Chapter Six
Brooks
“Dude, you’re so fucked.” Carson punches my arm as we say goodbye outside the bookstore.
This morning, we got a hell of a lot more done than I would have been able to on my own. Not only did we get everything thrown out from the store and the good shelves tucked away in the stockroom, but we also got all of the outdated furniture out of our grandpa’s old apartment.
“Fuck off.” I punch him in the shoulder, but he’s got several inches and way more muscle than me, so the asshole doesn’t even budge.
He laughs, then wraps his beefy arm around my shoulder and gives me a noogie. “I’m sorry, but I’m completely fucking serious. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my infallible big brother so flustered by a member of the opposite sex. Wren’s got you tied up in knots, and I’m here for it.”
Have I mentioned how fucking annoying it is to be the oldest yet the smallest of my brothers? I’m still stuck under Carson’s arm, but I’m tired of his antics. Pinching the skin on his ribs, I twist hard, which makes Carson drop his arm and jump away from me. What can I say—I’m not opposed to fighting dirty.
“Ouch. Why do you always resort to pinching?” He rubs his ribs as he grumbles, which makes the laugh I am trying to hold in burst free.
Cameron is smirking as he takes in the show. He’s always been the strong and silent type, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t stir shit up, just like Carson. If anything, his natural desire to stay in the shadows makes him a keen observer, which he always uses to his advantage whether by pulling a prank on one of us or nailing us with a perfectly timed zinger.
“Come on, Cam. You saw it too. Don’t leave me hanging here.”
Cameron shrugs at his twin before turning his stare to me. “She’s different, but I like her for you.”
Carson lets out a whoop as I stand there and try to deny they’re both right.
Wren is under my skin, and the only reason I can come up with is—like Cameron stated—that she is different from any woman I’ve ever been with.
“Maybe she does get under my skin, but that doesn’t mean that I’m fucked. I have too much shit going on right now to even think about going there with any woman, especially one like Wren. I—”
Cam’s eyes narrow, looking over my shoulder, and Carson subtly shakes his head.
A throat clears, and I instantly know I’m up shit’s creek without a paddle. Slowly turning, I see Wren with her arms crossed, her eyes shooting daggers at me.
“Fuck, Wren… I—”
She raises a hand to stop me, and I immediately cut off the rest of my words.
I don’t even know what I was going to say, but depending on when she stepped outside, my last statement probably sounded really fucking bad.
“Save it, Brooks. I know I’m not everyone’s cup of tea. Good thing that you’re the last guy I would even think about in any other way than as my pain-in-the-ass neighbor.”
I try to talk, but she barrels right on.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, my client would like a coffee before we get started.”
She stares pointedly at us.
I realize we’re taking up the whole sidewalk. As I jump out of her way, she stomps between us with her platform combat boots, not bothering to spare any of us a glance.
“Fuck.” I grumble as I scrub my hands down my face, only pulling them away when I hear Carson’s booming laugh ring out. Hell, even Cameron is openly laughing at me, which means I really fucked that up.
“As much as I’d love to stay here and see Wren continually hand you your balls, I need some shut-eye before practice. But if you still need help, we can come back in a few days.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it. Just shoot me a text before you head out here because I don’t know what the construction crew’s schedule is going to be like.”
“Sounds good.” Carson gives me a bear hug, knowing I hate it when he uses our height difference against me.
Cameron gives me a one-armed hug, then the two walk towards Carson’s jacked-up truck that’s parked a few spots down from the shop.
It’s been a few minutes since Wren went into the coffee shop, and as tempted as I am to wait here until she comes back, I know she has a client waiting for her. Besides, I don’t know if I’m ready for her to “hand me my balls” again, as Carson so eloquently put it.
I unlock the door to the bookstore and grab my phone so I can use the flashlight to make it through the shop and up to my apartment. I could walk through here in the dark since my brothers and I got everything cleaned up today. As much as Carson drives me nuts, I’m glad they could help since I wouldn”t have been able to get everything done today without them.
I lock the backdoor to the stairwell before stumbling upstairs as the exhaustion from the day sets in. In the third-floor apartment, I strip off my filthy clothes and head towards the shower. I turn it on as high as it will go.
I pride myself on being active and fit, but doing hard labor all day kicked my ass. Being at a desk a lot for my job, I try to exercise regularly. I love being outdoors whether it’s hiking, going for a run, or riding my bike. Sparrow Falls is known for its trails, and I’m super excited to explore some while I’m here.
Stepping into the shower, I groan as the hard spray hits my sore muscles. I drop my head forward and let the heat loosen my stiff neck. As the hot water slowly relaxes me, my mind wanders to my raven-haired neighbor.
