“What?” I chuckled as I slipped on my socks and shoes.
“Nothing.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m just impressed, is all.”
I chuckled and Beck shoved his sister’s chair, almost making her fall. “That’s my friend, asshole. You don’t get to be impressed.”
“No. She’s right.” Josie was still staring at me too. “I really expected you to have the smallest dick.”
“I feel like I should be offended.” I leaned back in my chair.
“It’s your personality.” Allie shrugged. “You know, cocky guy, small dick. Showy car, small dick.”
“Okay, Allie.” I pressed my elbows into my knees and looked across the fire at her. “Truth or dare?”
She stared at me, and I had a feeling that no matter what she picked she wouldn’t do it. “Truth.”
I let my gaze slide to Eli before it went back to her. I shouldn’t have even called her name. I should just ask her something stupid and move on, but my heart raced in my chest, and I didn’t hesitate with what I asked her next. “When was the last time that you were truly turned on? I mean really and truly, couldn’t-think-about-anything-else turned on?”
A few people snickered, but I didn’t look away from her. She didn’t pull her gaze away from me either as she answered, but I knew her answer was a lie the moment it left her mouth.
“When Eli kissed me.”
“Carson, truth or dare?”
“Truth.”
“When was the last time you were really and truly turned on? And I mean to the point that you actually considered kissing the girl?”
“Oh shit.” That came from Olly, but no one said anything to stop us.
“Just about any time I’m with you, but if you’re looking for a specific moment, the night the cops walked in while I was going down on you.”
Laughter rang out around us, but neither of us was deterred.
“Allie, truth or dare?”
“Truth.” There was no hesitation in her eyes. She wasn’t scared of what I had to say.
“Do you actually like Eli, or are you just pissed off at me?”
“This is the exact reason people think you have a small dick.” She crossed her arms. “You assume that everything anyone does it about you when it isn’t. I actually like Eli, for your information.” She tucked a blonde curl behind her ear. “Carson, truth or dare?”
“This is about to get messy,” Josie whispered to Beck, but I heard her. She was right. It probably was.
“Dare.” I cocked my head to the side and looked at her.
“I dare you to stop being such an asshole and just tell us what the hell your problem is.”
“My problem?” I rubbed at my jaw. “Currently my problem is you. You haven’t barely spoken to me in days, you’ve been avoiding me like the plague at community service, and now…”
“Now what?” She was angry.
“Now I have to sit here and watch you with him.” I pointed at Eli, and he had the nerve to fucking smirk at me.
“I haven’t spoken to you because the last time we spoke, you made it very clear where we stood. I’ve been avoiding you because I don’t want to deal with you, and you’re going to have to continue to watch me with him because I like him. And it’s the oddest thing, but he likes me too.”
“Truth or dare?”
“I’m done playing this stupid game.” She pushed out of her seat, and I knew that Eli was about to follow her.
“Truth or dare, Allie? It’s not that hard.”
She spun back around to face me, and I could see the anger in her eyes. “Fine. Dare.” She held out her arms because she thought by ending the truths, she was going to end this argument between us.
“I dare you to kiss me.”
“That’s not happening.” Eli had the balls to say that out loud to me, and it took everything inside me not to close the space between us and finish what we had started last weekend.
“The last time I checked, you weren’t Allie’s boyfriend, and you don’t speak for her.” I looked back to Allie, and she was staring at me. “Allie can either kiss me or she can drink.” I lifted the bottle of liquor and shook it between us.
“You kissing me changes nothing.” She shook her head. “Then it won’t hurt.” I shrugged my shoulders and tried to act like I didn’t care one way or another, even though I didn’t know what would happen if she walked away from me now. “If you’re so into Eli and kissing me won’t change anything, then what are you so scared of?”
I’m Holly Renee, a small-town east Tennessee girl who is obsessed with all things romance. I love bringing flawed, sassy, and real characters to life in a way that makes you feel like you’ve been best friends with them for years. No two Holly Renee books are the same, but if you love real, relatable, fun female characters and swoon-worthy heroes, I’m your girl.
When I’m not writing or reading, you can find me momming so hard, being disgustingly in love with my husband, or chilling in the middle of a lake with my sunglasses and a float. #lakelife
I have a 2-year-old adorable little man who is as wild and sweet as they come and a baby girl on the way.
I had my friends. I had football. I had a future I was set on, until her.
