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“Fuck off.” I grunt, tucking my hands into my armpits.
These yahoos were the ones who taught me to swing first and ask questions later. Look where it got me.
In any case, the guys seem relieved to hear about it.
Archer nods his head slowly. “So, you sure we’re okay to have this guy in the house with Karli?” He points his stare at Felix.
“Yeah. Mason is good people. The best,” Dr. Traitor assures them.
I was so sure this spur of the moment family meeting was going to go differently. I thought for sure they’d put their thick heads together and come up with alternate living arrangements for Mason. So I’m dismayed to say the least.
Felix is the one to confirm the final plans. “Okay, so it’s set. The house is plenty big enough for both of you to stay here,” he aims a bossy glance at me. “So Karli,be niceto Mason. He’s doing me a solid, helping at the clinic. You better not scare him off.”
I don’t say anything, accepting my fate in defeat. There’s no point in arguing. I’d be overruled five to one.
So much for my quiet, serene plans of solitude.
Feeling dejected, I glare at each of my brothers in turn, hoping they feel the fiery depths of my wrath.I hate them. All of them.
It’s decided. I’m stuck spending the summer with Sexy Stranger from the Motel.
No. Not ‘Sexy Stranger from the Motel’. I’m not allowed to think of him like that anymore. I have to keep reminding myself that Mason is Felix’s best friend. Not ‘Sexy Stranger from the Motel’.
Felix’s best friend.
Felix’s best friend.
Felix’s best friend.
Oh god. I have a feeling this is going to be a long summer.
5
MASON
There’s a lot of shouting happening downstairs with the family meeting Felix called. I’m uncertain whether I’m the hot topic in the room, or if the youngest Brighton is the star of the family debate.
Dammit. This fresh start is important to me, and I just hope that my wayward dick hasn’t screwed it up before I even get started.
I take my time, getting ready for work in my new room. My mind is a mess over the events of the past twenty-four hours. Fretting over it all is making my headache worse and worse. So I pop some painkillers and check my phone that’s connected to the charger in the wall.
I have a shit ton of missed calls and messages from my family waiting for me. That’s what I get for letting my phone die overnight. But what can I say? I was a little preoccupied when I left the bar last night.
Flashbacks dance through my mind. The sassy stranger with her dark hair fanned across the motel room pillow. My hands exploring her soft curves. Her tattooed ankle draped over my shoulder. Her raspy moans bouncing off the walls.
Shit.
Tough Girl is Felix’s sister. And apparently, my roommate while I’m here. What kind of fucked-up plot twist is this? More importantly, how am I supposed to survive a summer sharing the same roof with her? Especially knowing what she sounds like, what she feels like, what it’s like to bury my face between her thighs?
Shaking the memories from my head, I sit on the edge of the bed and focus my attention on my phone. After scrolling through dozens of notifications, I find the group chat with my parents and my four sisters. I text them all in one fell swoop to let everyone know I arrived in Starlight Falls safe and sound.Almost immediately, my phone starts ding-ding-dinging with endless, nosy questions from my sisters. As I’m working my way through the text messages, the device starts ringing.
It’s an incoming call from my cousins. Despite my skull-splitting headache, I decide that it would be a nice distraction to see their ugly faces.
When the guys come into view on my screen, Cash greets me with a scowl. “Well, well, well. Look who’s not dead in a ditch somewhere. You had us worried, asshole.”
I take in the background and realize that they’re all crammed into the back office of our grandmother’s bakery.
I snort. “Calm down. I’ve been gone for one day. Miss me already?” Codependency issucha Westbrook thing.
