Emmy here till Sunday night! She’s staying with me all weekend”

She has that manic look in her eyes that tells me I need to go along with whatever she has cooked up.

Chad looks at me, and I shrug. For a second, I think he’s jealous and wants me home, but he shrugs and says, “Yeah, fine, whatever. You girls have fun. See you later, hun”

Then he kisses me on my cheek and leaves. I can’t help but feel a bit crappy at that; indeed, I shouldn’t be the only one bothered if he’s staying home or not?

Before I can think about it too much, Hayleigh grabs my arm and practically drags me to my car. “No more moping, sweet cheeks! We are going to stay at yours tonight and eat junk food and drink your shitty box wine, and then tomorrow we are going to have a full-on spa day, courtesy of my wonderful Pete, and then the most amazing night!”

I can’t help but smile at her giddiness and finally start to forget all about my shitty thoughts. Like Chad said, it’s all in my head.

**********

After a night of drinking my shitty box wine, as Hayleigh calls it, I wake up with a groan. “Ugh, why is the sun in my bedroom?”

There is a chuckle beside me as Hayleigh whispers, “I don’t know, but it’s invading my eyeballs, and it hurts”

At this, we both crack up laughing, which at once causes us to groan again.

I drag myself to the shower and put it on as hot as possible. Standing underneath the spray, I feel myself come back to life a little at a time. I take my time washing my hair, using my favourite raspberry shampoo, and then I shave everywhere that’s needed. Tonight is a big night for Hayleigh, and I don’t want to look like a mess. I want to look and feel as sexy as I can be. I feel so fat; Hayleigh is always telling me it isn’t fat. She says I'm curvy, and I'll be happier once I change my mindset. I look down at my naked body, and all I see is an overhanging stomach and stretch marks. No wonder Chad is going off of me. “Jeez, Emmy, stop with the self-deprecation already.”

Giving myself a little pep talk, I step out of the shower and almost have a heart attack. “Oh my God, Hayleigh, you scared the life out of me!”

My best friend sat on the toilet, smiled at me and asked, “Emmy, were you talking to yourself in the shower?”

I chuckle and brush my teeth. When Hayleigh’s finished on the toilet, she joins me at the sink, washing her hands and using the toothbrush I keep for her here. She looks at it and sighs. “You know, I’m going to miss coming to yours and using your space. I cannot believe I will be marrying a boy in just four short months.”

She looks a little sad when I turn to her. “Hey, it isn’t the end of the world and remember that you can come to my apartment anytime you want to”

Smiling at her, she beams back at me and says, “I'm looking forward to becoming Mrs. Winters! Now, come on, we have a spa day to get ready for, and tonight will be the best night ever for us!”

We finish getting ready in record time and meet back in my little kitchen. “Sit down and let me make you some pancakes, future Mrs Winters.”

Hayleigh smiles at me and says, “I forgot to tell you what the plan is tonight! I know you wanted to organise everything, and I thank you for that, but I wanted to know if it’s okay if we check out this club that my friend Tanya from work told me about. Well, I kind of already agreed because I want to do it, but I think you need it!”

She says everything in a rush, and I can’t help but chuckle.

I turn to her; she is so hopeful that I don’t have the heart to tell her no. After all, it is her special night, even if I’m not in the mood for the club scene. I smile back. “Sure, why not? What is the club's name, and when do we need to arrive?”

She smiles impishly. “Well, it’s kind of a cabaret club, and we’re meeting the girls there at 7 pm; the show starts at about 8 pm, so that gives us time to get drinks and get sat down”

She clasps her hands together.

I narrow my eyes at her. “Define cabaret, Hayleigh? Will there be music? Men?”

she smiles wildly at me, and it dawns on me. “Is this a strip club?”

Hayleigh looks down at her pancakes. “No, of course, it isn’t a strip club! Yes, there will be music and, duh, it’s a club, so yes, there will be men”

She doesn’t even look at me, and for some reason, I just know she’s lying to me, but I laugh it off.

“Please don’t tell Chad; you know what he thinks of those places.”

I dread even thinking about the lecture I’d get from him if he knew I'd gone to a place like that. Hayleigh looks at me again with those pitying eyes. I shake my head; she knows I don’t want to go there today.