Eleanor Kingston was the girl. The one I’d choose if I could, but all I had to give was
one night. My life had been decided for me, my future predetermined. There’s no room left for football or love.
If you get only one life, how hard would you fight to live it on your own terms?
I had my family. My career was set. I was back to begin the life I was meant to lead when I met him. We promised each other no tomorrow, no names, only one night. But fate had other plans. Sebastian Beneventi may think he’s protecting me, but I’m no damsel in distress.
No more running, it’s time to fight for what I want for a change.
“Max, I get it. I’ll be back in Philly in time for dinner tomorrow night.” I glance over to my best friend, Juliette, who’s patiently waiting for me to get off the phone. “Right. Dinner is at seven. Family dinner.” I roll my eyes, even though my oldest brother can’t see me. Probably better that way. “Love you too. Okay, see you then.” I end the call and slide the phone in the pocket of my shorts.
“Finally, bitch!” Jules wraps her arm around my shoulder and squeezes right before she stumbles in her stilettos. We may have pre-gamed a little too hard with the vodka before we left the condo. “You should have told Maxie-poo to pull the massive stick from that tight, firm ass of his and relax for one goddamn night like you’re going to. You’ve been back in this country for less than two days. The Kingstons will have their hooks in you soon enough. Monday, you belong to them. Tonight, I call dibs on my ride or die.”
The two of us continue down the sidewalk toward our favorite beach bar. O’Malley’s has been a landmark here since before either of us were born. It’s one of those bars where labels peeled off beer bottles line the ceiling. If you wear open-toed shoes, you know your feet are going to be touching liquids far worse than spilled booze all night.
This place is always so crowded, it’s necessary to be at least a little bit buzzed before you walk through the doors.
It’s fucking fabulous, and I love it.
“Love you, Jules,” I tell her as we walk past the line of people outside of the bar, waiting to be let in, and right up to the bouncer she’s been sleeping with all summer.
Jules is not just pretty, she’s gorgeous. She’s five foot ten with beautiful blonde hair and stunning brown eyes. Graceful and refined, she can bring a man to his knees with one look. She’s dabbled in modeling, but nothing keeps her attention for too long. So, I’m not surprised when the bouncer—who looks like The Rock and Vin Diesel found a way to procreate and he was the uber gorgeous offspring—can’t take his eyes off my bestie as soon as he sees her strutting toward him. “Hey’ya, handsome.” She leans in and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek. “You on the door all night tonight?”
“Nope. I’ve got another hour, maybe two, then I’m off.” He leans in closer to Jules. “And you know, my favorite thing to do when I’m off is get you off.”
Jules pulls on his shirt before kissing him again as she starts to walk past. “Come find Lenny and me when you get off work, and maybe I can help you with that.” She grabs my hand and pulls me behind her into the bar.
“You ditching me in an hour, Jules?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
She smiles her megawatt smile. “Maybe two. At least you’ll have the condo to yourself. Shawn’s place is just down the street, so we usually go there.”
I don’t bother telling her that her condo is a half block from here. Not exactly what I had in mind for tonight, but oh well.
O’Malley’s has a back room where there’s always a hot new DJ spinning the newest music. They usually have the wall open, giving easy access to the outdoor bar complete with a sand-covered dance floor. You’d think that would be the room to be in, but Jules and I love the room you step into as soon as you walk through the front doors. We have ever since we got our first fake IDs three years ago.
There’s just something about the vibe in here.
The bar is dark and packed. The lights are low, and the volume is loud. The music they play in this room is classic eighties bar music. “Sweet Caroline,” by Neil Diamond, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” by The Charlie Daniels Band, and “Lola,” by The Kinks are just some of the house faves that get every person in the room singing along. It’s a rite of passage to come to this place, and I couldn’t be happier to be here tonight.
Jules turns to me and grabs my other hand. “Listen, I’m gonna do a lap and see who we know and who to avoid. Will you get our drinks?” She spins away without another word. This is our routine. She scopes the place out, and I fight to get the bartender’s attention.
I make my way to the front of the bar on the left. It may take a thrown elbow or two, but I get there. Getting the bartender’s attention is another story. With guys twice my size standing on one side of me and a girl—whose boobs are showing so much, I think the string bikini I wore to the beach today may actually cover more than her shirt does—on my other side, I may be screwed.
Once the bartender is finished serving the double Ds, I yell out, “Excuse me,” and wave the cash in my hand before dropping it back down on the bar and blowing out a frustrated breath.
