Chapter 1
CHAPTER ONE
ADDISON
I should’ve known that waking up from a panty-ruining dream—memory, actually—featuring the one person in the world I wasn’t supposed to be thinking about anymore was a bad omen for the day to come. And there was no denying today was shaping up to be a complete and utter clusterfuck.
I was juggling twelve thousand things, as per usual, but today, even more attention-demanding obligations were thrown into the mix.
The wedding documentary that had been filming at the resort for the past couple months was finally wrapping up.
Our beachside cottages were booked solid, even though we were fully entrenched in a Maine winter.
And on top of all that, I was in charge of throwing my brother Aiden a party tonight to celebrate the release of book two in his blockbuster trilogy.
A party, by the way, that he knew nothing about.
When it came to his pen name, he was touchy, to say the least. Had, in fact, kept it a secret from the rest of our brothers and me for years.
But despite his fears of people finding out A.M. Kinsey, erotic fantasy author, and Aiden McKenzie, co-owner of the small-town, family-run Starlight Cove Resort, were one and the same, the reception had been better than even I’d imagined.
I was spread so thin, I was basically Swiss cheese at this point, so I’d stepped out of my comfort zone today and called in reinforcements.
It was either ask for help or this party wasn’t going to happen, and that wasn’t an option.
But I should’ve known better than to try to delegate anything to the men in my life.
Especially when those men happened to be related to me.
Honestly, what good was having five older brothers if you couldn’t boss them around?
And what good was bossing them around if they didn’t actually listen and do what you told them to?
Some days, wrangling those five overprotective dumbasses was like attempting to corral wild monkeys. Except with monkeys, I had to be nice.
With my brothers? I did not.
Group text titled:
DO NOT INVITE AIDEN TO THIS OR I WILL KILL YOU
with Brady, Beck, Ford, Levi
3:24 p.m.
Addison:
brADY
Where the hell are the supplies I asked you to get?
Brady:
Asked is stretching it a bit, don’t you think?
Addison:
That’s not an answer
And I don’t have time for your whining
So cough it up
Brady:
I got called to a domestic dispute, so I passed it to Levi.
Addison:
LEVI
I need a status update
Levi:
I didn’t have time because I’m already doing all the other shit you told me to do today. I passed it to the twins.
Beck:
I’m a little busy over here, what with running the diner by myself and all. I told Ford to handle it.
Addison:
And where tf is Ford?
Because those supplies were supposed to be here an hour ago
Brady:
Word around town is he’s in the clinic’s parking lot.
Addison:
Wtf is he doing there?
Brady:
Making out with his wife in the back seat of his car, apparently.
“For fuck’s sake.” I tossed my phone onto my desk and closed my eyes on a groan, squeezing the hell out of my dick-shaped stress ball—a gift from Starlight Cove’s pervy grandma, Mabel.
Squeezed so hard, in fact, my nails dug crescent-shaped divots into the foam, creating craters in their wake.
Or more craters, as it were. I went through these things like candy, and I had no doubt this one wouldn’t see the end of the day.
“Fine,” I said to the empty room, sitting up straight and rolling my shoulders back.
“I’ll do it myself. I’ll run the inn, I’ll handle the documentary wrap-up, I’ll make sure this party goes off without a fucking hitch.
And I’ll do it all without breaking a sweat because I’m the one people go to to get shit done. ”
With every word, I gripped the foam peen a little harder, a little more aggressively, my nails digging farther into it, until finally it hit its limit and broke apart into pieces in my palm. Not the first dick I’d destroyed—and definitely wouldn’t be the last.
“Well, that’s just fucking great,” I muttered as I tossed the remnants in the trash before pulling another foam penis from my top drawer.
“Are you already at the talking-to-yourself level of stress today?” Avery—my best friend and Aiden’s better half—popped her head into my office. “It’s not even noon.”
“I was this level of stressed before I even rolled out of bed this morning.”
Her eyebrows hit her hairline, and she strode over to sit on the edge of my desk. “Why, what’s up?”
I had been the only woman around here for so long that this—having actual conversations instead of being on the receiving end of little more than grunts—was entirely new…
and actually pretty nice. My brothers’ favorite method of dealing with my bad days was either to steer clear entirely, toss me candy from the doorway like I was a feral animal, or just take care of the problem themselves like the overprotective beasts they were.
God help me, but I loved those idiots.