We spent the rest of the day getting pampered and prepped for tonight. Now I’m back in front of my full-length mirror, regretting my choice of dress. All I can see is fat. A roll here, a roll there- is that really what my stomach looks like? Don’t even get me started on what I look like from the side. Nope! There is no way I can go looking like this. Maybe I should stick to jeans and a nice top, that’s acceptable.

I’ve chosen a sleeveless, deep emerald-green velour dress. It hugs every single one of my fat rolls or curves, as Hayleigh would call them., The longer I look, the more self-conscious I become. I look at my hair, and I like that part of it. The hairdresser styled it in soft waves that fell down my back, and my natural red colour looked nice against the dress. I guess I do like my eyes. The green matches my dress, and the makeup that the makeup artist did is flawless. I hear a cough behind me and turn to see Hayleigh smiling; she’s holding two glasses filled with champagne and waggles her eyebrows. “Whit woo. You look damn sexy, girl!”

I laugh at her, not wanting to bring a downer on our night, and instead, I curtsey her.

She hands me my glass, and we clink our glasses together in a toast. “To my best friend and the most beautiful bride there ever was! I hope you have an amazing hen party!”

We down our glasses, and from behind her, she pulls out two sashes. One says Bride-to-be; the other says Maid-of-Honour. I smile, take the sash from her, and drape it over me.

“Are you ready for a wild night, my little Emmy?”

we laugh as I say, “Not in the slightest.”

We call an Uber, and it’s not long before we meet the other girls outside of Club Envy. There are eight of us, and we’re ushered into the VIP line, which means no long wait times. A beautiful, tall, dark-haired woman turns to me and introduces herself “Hey, I’m Tanya, you’re Emmy, right?”

I smile. “That’s me. This seems like a nice place; Hayleigh tells me this was your idea?”

Tanya nods while we deposit our coats to the attendant. “Yeah, it’s owned by my best friend, and he said we could have VIP treatment all night. Plus, the bride gets a special dance with the resident hotty! We’re going to have such a good time!”

She hurries off to the rest of the group. I can’t help feeling a bit nervous. I’ve never been to this type of club before, and the only man I’ve ever seen naked is Chad. I steel my shoulders and walk to the group, determined to have a good time.

We are shown to a roped-off section right in front of the big stage. Waiting for us on the tables are four bottles of champagne on ice, along with enough glasses for all of us. Tanya quickly pops a bottle and gives each of us a glass before toasting, “To the beautiful bride!”

We all clink glasses, and I relax a little as the bubbles travel down my throat. Hayleigh starts to hand out her bridesmaid sashes to the other girls, and we all sit around our tables. A waiter brings over a tray of shots, and I groan, knowing exactly how my head will feel the morning after. We each take a shot as Hayleigh shouts over the music, “To each one of my special ladies! I love you all, and thank you for sharing the evening with me!”

We all raise our shots and down them simultaneously. The aniseed taste burns as it travels down my throat.

We are all a little buzzed when the lights turn low throughout the club, thunder and rain sounds blare through the speakers, and the strobe lights flicker like lightning.

All of us girls look around, and I laugh nervously as the realisation sets in that we are in a strip club, not a cabaret club.

Hayleigh catches my eye, and although I can only hear thunder, I can tell she is cackling her head off.

I shake my head, and we take another shot.

A deep voice rumbles through the speakers, “Good evening, ladies.

Tonight, we have a very special show for you all because tonight, not only do we have our group dances, but we also have lined up for tonight the sensual, sexual, sizzling and mysterious Hammer!”

with that all the women start screaming and fanning themselves. I lean into Hayleigh and Tanya yelling over the speakers “who the hell is Hammer?”

Hayleigh giggles and Tanya fans herself “oh sweetie you’re in for a treat! He’s a masked dancer, but you get to see EVERYTHING else, if you get my drift.”

She waggles her eyebrows and reminds me so much of Hayleigh that we all crack up laughing.

The announcer has stopped speaking, and all the lights focus on the stage, where "It’s Raining Men" starts playing. The next thing I knew, six beautiful men were on the stage. They’ve brought a chair with them and begun to dance around it, and when I say dance, I mean make love to the chair. It’s both ridiculously cheesy and hot at the same time. The girls around me are lapping it up and loving every minute.