I had no intention of going over to her shop until Carson asked Cam if they could stop by as they walked out my door. Not trusting my brother with her, I raced next door, only to see red when Carson wrapped Wren in a bear hug.
I’ve never been a possessive person when it comes to women, but something about Carson touching her had my blood racing and the desire to punch my brother right at the surface. It’s like my body—or mainly, my dick—decided she was mine even though my brain told me that was a stupid fucking idea.
Once Carson got his grubby paws off of her, I was able to take in her tattoo shop. I have never gotten any ink before but have gone with my brothers a couple of times when they did, so I could tell Wren”s shop was different, almost next level as far as tattoo shops go. The color choices, along with the artwork and lighting, give the space a really cool vibe. Wren also did a great job utilizing the skinny building with the open-concept tattoo areas.
Somehow, I made it through the rest of that interaction without looking like a complete dick. Of course, I made myself look like a giant asshole again outside my store. I’ve never had this bad of a game, but Wren keeps catching me at the worst times or makes me so flustered that my brain quits working and the only mode I have is ”asshole”.
Grabbing the soap off the ledge, I work my hands over my body, but all these thoughts have my dick straining for attention. I ignore my raging hard-on as I scrub off the sweat and grime from the day, but the moment my hand touches my dick, my need for release wins over.
I grip my shaft hard and tug two times, which rips a groan from my mouth. I imagine Wren in here with me, her dainty hands strangling my cock since there’s no way she would be gentle. Squeezing my dick harder, I set an unrelenting pace as I piston my hips and fuck my fist, imagining it’s Wren instead of my own hand.
I’m so close but not ready to come. Relaxing my grip, I imagine Wren smirking as she releases my aching cock to wring out more of my pleasure. She runs her hands over my chest, tweaking my nipples as her lips follow the same path, before she trails back down towards my dick, licking and nipping my skin.
I’m desperate for her to touch me, but the little hellcat caresses and kisses everywhere except where I need her to. Fully seated on her knees, Wren smirks up at me before she swallows my dick into the back of her throat. I feel her relax as my dick slides even further.
Lost in my fantasy, I’m startled back to reality as my orgasm tears through me, ripping a loud roar from my chest. It isn’t until I’m coming down that I realize I just yelled Wren’s name. Thank fuck she’s with a client right now; I’m not sure how soundproof these walls are, but at least I can count on her not hearing that.
A little embarrassed, I finish up my shower before getting out and stumbling to my bed. It’s still light out, but the hard day’s work and my soul-sucking orgasm have me completely wrung out.
I’m about to fall asleep when I realize that if I do that now, I’ll either be up at the ass-crack of dawn or in a few hours, and won”t be able to go back to sleep tonight. As much as I don’t want to, I drag myself from the bed and grab some gray sweats and a t-shirt before heading to the kitchen.
I open the fridge and am relieved to see leftover Chinese from the night before. I might now have much else here, but at least I don’t have to leave my apartment again for the night. As I scarf down my food, I scroll through Instagram.
I’m not a huge social media person, but I know the benefits it can have in getting your name out there, especially for a new business like mine. At some point, I”ll need to make an account for the store, but for now I just use my personal account to get ideas.
Who knew there were entire Bookstagram and Booktok movement. One of my students told me about them, and ever since I learned about Gramps leaving me the shop, I’ve been an avid participant, although I’d never admit that to my brothers.
Bookstagram is the reason I started reading romances. I’m still a newbie in that world, but the readers are so passionate about supporting indie authors and not “yucking someone else’s yum” that I felt drawn to this community. It also reaffirmed my want to hold different types of book clubs once the store is operational.
Scrolling through my IG feed, I notice one of my favorite Bookstagramers posted a picture of her new tattoo. It’s book-related and looks great on her, but that has me wondering if Wren’s shop has an account.
Pulling up my search bar, I enter Once Upon a Tattoo. It doesn’t take long to find her account, and I’m shocked when I see she has over 25,000 followers. I start scrolling her page and quickly see why so many people follow her. The shop’s page is very aesthetically pleasing to look at, with all of the artwork from the women displayed, but they post just as much about books as they do about tattoos. In the very first post, Wren introduces herself and the girls, and explains why she named the shop Once Upon a Tattoo. I’m enthralled to find out the women met at a tattoo convention and formed a fast friendship over their art and love of smutty books.
Grabbing a pen and paper off the side table, I scribble down some of the books and authors mentioned on their page. It seems like they have an equal following from both the book lovers and tattoo enthusiasts.
