All the Wright Moves E-Book

K. A. Linde

• Herausgeber: K.A. LINDE
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Serie: Wright Vineyard
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Seitenzahl: 314

Beschreibung

A sexy brother's best friend roommates romance set in the world of the Wrights from USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde...

When I moved in with my brother's best friend, I thought it was temporary.

Weston Wright would be in LA with my brother for six months. I'd get the place to myself to get back on my feet. A perfect plan.

Until he comes back and asks me to stay.

I take one look at those beautiful baby blues, the dimpled smirk, and muscled arms, and say yes. I want to say yes to a lot more, but I've dated exactly one boy my entire life, and not only did he cheat on me with my bestie, now they're engaged.

I don't even know where to start with dating. But when I mention it to Weston, he offers to teach me how to date. No strings attached.

All I have to do is not fall in love with him...or let my brother find out.

Leseprobe

ALL THE WRIGHT MOVES

K.A. LINDE

All the Wright Moves

Copyright © 2022 by K.A. Linde

All rights reserved.

Visit my website at

www.kalinde.com

Cover Designer: Okay Creations,

www.okaycreations.com

Photography: Wander Aguiar,

www.wanderaguiar.com

Editor: Unforeseen Editing,

www.unforeseenediting.com

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

ISBN-13: 978-1948427562

CONTENTS

Also By K.A. Linde

I. Roommates

1. Nora

2. Nora

3. Weston

4. Nora

5. Nora

II. Flirt Coach

6. Nora

7. Weston

8. Nora

9. Nora

10. Weston

11. Nora

12. Weston

III. Fine Line

13. Nora

14. Weston

15. Nora

16. Weston

17. Nora

18. Weston

IV. Secrets, Secrets

19. Weston

20. Nora

21. Weston

22. Nora

23. Weston

24. Nora

25. Weston

V. Dream Job

26. Nora

27. Weston

28. Nora

29. Weston

30. Nora

31. Nora

Epilogue

Second to None

Also By K.A. Linde

Acknowledgments

About the Author

A L S O B Y K. A. L I N D E

WRIGHT

The Wright Brother

The Wright Boss

The Wright Mistake

The Wright Secret

The Wright Love

The Wright One

A Wright Christmas

One Wright Stand

Wright with Benefits

Serves Me Wright

Wright Rival

Wright that Got Away

All the Wright Moves

PARTI

ROOMMATES

1

NORA

There was absolutely no way that she just said what I thought she said.

No way.

Not in a hundred million years.

Tamara stared back at me expectantly. Maybe even hopeful. But I still could not process a word that had come out of her mouth. Let alone that she was standing in my office at Wright Vineyard at all. Certainly not for this.

“Nora?” she asked with a flip of her bright red hair.

I had no response.

I hadn’t seen my ex–best friend in a solid ten months. And it was for the better since she’d slept with my boyfriend of three years. I’d moved out of our apartment the next day, blocked her number, and avoided her at all costs.

Now, she was here.

And hey, I loved planning weddings. I’d been doing it for years, ever since I’d interned at a prestigious company here in Lubbock during college. Now, I ran my own ship at my brother’s vineyard and got to work with dozens of beautiful brides-to-be.

I’d always envisioned my own wedding. Might or might not have secretly planned the entire thing with my ex, August, while we were together. It was my job after all.

But I certainly hadn’t considered planning this wedding.

My ex–best friend was standing in front of me.

Asking me to plan her wedding.

To my ex.

“Come again?” I said, blinking in confusion.

She thrust the shiny diamond in my face. “We got engaged!”

As if that were the part that I’d missed.

“Right,” I said slowly.

“It happened yesterday, downtown at West Table. He popped the question right there at a candlelit dinner. The entire room applauded for us.”

Whatever she said after that was lost to my blood pressure, which chose that moment to shoot through the roof. Blood rushed into my ears, my heart rate skyrocketed, and everything went perfectly quiet.

Except, you know, my mind.

I couldn’t stop replaying every single thing that had happened in my life to reach this moment. Tamara dating August senior year of high school for a whole three months before dumping him for some football player. August and I reconnecting our junior year of college, and Tamara encouraging me to go for it. I’d had exactly zero boyfriends, and when he’d asked me out, I’d said yes. Yes, yes, yes.

