Chapter 1
Fact or Fiction?
My brothers and I all fell for the same girl.
Luke
“No woman is better than this,” my brother Calder says, standing at the lookout point of Fletcher Mountain. He’s flanked by
pine trees as his eyes move from me to my brother Wyatt on my right.
He looks up behind us at our three cabins nestled perfectly in their prospective locations all at various levels of construction.
It’s a beautiful sight seeing our homes beside each other atop a Colorado mountain. A fucking dream some might say.
Wyatt bought this peak outside of Boulder just a year ago. At the time, the only existing structure was a dilapidated red
barn with an outhouse. Our dad thought he was crazy for moving up here and living in the mice-infested apartment above the
barn. But Wyatt made it work. He always craved a life outside of town. He doesn’t people real well.
But he was onto something, because we all realized quickly that there’s something magical about his mountain. It’s like an
instant anxiety reducer when you’re here. Which meant that when Wyatt offered me and Calder a plot of land to build our own
places next to him, we jumped at the chance.
Now the three of us brothers reside in a full-blown compound-living situation that many people think we’re crazy for.
But it works for us. We carpool the thirty minutes into Boulder every day and work construction for our father.
We get drinks together after work and even make the occasional meals together.
Monthly poker nights, weekly barhopping excursions.
We’re each other’s best friends, which sometimes feels bigger than family.
We fight, yes, but we work through it. And for the most part, we get along.
Some might say we’re the closest brothers they’d ever seen.
Hard to believe we were beating the ever-loving shit out of each other less than twelve hours ago.
All because of a girl.
My swollen eye stings as I shake out my fist, wishing I could erase the memories of everything that went down last night.
Wyatt’s lip is still covered in dried blood from my cracked knuckle and his busted lip. Calder’s cheekbone is red and swollen
and I know there’s a wicked bruise developing on his back from Wyatt ramming him into the bar. We’ve been in some brawls together
before, but we were usually teaming up against other guys . . . not each other.
Judy, the owner of The Mercantile where we were at last night, threw us all out and called our dad. It was like we were a
group of rowdy teenagers, not three grown men in our twenties. But I was instantly thrust back into my childhood when my dad
pulled up and dragged all three of us up the mountain to give us a lecture that made us feel an inch fucking tall. And we’re
all well over six foot.
It wasn’t one of our proudest moments.
And I’d love to place blame on the woman who came between us . . . but deep down, I know we are the ones responsible for this.
The three of us made a bet over a girl and that bet blew up in our faces, ending with a husband we never knew about and a
nail-biting paternity test involving all of us.
If I never see Robyn Whitaker and her “husband” again for the rest of my life, it will be too damn soon.
Those two took their fucked-up relationship back to Colorado Springs with their baby on the way and I tried not to spit on their car on their way out of town.
The shame I have over that relationship is something I can’t even look my father or mother in the eye about.
“Let’s make a pact to never fall in love,” I add, my eyes sweeping down the mountain vista to land on the small rural community
of Jamestown. It rests at the bottom of Fletcher Mountain and it’s a place I intend to call home for the rest of my life,
even if that means I have to spend the next decade making up to Judy for trashing her bar.
“Seriously,” I add, turning to address both of my brothers. “We can do one-night stands or casual fucks or random hookups.
We can satisfy our needs however we need to, but we don’t do girlfriends. Ever. We sure as hell don’t do wives. All relationships
do is bring trouble. Hell, look how it turned out for Max.”
Wyatt and Calder both jerk their heads back, not laughing at my glib tone, but taking it seriously, which I appreciate. As
the youngest of four boys, I tend to let the older brothers do the dictating, but I want to be heard right now. Our oldest
brother Max’s story is a messy one. He lives in Boulder and is successful in business, and a great dad to his daughter, Everly.
But losing his college girlfriend and the mother of his daughter to another woman wasn’t easy on him. It’s been years since
he was divorced and he’s still a stiff, controlling pain in the ass. And I get it. No amount of time can heal that level of
trauma.
That situation, plus our mess with all three of us secretly fucking the same woman behind each other’s backs, makes it painfully
obvious that the Fletcher brothers are not suited for true love. Our parents’ happy marriage did not translate into our DNA.
Letting a woman in is a recipe for disaster. Who needs that mess in their lives?
I step closer to my brothers, capturing their full attention when I grip each of them by a shoulder.
“We have this peak. We have our homes. We have our father’s business.
We’re best friends who live the dream up here .
. . or we used to, before we let Robyn get between us.
Nothing in life is more important than us. Right?”
“Damn right,” Wyatt growls in his deep timbre.
“Hell yes,” Calder confirms, grabbing my shoulder back.
I smile the first smile I have in the past few months of the shit show that was my love life with the woman who moved into
the barn apartment and caused this conflict with my brothers. It feels good. Healing. Like we’re getting back to who we used
to be and can finally see the forest through the trees.
“You boys done with this bullshit now?” our dad’s voice barks from nearby and all three of us turn our heads to look at him.
I straighten and move to stand in a line to silently voice my apology alongside my brothers for ripping our family apart,
not to mention our father’s business.
“Good,” he huffs back before offering a tight smile. “Maybe you can come see your niece, then.”
“Seriously?” I ask, stepping away from my brothers to move toward my dad as hope blooms in my chest. My brothers both look
just as excited as I do. It’s been months since we’ve seen Everly. Max cut off our contact with her when this Robyn thing
all blew up and rumors started circulating around Boulder. And no matter how many times I texted asking if I could just talk
to the little tyke on the phone, he refused. Said we needed to get our life together before we could be uncles again.
Honestly, Everly is probably my number one reason to never let a woman into my life again. She isn’t even ten years old, but
she’s got us all wrapped around her tiny finger. She’s an important part of our lives, and I’m ashamed I let this Robyn stuff
allow me to lose sight of that.
“We’re not here for a long time. We’re here for a good time,” my dad says with a wink. “Let’s go spoil our Evie-girl.”
And with that, we all hightail it off the peak and down to Boulder where romantic love can be a thing of the past and our
niece can resume being the one and only love of our lives.