Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83586 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83586 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“Jasp, I’ll go with you.”
“No. Fuck no.” Finally, I looked at him. His brows were pulled together, his eyes lost. He was naked. I kept thinking about that but didn’t let my gaze stray from his eyes. “Stay with your girl.”
He didn’t argue.
I tugged my clothes on and went home.
The next day, Sutton showed up at my house early. We went outside, by the barn. “Last night was just a thing,” Sutton said, digging his toe into the dirt. “It don’t mean nothin’.”
“We were high…and drunk.” Well, buzzed.
“Exactly.”
“It don’t mean nothing,” I said too.
“No one will know,” Sutton said. “We just go back to how things were before. Pretend it didn’t happen.”
“Okay.”
And for the rest of the school year, Sutton dated Miranda, and I dated Kathy. The four of us hung out all the time, Sutt and I best friends like always. Nothing would ever change between us. Nothing as small as a threesome or an orgasm could ever come between us.
He was like a brother to me and always would be.
CHAPTER ONE
Sutton
July
“Damn. Look how pretty she looks. We did good,” Jasper said as we stood in front of the lawn we’d just finished.
It had been a big job. Once in a while, we hired temporary help, people who wanted to pop in for a week or so to do some of the larger jobs with us, but most of the time it was just me and Jasp. We liked it that way. Good help was hard to find. It was our names on the line, and there was no one we trusted more than ourselves to do quality lawn-care work. “We always do good,” I replied.
Because we did. We were both good with our hands, always had been. Going away for college hadn’t ever been our thing. Jasper thought about it for a while. He got accepted to North Carolina State in Raleigh, but in the end he hadn’t gone. We’d started Jasper & Sutton’s Landscaping Designs three years ago when we’d been twenty-three, and hadn’t looked back since. Jasper’s dad was always telling us that we’d do a lot better if we grew some—had a couple of crews at least, Jasper leading one and me the other so we could do double the work—but I’d never been the kind of guy who needed a lot; Jasp neither. We liked things the way they were—just me and him.
Jobs like this were good for us, though. We’d relandscaped their whole yard—added trees, bushes, a patio, and a built-in fireplace with stone seating around it.
“We should do somethin’ like this at the house,” Jasp said as we finished packing up. “I want a firepit. The metal one we have is shit.”
I rolled my eyes. Jasper was always making all these big plans for his house. “You just want free labor from me,” I teased. “I’m gonna end up helping you remodel the whole damn thing for you and your future wife.”
“I mean, can you blame me?” Jasper waggled his brows playfully, cheeks pink from the sun, his freckles a little darker.
I’d gotten my own place after high school. My parents hadn’t owned their house when they’d died, hadn’t had life insurance or anything like that, so things hadn’t been easy. While my uncle was a good man, and I knew he loved me, it was awkward with him sometimes. He liked being alone more than not, and raising a twelve-year-old boy had never been in his plans. I figured he’d want his life back.
Jasper lived in his own house on his parents’ property. I’d helped Jasp build his place, and after a year of bugging me about it, I’d eventually moved out of my place and in with him.
I shook my head and bit back my smile. He was such a damned fool.
We cleaned up, got the check for our job, and were on our way.
As Jasper drove, I watched the familiar scenery speed by. I’d felt…heavy lately, though I couldn’t say why. And I didn’t even know if using the word heavy to describe it made sense, but that was the only one I had.
“I’ll go with you tomorrow,” Jasp said.
I wasn’t surprised he remembered. He was a good friend like that. Not everyone saw how much Jasper always thought of others, but I did. I saw it because I felt it so much. He’d always been there for me. “You don’t gotta do that.”
“I know. I want to.”
“Nah, I’m good. I’ll go by myself. I don’t need you to hold my hand for everything.”
I felt his frown before I turned to see it. “What the fuck does that mean? I’m not tryin’ to hold your hand for nothin’. I’m just bein’ a good friend.”
I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean. It’s been fourteen years. I’m not even gonna stay long. I just always go.” Tomorrow was the anniversary of losing my mom, dad, and sister in one swoop. The day my life changed forever. While I didn’t go to their graves as much as I used to, I always went on the anniversary.