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Chapter One
Holt
Igroan as I pull on the pry bar, my muscles bulging. This is the most goddamn stubborn board I’ve ever met in my life.
But I’m not about to be beaten by a stupid piece of wood. Gritting my teeth, I put my back into it and give the pry bar another yank.
The board creaks out a complaint, then finally rips free of the wall.
I stumble backward, nearly falling on my ass at the sudden lack of tension. Most of the boards in the bathroom were so rotted they’d practically crumbled just from me looking at them. That one, though, was a royal pain in the ass.
At least it’s the last one I need to pull out.
The bathroom doesn’t look like much now—there’s debris all over the ground, dust and chunks from the tile, splinters from the cabinets and walls. But once I get it cleaned up—once I replace the boards, put up new drywall, and lay down some nice tile—this room will be a beaut.
I can already see the finished room in my mind. I have the perfect tile picked out. It’ll go great with the sink and tub I saw a few weeks ago. And now that the hardest part is done, I can get to the fun part. Because as therapeutic as it is to rip out boards and smash tile to pieces, the real art is in turning all this chaos into beauty again.
Sure, the tidy profit I make after flipping a house is nice. But the act of creating works of art inside each place I remodel is what feeds my soul.
I’m just about to start clearing up the mess around me when my phone buzzes, the chime echoing around the empty room. Frowning, I pull my gloves off, then reach into my pocket for my phone, wondering who’s texting me in the middle of the workday. When I see an unfamiliar number on the screen, I grunt out a sigh. Fucking spam texts.
But when I open it up, I quickly see that it’s not spam at all.
Hey, Holt. It’s Felicity.
My heart pounds hard and fast as I stare at her name. Felicity. My best friend’s little sister. Jesus, I haven’t spoken to her since…
…well, since I was in high school.
Sixteen years ago.
I met her and her brother, Cash, my senior year of high school, when their family moved to town. The first time I laid eyes on Felicity, my heart felt like it was going to burst from my chest. But as Cash and I became closer friends, I forced myself to stay away from his sister. There was no way I could let myself pursue my best friend’s little sis.
So I ignored Felicity. For the most part, I simply pretended she didn’t exist. I know, probably not the most mature idea I’ve ever had.
But come on. I was seventeen.
After high school, it became easier to not think about Felicity, since I wasn’t on campus anymore. I quickly got over her—or so I thought.
But now, just seeing her name on my phone…shit. My heart’s still pounding like crazy.
How can this girl have such an effect on me after all this time?
I pick up reading the text where I left off.Cash gave me your number. He, Dani, and Jasper are coming to town next weekend, and I’m throwing a birthday party for Cash at our parents’ house. You’re invited, of course. Party’s on Saturday at 2pm. Hope you can make it!
I read the message a second time. Then a third. My heart is still pounding like crazy in my chest. My mouth is even going dry.
Finally, I snap out of my daze. My fingers fly across the keyboard before my brain can stop them.
Sounds fun. I’ll be there.
I send the message, quickly save Felicity’s number to my contacts, then stuff the phone back in my pocket. Staring at the mess in front of me, I try to remember what the hell I’d been in the middle of doing before Felicity texted.
Right. Cleaning up this mess. I shake my head and get to work. I pull my gloves back on and start grabbing large chunks of debris, hauling them out into the hall and tossing them into a trash can.
It’s a good thing that cleaning up all this shit is mindless work because my mind is definitely not on the job in front of me. No matter how hard I try to put Felicity out of my mind, I can’t stop thinking about her.
It’s crazy, but I can still remember exactly how she looked the first day I met her. She was wearing tight jeans that hugged her curves, a black jacket, and a low-cut blouse.
