“Do you want me to do that before or after?” I snorted.
“Before.” He relaxed beneath me. “I’m not going anywhere, and neither is my hard-on. Text your people and then come ride me.”
I stole one more heavy kiss before sliding off him. “Yes,Sir.”
CHAPTER THREE
Austin
Present Day
I stared at the construction sign and read it for the third time.Son of a bitch.This was bad. This was really fucking bad.
About five miles outside of Whynot, thirty acres of land had gone up for sale in May. Two months ago, an out-of-towner had swept in and snatched it up before any of us could blink. I’d been trying to get Old Tom to tell me the name of who bought it, but he wouldn’t spill the details.
Now I knew.
Nick Steele.
I hadn’t heard that name in years, and I wasn’t happy to see it on the sign. While Nick wasn’t technically an out-of-towner, he’d been gone long enough to feel like one.
Whynot Relax, An All-in-One Resort and Spa, Nick Steele LLC, Coming Soon.
Whynot Relax. I hadn’t approved that name, had I? They had to go through the town council, and no one had fucking asked me about this, because I would have said no. We didn’t need another business competing with all the ones we already hadhere. Besides, there was already Whynot Stay. Cherry on top, I sure as fuck wouldn’t letNickuse the Whynot name. It didn’t matter if it’d been years, I held grudges forever, and I hated him.
The sun beat down on me as I fixed my ball cap and sunglasses. It was early, but the heat was already unbearable. The next week, we’d be cooked like an iron skillet over an open flame. July and August were always our hottest months, but it didn’t lessen the sweaty burn of it today.
I shook my head. I had half a mind to toss the sign in the back of my truck, but the last thing I needed was a vandalism charge for something as stupid as this.
Even if this was a disaster.
I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and called my younger brother first, but he didn’t pick up. I groaned and tried Levi instead. Didn’t pick up. Mateo. Didn’t pick up.
All my fucking friends were off being happy and in love and doing god knows what this early in the morning, and here I was, alone and bitter and overworked. It was my own fault, of course. It didn’t have to be this way, but I didn’t really know how else to live.
Since my dad passed away, I’d taken the whole world on my shoulders. Everyone in my life liked to chastise me for it. They kept saying I was burned out and needed to take time off. And maybe they were right, but how was I supposed to do that? Who would take care of all the things I did? The answer was no one. Our town was a three-legged table, and if I cracked, the whole thing toppled over.
“Fuck,” I muttered.
I had another missed call and three texts from the debt collector. Phil was a fucking alligator slimeball of a man.
It was borderline harassment at this point. He hadn’t reached out to Dallas and Avery, at least. They didn’t know anything about this, and I wanted it to stay that way. The debtcompany was still attempting to pass our dad’s debt on to our mother, even after a few years, but I’d intercepted that. Phil was still lurking around though, constantly reminding me thattechnicallyI was in debt now too since I cosigned on Whynot Stay with my father.
Just another fucking mess for me to try and get us out of.
I snapped a picture of the construction sign, then climbed back into my truck, texting my three favorite idiots.
Me
Look at this bullshit. Did any of you know about this?
Dallas
That’s what you called me at seven in the morning about?
Mateo
Maybe it’ll be a good thing. By the time it’s built, you’ll finally take a god damn vacation
