Stone chuckled, his eyes closing.
Nico was too wired to close his eyes, so he settled for staring at them. He knew then, as the dawn approached, that life as he knew it was over. Everything that had transpired in this hay loft had altered his chemical makeup. He would never look at Stevie the same way. It wasn’t an option because she’d shifted something inside him the same way Stone had.
Sure, most of it was based on sex, but not all. They’d touched distinct parts of him without using any part of their bodies.
He wouldn’t call it love because he hadn’t felt that before, so he had nothing to compare this feeling to.
For that same reason, he had a terrible feeling that it was.
Unfortunately, two days later, Nico realized none of it mattered. The moment Stone Jameson drove out of Coyote Ridge, leaving Stevie behind, all hopes of a perfect existence faded almost as quickly as his friendship with Stevie.
Part Two
Almost Fifteen Years Later…
Five
Friday, January 12, 2024
“Oh, for the love of—” Stone Jamesonrolled over and covered his head with a pillow.
It didn’t help. Not eventwopillows could drown out his sister’s voice when she was excited. And heaven help them all, Reilly was evidently really excited about whatever the hell she just found. On a good day—and the jury was out on whether this one would be—Stone was a steadfast member of theReilly is adorablefan club. At the moment, he wanted to coverherhead with the damn pillow.
For fuck’s sake.
“There better be coffee,” he grumbled, tossing off the blankets and sitting up. He dropped his feet to the floor and wiped the sleep from his eyes so he could glance at his watch.
“Seven fucking thirty. Seriously, Reilly?”
Pushing to his feet, Stone took a single step and tripped over his damn boots. He fell against the desk, knocking his hip on the corner.
“Fuuuuck!” he hissed through gritted teeth.
Nope. Uh-uh. Not how his day was gonna go.
Stone turned around, stepped over his boots, crawled back into bed, yanked the blankets up to his neck, and covered his head one more time. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He listened for a moment and heard … nothing.
Maybe she left.
He took another deep breath and continued to hear blessed silence.
“Good girl, Reilly,” he mumbled as his eyes closed. “Go to Mom’s … have some breakfast … let me…” He yawned and instantly drifted off.
A delighted squeal jolted him out of that lingering hazy bliss. He shot up, grabbed the pillow with both hands and twisted hard, clenching his teeth to keep from shouting.
Deep breath in through his nose, out through his mouth.
“Sleep’s overrated anyway,” he muttered as he got to his feet again. This time, he managed to remain upright, kicking his boots aside with a grunt and ignoring the tightness in his back.
This was not how he saw the first day of the rest of his life going. Considering he’d pulled into town at the ass-crack of dawn, he should still be asleep. That had been the plan. Sleep for a few hours, then unload the trailer he’d hauled up from Houston. Only as soon as he walked inside, he realized the latter would have to wait until he helped Reilly and Tate move their shit out. Now it looked like sleep was out of the question, too, which meant the only thing left to do was to start moving shit. At least then he’d be able to sleep in his own damn bed. King-sized. With a pillow top. And pillows that weren’t made of fucking air.
What grown man thought it was normal to sleep in a full-size bed? Yeah, Tate was smaller than the average man, but seriously? Stone’s damn feet had hung off the end. And that was when he laid on his side and bent his damn knees. Anyone over six feet needed a mattress at least as long as they were.
Tonight would be better. He’d have his bed set up and all his—
He was about to open the bedroom door when he realized he was naked.
Well, hell.