Scrolling through the page, I can tell the different styles the three women tattoo in, but each of them is extremely talented. I’ve never had any desire to get a tattoo, but seeing some of Wren’s work has me second-guessing that decision. I can’t even imagine how hot it would be to have her hands on me and seeing her in her element.
Fuck, even thinking about it has my cock stiffening in my sweats. Letting out a groan, I toss my phone aside and take care of the trash from my dinner. I made a run to one of the big box stores the other day and got the essentials to make my stay here more comfortable, the main thing being a real bed.
Seeing as I killed a few hours eating and scrolling on my phone, I decide it’s an acceptable time to head to bed. I could watch a show on my iPad but decide to read instead. It’s been a minute since I got my Kindle out, but I never go anywhere without it.
I grab my Kindle off the top of my nightstand and pray it’s charged. Turning it on, I’m relieved to see it is. Unsure of what I want to read, I search a few of the authors from Wren’s page.
Amy Alves’s Landry Love Series sounds pretty good. She’s a new-to-me author, but it has great reviews and a lot of interaction on the Instagram post.
It’s not long before I’m completely absorbed in this world of awkward meets suave, and I can’t help but feel a kinship to the main characters based on my not-so-stellar interactions with Wren. Trying not to dwell too much on all of my mishaps, I let the story draw me in, and before I realize it, I’m passed out and dreaming of a raven-haired, tattooed goddess.
It’s been a week since my brothers came. Cash and Reid’s guys have made huge progress in the bookstore, and I’ve been able to lend a helping hand more than I thought I could when this all started. Everything is moving along on schedule and on budget, so things have been looking good.
The only thing not going well is my relationship with my knockout next door neighbor. I’ve only seen Wren a few times since I made an ass out of myself, but unfortunately, those instances were just as disastrous.
Our first interaction was when one of the guys accidentally punched a hole through our break room into the one at the tattoo shop. I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but calming down an irate Wren was not very fun.
Sure, I hadn’t personally put the hole through her wall, but as the owner who hired the workers, I felt it was my duty to smooth things over. Which was a great idea in theory but not smoothly executed.
When I talked to Wren, she was pissed about what had happened. Unfortunately, when the woman gets fired up, my brain short-wires, and instead of diffusing the situation, my big mouth made it worse.
Thankfully, Reid was quick to follow me to the shop and smoothed things over. I treated him and Cash to a few beers at The Tavern that night, for saving my ass and calming Wren down. Both guys were more entertained that I”d turned into a bumbling idiot than worried about the small repair they had to do.
My next interaction with Wren was a fucking disaster. You”d think the odds of knocking someone over when exiting your front door would be slim, but of course I would take Wren out a second time too, in my haste to get out of the store.
At least I had a bit of an excuse this time since my arms were full and I could barely see over the boxes I was carrying. Of course, Wren didn’t really see it that way since I not only cost her her prized chai latte again but also stepped on her breakfast and ruined it.
I apologized profusely, but Wren was having none of it. She chewed my ass out, right there on Main Street in front of the morning rush, and I deserved every second of it. The only good thing was that at least I hadn’t made her bleed this time.
I was smart enough to head to the coffee shop to replace her order, snagging a few extra coffees and drinks in case Meadow and Daphne would like any as well. Couldn’t hurt to try and score some brownie points where her friends were concerned since I kept fucking up epically with Wren.
It’s really starting to bother me how shitty of an impression I have made on Wren. I know I shouldn’t pursue anything with her, but there is something I find so incredibly intriguing about her. I want to get to know her and spend more time with her, but I have no idea how to even go about that.
Over the next few days, I dove head first into the renovations of the bookstore to distract myself from the temptation that is my gorgeous neighbor. It worked for the most part, but like a magnet, I knew whenever she was near. Too bad I couldn’t find a way to keep her close when she was. Whether I am ready to admit it to myself or not, Wren has me under her spell and I’m having a hard time staying away. I have no idea how to change her perception of me, though, since I seem to turn into a blundering idiot around her.
It isn’t until I”m scrolling Bookstagram that an idea hits me. Maybe I could make my first book club a romance club. I’d love to make it co-ed, but I’m not sure how comfortable the women would be if a man ran the show or if other men were present. I want them to feel comfortable to discuss freely, and having men around might hinder that. Maybe I could use that to convince Wren to host it. I could offer to provide the books at a discounted cost and a space for them to meet. She, Meadow, and Daphne already have a book club, but why not open it up to all of the women of Sparrow Falls?
With a point to jump off of, I grab my notebook and come up with a plan. The bookstore won’t be complete for another two weeks, but maybe I can get everything ready ahead of time and have the book club kick off the first big event for the store.
How the hell should I bring this up to my feisty neighbor without her thinking I’m a complete stalker is the next issue to figure out.