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The One I Need (An opposites attract, accidental marriage romance)
The One I Love (A friends-to-lovers, secret relationship romance)
The One I Hate (An enemies-to-lovers, accidental pregnancy, romance)
THE SALVATION SOCIETY
Reformation: A Salvation Society Novel (A friend’s-to-lovers, redemption romance)
CUCKED
BY KATE HAWTHORNE
CHAPTER ONE
FRANKIE
After an entire day of moving my best friend’s boxes into his new boyfriend’s house, I was tired. Owen’s boyfriend Archie would have paid for movers, as he frequently reminded us, but the wealth gap between the two of them wasn’t a small one, and I didn’t think it was something Owen would ever be comfortable with. So instead, I’d been hauled across the country, on a private jet, no less, to help Owen move in. It was hard work, and Archie’s offer echoed in my head every time my muscles cramped up and ached.
I’d been happy to come help Owen.
Happy he was happy.
But sad that he was leaving our small town in favor of LA. Having a best friend who lived down the street was convenient, and I was spoiled by it. We’d been in love once, a lifetime ago, and then fallen into a friendship that felt more right than our coupling ever had. That had made room for Archie for him, and, well…Travis for me.
Travis wasn’t here, though, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss how it felt to have him around. I missed him very much, the comfort of our small apartment and the way he never picked his clothes up after taking them off in whatever room he felt was appropriate. I’d be home to him soon enough, though.
The last run of boxes I’d made had truly been the end of it, and in the middle of Archie—and Owen’s—dining room, I bracketed my hands around my hips and let out a frustrated sigh. My crankiness and loneliness were very close to getting the better of me.
“Were the boxes talking shit?” one of Archie’s friends asked from behind me. His name was Flynn, and he was too attractive for his own good. And he knew it. “Want me to kick their ass?”
“Do lines like that work on men out here?”
“Who said it was a line?” He gave me a cockeyed grin that let me know, yes, the lines did work.
Flynn was a handsome guy, but I knew better. It wasn’t like hooking up with him was off limits if it was what I wanted. Mine and Travis’s relationship hadn’t ever been anything close to monogamous, but I didn’t like to make trouble for myself that I didn’t need. And Flynn was trouble.
“I know your type,” I said warily.
“Do tell.”
The arrogance of the man only served to turn me on more, but I’d never tell him that. Instead, I started in with, “You think you can buy whatever you want?—”
He interrupted, “For the most part I can.”
“You’re too handsome for your own good,” I carried on, nonplussed.
“That sounds like a compliment.”
“I didn’t mean it that way.”
He rubbed the front of his chest, face twisted up into a mocking grimace. “You wound me.”
“You could use some of that, I think.”
Flynn needed to be taken down a few pegs, and the longer he talked, the more I wanted to be the one to do it. That would have been a whole different kind of battle, though. Because on top of being too good-looking and too rich, Flynn was also too dominant.
At my comment, he exhaled slowly, whatever mask he’d been wearing falling away in the blink of an eye. I knew I’d been right about him.