“Just me handling shit on my own because everyone’s bailing on me.” With the hand currently squeezing the hell out of my new stress ball, I gestured wildly at the piles of work on my desk and the bags of incomplete party supplies stacked in the corner.
“That’s nothing new. This—” she swirled her finger in a way so as to encompass my general being “—is something else. Spill.”
Sometimes I hated how well my bestie knew me, but that was what ten years of friendship did for you. I sank back into my chair and blew a heavy sigh toward the ceiling. “I had a dream about him last night.”
“Him who?”
I raised a brow at her. “Him him. Him who shall not be named. Him who’s dead to me.”
“Oh…him. Shit.”
“Yeah, shit. Why the hell am I dreaming about him?” What I really wanted to know was why couldn’t I stop dreaming about him?
She shrugged. “Probably because your vagina has cobwebs for all the use it’s gotten in the past year, and it’s feeling a little nostalgic for good dick.”
I snorted. She wasn’t wrong. “That’s fair. But that can’t be all it is. What do you think it means?”
“Nothing,” she said without hesitation. “It means literally nothing. He means nothing. He’s the worst mistake you’ve ever made, and we need to be done talking about the asshole or I won’t be held liable for shipping him a glitter bomb. Again.”
I bit my lip to stifle a smile, the urge to hug the hell out of her nearly overwhelming.
Was there anything better than your best friend’s sustained rage when someone did you wrong?
Didn’t matter if it was ten days or ten years ago, that shit was forever.
And Avery could hold a grudge like a motherfucking champ…
would no doubt take second place in the Grudge Holding Olympics.
Right behind me and my Dead to Me list where he was named Enemy #1.
Even with a clusterfuck of a day stacked against me, I’d still managed to tackle it all without breaking more than a stress ball. After my angel of a bestie told me she’d handle the stuff at the resort so I could grab the rest of the supplies and start setting up for Aiden’s party, I was golden.
Everyone had shown up on time, and Aiden had been surprised, even though the only outward sign had been a twitch of his eyebrow.
I knew his tells. Despite being a man of few words—which was ironic, since he wrote epic romantasy novels—he didn’t have to say a thing for me to see how much this meant to him, especially considering how long he’d kept it a secret.
Besides that, this was turning out to be the best night I’d had in a while. Between throwing Aiden a party with those who loved and supported him and telling the prudish assholes who didn’t to suck my dick and get lost, I was out here, living my best life, cobweb-covered vagina and all.
My brothers and I sat at a large table in One Night Stan’s, Starlight Cove’s local bar, along with their significant others.
Levi and I were the only single ones left, the rest of our siblings already paired up and ridiculously, sickeningly in love.
They all sat fused to each other as if they’d perish otherwise, while Levi and I exchanged eye rolls when no one else was looking.
Which was often since they were so obsessed with each other.
Thank God I had a partner in him. We had a long-standing pact on these nights—never let the other’s glass get too low and be the excuse to bail if we needed it. And after my day, I was thinking I’d definitely need it.
“So, Aiden…” Everly propped her elbow on the table and leaned toward Aiden from her perch on Beck’s lap. “I know book three doesn’t release until later this year, but…”
After several moments of silence, Aiden finally raised a brow in her direction. “But?”
“Well, I mean… Do you think—” Clearing her throat, she glanced away before returning her attention to him. “Would you maybe consider…”
“She wants the book, man,” Beck said without hesitation. “And I want it, too, if you know what I mean.”
“Hey, if they get it, so do we.” Ford leaned forward, gesturing at himself and his wife.
“I would definitely take it,” Quinn agreed with a nod.
Brady’s girlfriend, Luna, brought her drink to her lips and shrugged. “I mean, if you’re giving it out…”
“I’m not giving it out.” Aiden rolled his eyes. “I can’t just give you the book.”
“But can’t you?” Everly asked, hands clasped below her chin in a silent plea.
“If you did, I’d be willing to look the other way on your next speeding ticket,” Brady said, shocking the hell out of me. Since when did the sheriff—aka my eldest, most rule-following, stick-up-his-ass brother—bend the rules just to get his hands on some smut?
Ford cut in, his tone hopeful. “I could build you something? Anything you want. I’ll help with the lighthouse reno on my days off.”
“And you can eat for free whenever,” Beck offered.
“I already eat for free,” Aiden said flatly.