I’m getting one night of freedom before I’m summoned back home. One night before I become another cog in the Kingston empire. The position my brother offered me in the family company is my dream job, but it comes with strings . . . My family is overbearing on a good day, obnoxious on a normal one, and I can’t even describe how they are on a bad day.
And now, I’m going to be working with them every day.
One of the reasons I moved to another country to go to college was to take control of my own future. My own life. Now, I’m voluntarily placing control over my career into my brother’s hands. But tonight is mine to control, and I might be clinging to that.
I need one more night before I go home and face them all.
Please don’t let my one night be a total wash.
“Want some help?” A sexy voice asks, coming from the guy standing next to me.
I turn my head and get my first look at him since noticing the overall height of the group of guys he’s with.
I nod my head. “Apparently, you need to have your boobs hanging out if you want to get his attention.”
This guy is tall. Well over six feet, maybe six-five or six-six. His dark hair is messy, like he’s run his hands through it too many times. His blue eyes are crystal blue, and whoa, momma, is he built. He looks familiar, but I can’t place him right away. “Yes, please. I’d love some help.”
He leans forward on the bar and calls out for the bartender, who immediately turns around.
What the hell? Am I invisible?
When the bartender leans his elbows on the bar and asks, “What can I get for you?” I’m partially relieved and partially annoyed.
I yell across the bar, “One Jack and Coke and one Corona and lime, please.” Once he walks away, I turn to fully face my helpful stranger. “Thank you.”
The bartender comes back, and my new friend drops a twenty down before I can, then pushes my drinks toward me. “Jack and Coke and a beer. You here with someone?”
I glance around the room, looking for Jules. “I am. My best friend and I came together.”
A giant ginger of a man throws his arm around Mr. Mysterious. “So did this handsome guy. It’s his birthday too. Wanna give him a present?”
The handsome guy throws an elbow in the ginger’s side. “Back off, Murph.”
Murph backs up into the rest of the group they’re with, and the other three turn around.
I glance around at the giants surrounding these two and realize precisely why Mr. Mysterious looks so familiar. One of those giants is Declan Sinclair. The championship-winning quarterback for the professional football team my family owns.
I quickly clock them all.
Brady Ryan is here. He’s the quarterback for the Kroydon University Crusaders. He’s most likely going to be up for the Heisman this year. Last season, he threw for 4,500 yards, 310 completed passes, 402 attempts, and 23 touchdowns.
That makes the ginger giant Aiden Murphy, who averages 12 tackles per game and 1.8 tackles for loss per game.
I’m guessing, judging by who the others are, that the dirty blonde military-looking guy is Cooper Sinclair. He was a force to be reckoned with as a tight end in high school before he decided to forgo college and his potential football career to go into the Navy. I probably wouldn’t know this if his father wasn’t the head coach for my family’s football team.
This brings me to my mystery hottie.
Damnit.
Sebastian Beneventi.
I know there’ll be a file sitting on my desk with his information when I start work next week. I’m the numbers girl. Analytics are my jam. I’m kind of a savant. For the past three years, my brother has asked my opinion on players’ stats. The first time, I was only in my first year at Oxford, and I began unofficially working for the team.
Now that I’ve graduated, it’s official.
And working on stats for the scouting department is at the top of my to-do list.
I shake myself out of my stupor and try to shut off my computer-like brain. I told Max once that I think like the terminator. It all just comes to me like a computer read-out—name, height, weight, stats. I don’t have an eidetic memory, but my brain is pretty amazing.
When this guy smiles, it transforms his entire face. “I’m Bash.”
“Elle.” That’s all I give him, not ready for the night to go the way it would if this group of guys knew who I am.
The bimbo from my other side bumps into me, causing me to trip and fall into Sebastian as Jules’s whiskey sloshes down the front of my shirt. “Sorry,” I utter as Sebastian steadies me with both arms. I slam back Jules’s Jack and Coke before dropping it back on the bar.
Crystal blue eyes travel up and down my body before settling on my face. “I was wondering if you were the whiskey girl or the beer girl.”
I push the lime down into my bottle of Corona, holding my thumb over the lip before I put it to my lips and drink. When I pull it away, I lock eyes with his. “I’m the beer girl. The whiskey was for courage.”
Sebastian turns and orders two more Jack and Cokes before passing one to me. He clinks his glass with mine. “To courage.” “To courage,” I toast. Maybe this night won’t be a total wash after all.