The men somehow end up on the floor in front of their chairs, their legs wrapped around the legs of the chairs, and the next thing we know, they’re pulling themselves up into a sitting position.

Next, they trail their hands slowly down their fantastic abs and rip off their pants.

The screams and catcalls are so loud you can’t hear the music.

Each man jumps down off the stage, and they start making their way over to our group just as the music switches to I Wanna Sex You Up.

I shrink into myself, trying to seem as small as possible.

Luckily, they pick the rest of the girls, including Hayleigh; I give her a thumbs up and look around, suddenly feeling stupid; I’m the only one left.

As the girls take to the stage for their dances, I can feel those insecurities creeping up.

Of course, I didn’t want to go up on stage, but I couldn’t help wondering if it was because of how I looked.

I take another glass of bubbly just as the other girls return, leaving Hayleigh on stage, sitting in the middle.

She looks stunning with her pretend veil, garter, and skimpy white dress. The dancers surround her and take turns giving her a lap dance each, and she loves every minute of it.

Seeing how happy my friend is lifts my mood, and I take another drink of my champagne; Tanya leans in close to me. “Hey, sweetie, are you ok?”

I smile. “Yes, I’m okay. I'm really enjoying myself tonight. Are you ok?”

She laughs and pins me with a pretend glare, saying, “I can tell by your face that you’re bothered you weren’t picked to go up, and before you interrupt, it isn’t because of the reason you think it is. We have something special planned for you, Hayleigh and me”

She waggles those damn eyebrows of hers again, and my stomach sinks a little wondering what it is they could have cooked up for me.

Hayleigh makes her way back to us, slightly flushed; she giggles as she sits down next to me, and I say, “Did you have fun up there, Mrs. to-be?”

She turns to me, “Oh my god, you have no idea; this is the best night ever! Well, until my wedding night, of course.”

We both dissolve into fits of giggles, and Hayleigh asks me, “Are you okay, Emmy?”

I smile and nod “Yes! Are you having a good time?”

Hayleigh giggles and down another glass of champagne, nods, then gets up and starts dancing to the music. We all cheer her on just as another very hot guy walks over and speaks to Tanya, motioning for Hayleigh to come over.

The three of them talk, and then they look at me. The hot guy waves, and I blush and then wave back. Unsure of what they’re doing, I wave Hayleigh over. “What was that all about?”

She looked at me and laughed, but I noticed the blush on her cheeks.

“It was nothing. They just wanted to know who my maid of honour was!”

She laughed again, but I could tell when my best friend was lying. Tonight is about her, though, so I laugh back and accept another glass.

After another round of shots and a drinking game started by Tanya, I’m feeling more than a little buzzed, so I slow things down with water. I get up and go to the bathroom; looking in the mirror, I can see my cheeks are slightly flushed, and I like how I look. I don’t see that fat girl; I don’t see the girl who Chad puts down or puts second; I see me. I make my way back to the VIP area, and as I get closer, Hayleigh waves at me frantically, “Come on, you’re going to miss it!”

I look at her, confused, as I take my seat.

“Miss what?”

Just as I take my seat, the club plunges into darkness, and no one can see a thing. I’m just about to ask what’s happening when the stage is illuminated.

Standing in the middle of the stage is a man with the most delicious body I have ever seen in my life. He wears black cargo pants and boots but nothing on his top half. His muscles are defined and bulging, but they appear to be the result of hard work, not just from spending time in the gym. For some reason, I find myself comparing this man’s body to Chad's. Although Chad isn’t skinny and does have some muscle, he is nowhere near the level of the guy on stage. His body is bare except for a single cursive P tattoo on the left side of his chest, and beneath it is an infinity symbol. My eyes travel upward and land on his face, but there isn’t much I can see because the bottom half of his face and over his nose is covered in what looks like half of a diamond skull mask, and he’s wearing white contact lenses, but I know that he is the most beautiful man I have ever seen.

Hayleigh leans in close and breaks my trance. “You ready for your surprise now? This is because I love you, Emmy!”

she tries to whisper, but yells in my ear. I turn to her in panic, my eyes wide, and I see her look past me and up. I don’t even have to turn to know the beautiful man is standing behind me. I don’t know how I know, but I know I can just feel him, and the feeling is electric.