Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 95951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
“And we like this guy, right?” Landry asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“We do. He’s good to her. My dad and my uncles made sure of that.” They’re not really my uncles. Only one of them is actually my uncle since he married my aunt, Reagan. The others are just great guys who have been around my entire life.
“Good. Go get changed. I’m about to put these on the grill. Everyone else is already here.” He nods toward the stairs. “All the rooms are empty except for Corie’s,” he tells me, talking about his little sister. She’s the reason for today’s shindig. She graduated from college last weekend and moved home. Landry hasn’t stopped talking about how excited he is for her to be home. The last four years haven’t been easy for either of them. It’s been just the two of them since their mom passed, and I know he’s glad to have her close.
“Give me five,” I say, holding up my bag, then turning, making my way to the stairs and taking them two at a time. My eyes are downcast as I clear the top step.
“Ah!” a female voice screeches. My reflexes kick into high gear as I lift my head to see her about to fall. Reaching out, I wrap my arms around her, pulling her into my body to keep her from crashing to the floor. Her hands rest on my chest as I stare down at her. Her chest is heaving from the scare of our tussle. Her black hair is pulled up in a messy knot on the top of her head, with a few strands sticking out around her face. Big green eyes stare up at me in shock until a slow smile tilts her lips.
“Hey, Knox,” she greets me shyly.
I study her. She’s familiar, but there is no way I could forget her. Then it hits me. “Corie.” My voice is gravelly, as if I haven’t had a drink of water in days. Fuck me, I see her every now and then when she’s on a video call with Landry, but damn, seeing her in the flesh….
She’s fucking gorgeous.
Those eyes. They’re mesmerizing.
I haven’t seen her in person since she left for college four years ago; it was right after their mom’s funeral. She’s independent as hell and insisted on working while in college, even though Landry told her that he had her covered. She was always working summer internships for her degree, so she never made it home much. The times she did make it home, I was away visiting my family or busy and didn’t get to see her. This is not the same girl who left for college four years ago. Corie Reynolds is all woman now. Warning bells are going off in my mind that I need to let her go, but I can’t seem to make my hands release their hold on her.
She feels too damn good in my arms, but she’s off-limits. Fuck, Landry would kick my ass if he knew my cock was swelling in my shorts at the sight of his sister. I shift a little without letting her go, trying to hide the fact that I’m hard from this brief contact.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to crash into you,” I say, still holding her toned, bikini-clad body to my chest.
She smiles, and it lights up her face, and I swear there’s a sparkle in her eyes. “It’s fine. I wasn’t paying attention either.” She moves to step back, and I have to force my hands to fall to my sides and release her. “Sloane was texting me,” she says. “She’s running late.” She holds up her phone as if she needs an excuse to be texting her best friend.
“Me, too,” I tell her, nodding toward the bag I dropped to catch her from falling. “Not texting, but not paying attention and running late.”
She nods and offers me another dazzling smile. “I’ll see you down there.” There’s a slight blush to her cheeks as she moves to step around me. I quickly grab my bag out of her way and slide closer to the wall, giving her space to descend the stairs.
My eyes follow her as she races away and disappears into the kitchen. I don’t move until I hear the sliding glass door open and close again. My steps are hurried as I move down the hall to one of the spare bedrooms to change. There are already piles of clothes on the bed, letting me know I’m not the only one using this space. I take a seat on the chair in the corner of the room and will my cock to behave. Once I have myself under control, I quickly change into swim trunks, grab my phone and sunglasses, and head toward the door. At the last minute, I tear off my T-shirt and toss it onto the dresser, where I make my own pile of clothes.