Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 122219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
She, of course, turned down the request and told me to go have fun with the guys.
“You don’t get enough brotherly time, and you definitely don’t get enough social time. Enjoy it,” Mom said, swatting me out of her kitchen. That was the second time I’d been kicked out of kitchens that week.
“Twenty-six is going to be my year,” River announced, rubbing his hands together in the passenger seat of the car as I drove to O’Reilly’s. Grant was sandwiched in the back seat between Evan and Easton, looking squashed between the two guys. No way were the three of them comfortable based on their size alone. If there was one thing about the Pierce brothers, it was the fact that we didn’t skip arm day. Or leg day, for that matter.
I told them we should’ve taken different cars, but they forced me to drive, claiming I couldn’t sneak out if I was the driver for the evening.
The three sat scrunched up back there like idiots, smiling from ear-to-ear as if they were in for the best night of their lives.
“It’s going to be my year, too, asshat,” Grant replied to his twin.
Unlike Evan and Easton, Grant and River were identical twins. If a person were to look at the two of them side by side, they’d just believe they were seeing double images of the same person. From their wide, toothy grins to their bushy brows and dreadlocks, those two were remarkably the same. It didn’t help that they dressed alike, too. They were both sneakerheads with an addiction to expensive designer clothing.
They even had damn near the same voice. If I closed my eyes and one of them said something, I wouldn’t know which brother spoke. They used to get in a lot of trouble for doing The Parent Trap and switching spots with one another when they were kids.
Mom had her hands full with those troublemakers growing up. I missed a lot of that period because I was off playing baseball, but it was nice to see they grew up to be decent, good men.
When it came to the youngest twins’ dating lives, River and Grant were a mixture of their three older brothers. They didn’t need companionship. They were fine on their own, like Evan and me, but every now and again, they had a soft lover boy side to them, too, like Easton.
River was one to fall fast for a woman. That didn’t always bode well for his sensitive heart. Yet after every breakup, he always hit his personal records with deadlifting in the gym, so that could be seen as a silver lining. It was only about a week ago that he found out his ex-girlfriend Sarah had been cheating on him with his so-called best friend. I figured that was why the guys were so hell-bent on having me stay out with them. Our little River needed to get his mind off a girl who wasn’t good enough for him.
That kind of made me want to stop being a jerk about going out. There wasn’t much that I wouldn’t do to make sure my family was safe and good. If my going out would’ve helped make River happier, then I’d do it. He had his fair share of heartbreak, even at a younger age. I’ve only gone through one heartbreak myself, though I have been known to break others’ hearts without trying.
Which was why I’d kept my heart—and my dick—to myself as of late. I didn’t see any reason to send any woman mixed signals.
As we pulled up to O’Reilly’s, I parked the car, and the guys hopped out, clapping their hands with excitement. They walked into the bar as if they were walking into some Vegas strip club instead of a small-town, hole-in-the-wall bar that served their drinks in plastic cups.
The amount of swag dripping off the sets of twins was ridiculous.
I hated how good they looked, too. They knew they were handsome, looking like our father. Evan was damn near a heartthrob with his thick-ass beard. If he didn’t love his solitude so much and put off that stay-the-hell-away-from-me energy everywhere he went, women would throw themselves at him.
I followed them, still dreading the whole evening. That was until I looked over at the bar and saw a doe-eyed bartender standing there serving drinks. Probably the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.
Avery Kingsley bartended at O’Reilly’s?
Well, that shifted my mood a good amount.
“Does she still think you’re a dick?” Evan murmured toward me as we sat at a back table, watching the other guys taking yet another shot at the bar.
“Who?”
He gave me a you-know-who look. “Avery. The woman you’ve been hung up on since you were nineteen.”
“Eighteen,” I corrected. “And watch your mouth.” I shoved him in the arm. “I’m not hung up on her. Never have been,” I lied. “Don’t go around spreading that rumor.”