Usually, guys were scared off by two things: Hollin and Campbell. My two older brothers were terrifying in their own rights. Hollin was huge, tatted, and drove a Harley while Campbell was literally the biggest rockstar in the world right now. Add that to the fact that when I got around guys, I turned into a shy, tongue-tied wallflower, and it had never been a good match.

Three years with August. Three years, and I’d been sure he was the one. Whatever that meant. Then last summer, I’d caught him making out with Tamara backstage at an event. Hollin had punched August in the face, I had been spirited away, and suddenly, my life was over. No boyfriend. No best friend. No apartment.

All to land me in this radioactive, boiling hell.

Tamara must have finally realized I wasn’t listening. She’d never been quick on the uptake. “Nora, aren’t you excited for us?” Her voice was syrupy sweet. As if she knew precisely what card she was playing here.

I hated conflict unless it was work-related.

“Um…” I shook my head and cleared my throat.

“So, will you do it? We were thinking a fall wedding here at the vineyard with lots and lots of flowers. You know how much I love fresh blooms. We always used to keep them in our apartment. Plus, August loves—”

“I’m going to stop you there,” I said firmly but kindly.

Tamara’s mouth dropped open slightly in surprise. She was the kind of extrovert who collected introverts to follow her around and pad her ego. She’d lost that when she betrayed me. I didn’t owe her anything at this point. And certainly not the rest of this conversation.

Before I’d gotten my wedding planning gig, I’d worked at Best Buy for eight months and perfected the way to say fuck off with a smile and doe eyes. I was always professional. I was always perfectly nice. But I brooked no argument.

Customer service voice activate!

“As much as I appreciate you coming to the winery today to talk to us about your upcoming nuptials, we’re fully booked for the fall. We couldn’t even fit in one more client.” I smiled at her in a go fuck yourself way, teetering on my signature four-inch high heels and tapping the large brown planner I used for the season.

“Well, what about next spring?” Tamara pushed.

“Oh, that would be lovely. Spring flowers and all,” I said serenely. I pretended to check the schedule. “I’m afraid not.”

“You cannot be booked through next spring.”

“Oh, we’re not. But unfortunately, the vineyard will be unavailable to you at that time. Anything else?”

“You can’t refuse me service,” Tamara snapped.

We were perfectly within our rights to say no to whoever we wanted. And I hadn’t even said no. I’d smiled and looked pleasant. I might have been a wallflower with boys, but I wasn’t going to be pushed around by the woman who had hurt me. Not at work, where I was in my element.

“We’re certainly not refusing you service,” I told her calmly. “However, you’re not entitled to a wedding here, and I don’t think we’d be a good fit.”

“Nora, come on,” Tamara said, reaching for fake tears. I knew that trick all too well. “You’re my best friend. I miss you so much. I hoped this would bring us back together.”

“That’s lovely for you.” I blinked at her and said nothing else.

Tamara’s jaw set. She wanted me to say more. To feed into her ego and give her ammunition to use against me. But I’d cried enough tears at the loss of this friendship. If she had come back in those first few months when I was a broken mess, I might have even relented. Been the trampled dog she’d created all those years ago.

But I’d found out that I could survive on my own. I still missed having her around. I missed our stupid inside jokes and sleepovers and parties. That wasn’t enough to fix this.

Tamara stomped her foot like a child when they didn’t get their way. “Nora, how dare you! This is ridiculous! You’re supposed to be providing a service.”

I opened my mouth to reach for those customer service instincts. Because all I wanted was to tell my ex-bestie to fuck off and never see her face on the property again. Except I couldn’t do that at work.

A knock at the door saved me from saying anything I’d regret.

I turned to welcome the new guest and stilled.

Everything seemed to go into slow motion at the sight of Weston Wright filling up my doorframe.

“West?” I gasped.

He slung a hand up onto the top of the frame and leaned forward through the door. He smirked, revealing the hidden dimple in his right cheek. “Hey, Nor.”

The way he rolled over my name sent a thrill through my stomach. I hadn’t seen my roommate in six months, when he’d left for LA with my brother to record his next album. The house was a temporary fix to the Tamara and August problem. I’d stay until he got back, and then I’d find another place.