Bella Matthews is a Jersey girl at heart. She is married to her very own Alpha Male and raising three little ones. You can typically find her running from one sporting event to another. When she is home, she is usually hiding in her home office with the only other female in her house, her rescue dog Tinker Bell by her side. She likes to write swoon-worthy heroes and sassy, smart heroines with a healthy dose of laughter thrown in.
Once upon a time, Sasha Petrov had been a mafia princess. Safe and protected in the high-tower of her father’s mansion. She had known her place, and she’d been happy for it. That had been before her family decided to marry her off to their enemy.
Sasha Petrov knew it was her duty to marry, but she never expected her father to give her away to their enemy, the Blanchi family. She’d accepted that it was her fate to end the bloodshed that took her brother’s life, but at eighteen she’d rather be heading off to college than heading down the aisle.
Dominic “Dom” Blanchi saw an opportunity to save his brother’s life. He’d already lost so much, and he couldn’t imagine burying another beloved member of his family. He was certain that his marriage to Sasha Petrov would save his last remaining brother from the grave. Getting a pliant young wife in the deal wouldn’t be the worst thing, at least, that’s what he told himself. But when his family’s warehouses get hit and Blanchi men continue dying, Dominic wonders if his new wife is to blame.
Now, both must make a choice between love and family loyalty.
And Sasha will have to decide if she’d rather be a Mafia Princess or a queen.
Dom placed his arm across the back of my shoulders doing what he could to make it appear that we were a happy couple of newlyweds. I didn’t understand why though. If anything, his family would know that he had married me to stop the bloodshed that had taken place over the past few years between the Petrov’s and the Blanchi’s.
I stiffened as I felt him place his lips on my neck. My hair had been pulled into a fishtail braid over one side of my neck giving Dom easy access to the other side of my throat.
“What are you doing?” I hissed. My body was so tense that I swore a strong breeze would snap me in half.
“Relax,” Dom muttered across my skin. His lips tickled the outside of my ear, and I inhaled slightly. His touch was making me squirm uncomfortably in my seat. I hated how much a simple touch from him could cause me to melt.
“We are in public,” I hissed as one of his hands wrapped around my neck.
“I know.” Those were the last words he said before his lips were on mine.
Dom hadn’t really kissed me since the wedding day. When we had sex, he never kissed my mouth. I hadn’t really thought too much about it until he started to consume my mouth.
My arms automatically wrapped themselves around his neck, and my body immediately slackened as his tongue slipped inside of my mouth. I tried to stop the sound that came from inside of me, but I couldn’t. Dom had taken complete control over me with just a single kiss, and I couldn’t stop myself from giving in.
After what felt like an eternity, Dom finally pulled away from me, replacing his lips with his finger as he fixed the lipstick that had obviously been smeared across my mouth.
“There,” Dom said.
I blinked several times as I started to come to my senses. Before I could tell Dom off for kissing me so thoroughly in front of a room full of people, the processional music started drawing everyone’s attention away from the display Dom had just put on and towards the back door where the bridesmaids were coming down the aisle.
I thank God for the reprieve. I wasn’t sure what Dom was up to, but I didn’t like being the center of attention.
Thankfully, no one seemed to care about Dom and I as they watched the beautiful Francesca begin to make her way down the aisle. As she walked, her lovely dress trailing behind her, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the radiant smile on her face.
I glanced quickly at the groom who was standing at the top of the aisle. He had tears in his eyes as he watched his fiancé walk down the aisle.
It was clear to everyone that the two of them loved one another, and I felt myself tearing up as I considered how their marriage would differ from my own. I couldn’t even remember my wedding. I had been so emotionally distraught that I had blocked most of it out.
My lips trembled as I thought about the happiness that Francesca and her fiancé would have. I was happy for them, even though I didn’t know either of them. But I was also sad for myself.
I had spent my entire life dreaming of the type of love I was witnessing, but instead, I was married to a man who saw me as nothing more than a pawn in a war that had begun long before us. My life hadn’t turned out the way I had always thought it would, and while I wanted to make the best of it, I wasn’t sure how I could. Because while I had thought that by giving up my life I would be saving many more, my mother had blown that up.
Kennedy Slope has always had a wandering mind. She’s written a million romances in her head, but “The Duke’s Contract,” is the first one she’s decided to share with the world. In her past lives, she has been a teacher, a waitress, and for a brief moment, she sold copiers. Currently, she resides in Virginia with her husband where she enjoys drinking too much coffee and binge-watching HGTV.
