AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It didn’t take me long to figure out I’d made a mistake.
I’d met Charlotte earlier this week and asked her out almost immediately, but it was rapidly becoming clear we had nothing in common. When the hostess told us our table wasn’t yet ready for dinner, we shuffled onto the side patio of the restaurant, and then struggled through awkward conversation for the next few minutes.
It was painful.
Her tone did nothing to hide her distaste. “So, you still live at home?”
“Yeah, but it’s not like it sounds. My dad and his girlfriend are never there. He works all the time and she’s in school to become a vet, so I have the place to myself most days.” She looked like she needed more convincing I wasn’t some gross guy who lived in his dad’s basement. “I’ll move out soon, but right now I’m saving money because I’m building up my business.”
“Oh.”
She said it like she didn’t believe me. I swung my gaze away from her and tried to find something else to focus on.
The outdoor space and the restaurant beside it seemed nice. It was new and busy, a trendy grill and pub. I’d picked it because there was a banquet room attached that might be perfect for hosting cocktail events if the drinks here were good. And if this date was a bust, at least the evening wouldn’t be a total loss.
Above, string lights stretched across the patio, hanging over two sets of cornhole games, which were in use by guests also waiting for tables. Charlotte and I watched as a bean bag sailed through the air and landed on the angled board, its momentum making it slide and drop down through the hole.
Three points for that guy.
He grinned proudly. “And . . . that’s game.”
The other man standing to the side of the board nodded, dropped the bean bags he was holding, and motioned toward the side door that I assumed led to the bar. “All right,” he conceded. “Guess I’m buying. What do you want to drink?”
As they moved off, I glanced around. No one else in the small crowd seemed interested, and at least it’d give us something to do. I gestured to the available game. “You want to play?”
Charlotte made a face and waved the idea off. “No thanks. I’m terrible at it.”
Great.
I’d asked her out before I’d known she was Ardy’s daughter, and now I felt trapped. He was the owner of Warbler Entertainment, which was Troy’s talent agency, and Colin and I needed them as a client.
The first official year of our company, Distinguished Events, had gone okay, but not spectacular. Colin and I had coordinated bachelor and bachelorette parties, anniversaries, and even a few weddings, but we were barely turning a profit. Nearly everything we made was invested back in the business.
Nashville was a big town with a huge entertainment scene, and I was eager to tap into that. Bar mitzvahs and retirement parties kept us afloat and helped us build our network, but we needed a bigger event in our portfolio. Something too big to ignore, to really establish our name.
Troy’s release party would be that event.
His newest album was dropping in two months, and Colin and I had pitched the event to Warbler. I liked to think we’d landed the job based on the strength of our proposal, and not our personal connection to Troy, but it didn’t bother me if it’d given us an advantage.
I didn’t care how Distinguished Events got its foot in the door—only that it happened.
And once Ardy had signed the contract, I’d walked out of the meeting riding a high, and asked the receptionist out without thinking it through. She was hot, my age, and seemed interested in me, and I’d been too excited to recognize she shared the same last name as Warbler’s owner.
I stared at the cornhole boards that were decorated with Tennessee Titans helmets and held in a sigh. My competitive nature meant I wanted to play, but she’d already said she wasn’t good at it, so beating her would be an empty victory anyway. I really liked playing against a worthy opponent.
I bet Sydney’s good at it.
I clenched my teeth at the thought. It had been a fucking year since I’d last seen her, and still—every time I played a game like darts, or pool, or even bowling, I found myself wondering about her.
Shit, I thought about her way more often than that. It wasn’t just whenever I played a game. Her confession about her crush, and that kiss that had been fucking insane . . . It was so magnetic and unforgettable, I’d been infected with the idea of her ever since.
Part of me hated how good she’d been at kissing.
Mostly because we couldn’t do it again. Like, ever.
Colin hadn’t known I’d kissed her, but he’d seen us walk off together that night at our graduation party, and once I’d come back to the house, he’d cornered me and finally said out loud the rule that had remained unspoken between us for years.
Don’t touch my sister.