Now, he was here.

Right here in front of me and looking somehow even more attractive than he had six months ago. He must have been working out because muscle bulked out from his towering frame. His already-broad shoulders were somehow bigger. The sharp lines of him were evident in the peak of muscle from his heather-gray T-shirt. It hung loose to his tapered waist. In contrast to the fitted black jeans that hugged his powerful thighs. But it all came back to that perfect face. The bright baby blues and razor-sharp jawline with a five o’clock shadow and that damn dimple.

I remembered the first time I’d met Weston. He’d driven into town to see his half-brothers, Jordan and Julian, who owned the winery with Hollin. I’d stumbled upon him with his hair all long and shaggy, blue eyes shining with uncertainty. He looked about as uncomfortable in dusty Wild West, West Texas as anyone I’d ever seen.

I’d been taken in, even then. Friends. We were friends. That was all we’d ever be. Because Weston Wright might be my roommate, but with the help of my brother, he was on the up-and-up in the music industry. There was no way he was staying in Lubbock with all the opportunities open to him now. I would just keep reminding myself of that as I tried not to drool over him.

“West!” I cried as it sank in that he was really here.

I practically tripped over my feet to rush past Tamara and crash into Weston. His arms came around me as he laughed a deep rumble.

“You’re home.”

He released me with another smile. “Yep. Came straight here from the airport. Dropped Campbell off at Blaire’s. He’s been an uptight mess. He needs to get laid so bad.”

I put my hands to my ears. “La, la, la. Do not need to know about my brother’s sex life.”

Weston ran a hand back through his hair, which was nearly back to the longish mess it had been that first day I saw him. He’d cut it super short when he first moved to Lubbock. He’d probably cut off the inch of curl at the ends any day now. “Sorry ’bout that.”

“I know he’s your best friend, but ew.”

A throat cleared behind us. We both turned to find Tamara still standing there.

Her eyes took in Weston like a tasty snack. “Who’s this, Nora?”

“Uh, this is my roommate.”

Tamara arched an eyebrow. “Really?”

Weston stepped forward. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt a meeting.” He stuck a hand out. “I’m Weston Wright.”

“Wright,” Tamara said with wide eyes. That name held a lot of weight in our small town. The Wrights were Texas royalty. “I’m Tamara.”

West jerked his hand back before Tamara could put hers into his. “Oh.”

Tamara’s mouth dropped open in shock at the insult. But Weston’s eyes went straight to mine. He knew all about what had happened with August and Tamara. We’d lived together after it all went down. I’d been a wreck, crying myself to sleep most nights. He’d been there for me through all of it even though we hardly knew each other then.

“What are you doing here?” Weston snarled at Tamara.

And bless her heart, Tamara rushed into her spiel again. “I just got engaged! I was here to ask Nora to be the wedding planner for me and my fiancé, August.”

“No,” Weston snapped before she could get any further.

Tamara crossed her arms. Red rose up her neck and to her cheeks. “Excuse me?”

“Are you out of your goddamn mind? No fucking way is Nora going to plan a wedding for your snake ass.”

“What?” she gasped. “How dare you!”

“No, how dare you! You put her through the wringer last year. You have no right to be here. What is wrong with you? Wasn’t stealing her boyfriend enough for you? Do you have to continue to try to ruin her life?”

Tamara opened and closed her mouth like a fish.

“Get the fuck out,” Weston said. He stepped back and pointed at the door.

“Well, I never…”

“Well, now, you have. Get the fuck out. Now.”

And to my shock, Tamara went. She was flustered and angry, spouting obscenities at both of us, but she went.

As soon as she was gone, I burst into laughter. “Oh my God, I can’t believe you did that!”

“I can’t believe you didn’t.”

“I had it under control. I’d already told her that she couldn’t have the wedding here, but I couldn’t exactly tell her to fuck off at work. This was way more satisfying.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I suppose so. Happy to oblige.”

My hand landed on his wrist. “I’m glad you’re home.”

I suddenly realized we were mere inches from each other, alone in my office, and I hadn’t seen him in months. Our eyes met in the small distance between us. I swallowed and pulled back.

“I mean…”

“I’m glad to be home, too,” he agreed. “I missed you.”

And though he meant as a friend and roommate, my heart tightened, and my stomach fluttered traitorously anyway. Because damn, I’d missed him too.

2

NORA

“You know, there are things called cell phones,” I said with an arched eyebrow as I stuffed everything into my oversize work bag. “You could have called or texted to let us know you were coming home.”

“I could have, but then I wouldn’t have gotten to see your face when I showed up in your office.” He slumped back in the chair across from my desk, kicking his feet up.

I brushed them off my desk. “LA has left you uncivilized.”

He laughed. “That would be your brother.”

I wrinkled my nose at him. “Campbell always was uncivilized, wasn’t he? I never should have let you go off with him for six months. You’re going to spend one night in the house and wreck all my progress.”

“Progress?” he asked, jumping to his feet as I slung my bag on my shoulder, staggering slightly under the weight.

“I might or might not have been making some improvements.”

“Improvements?” He looked stricken. “What did you do?”

“Guess you’ll have to see when we get home, won’t you?” I winked at him.

It had been silly to spend any time or energy on the house I was staying at, but it was impossible for me to live somewhere and not turn it into my own. It had been a nightmare to move out of the dorms because I had completely transformed my and Tamara’s tiny suite into a girlie floral haven. I hadn’t gone that far with West’s place, but I’d had it to myself for six months. How could I resist a few dozen trips to HomeGoods?

“Is everything pink?”

“Maybe. What, are you not man enough for pink?”

“No, no, pink is definitely my color,” he said with a grin in my direction.

“Good. It’d better be.”

We headed out of my office and into the cellars of Wright Vineyard. It was a thriving operation. Last year, we’d won an award for Best in Class wine at an event in Austin. Hollin was taking our wine down to the show again this year in hopes of repeating the accomplishment. Plus, the weddings had really taken off after last year.

We’d had two huge weddings, including Morgan Wright—the CEO of Wright Construction, a Fortune 500 company—and her husband, Patrick’s, event. That had been the highlight of the season. After that, wedding requests had skyrocketed. We had something at the vineyard nearly every Saturday. Hollin and I had even talked about bringing on another event planner since we were getting so much interest. At this point, I could handle it, but it was exciting to see that the vineyard had grown this much.

We’d made it to the cellars doors when they burst open, and my oldest brother, Hollin, strode toward us. “Nora, I just saw Tamara.”

I kept my stride easy and light. “I know. I already spoke with her.”

“I banned her from the premises. I don’t know what the hell she was thinking.”

“She and August got engaged.”

Hollin gaped at me. “What the actual fuck?” He clenched his hands into fists. “I’ll kill him.”

“Not worth it,” I assured him. “You got your punch in.”

“You dated for three years, and he proposed to her in less than a year?”

I glared at my brother. “Yeah, I also was able to do the math.”

“Not helping,” Weston muttered.

That was when Hollin noticed him standing there. His jaw dropped. “West! Hey, I didn’t know you were back in town.”

“Yeah, I came in with Campbell today.”

“That asshole didn’t even tell me,” Hollin growled.

“Me neither,” I told him.

“Well, we finished our part on the album,” Weston said. “There’s some production stuff that still has to happen on the back end, but it’s a wrap for us unless we need to go back for any rerecords.”

“Fuck yes!” Hollin cried.

“Congratulations!” I said.

Weston grinned down at me. I knew how proud he was of all of this. Campbell was the lead singer of the band Cosmere that had skyrocketed into fandom a few years back. All that time spent bartending in LA had paid off, and now, he performed to sold-out stadiums all over the world. When his keyboardist had quit before their third album, he’d enlisted West’s help. Weston wasn’t an official part of the band, but he’d filled in on the whole album. He and Campbell had grown close, working together, and had been all but inseparable ever since.

“Yeah,” he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “It’s pretty cool.”

“So, how long are you here?” Hollin asked the question I most wanted the answer to.

“Not sure. It’s Campbell’s birthday this weekend, and he wanted to spend it with Blaire. So, we took the first flight out of LA. We don’t have anything to do for a while though. I don’t think anyone is rushing to head back.”

“Good. Y’all need the downtime,” Hollin said.

“We should throw a surprise party,” I rushed out.

Hollin snapped his fingers at me. “He’ll hate that. Let’s do it.”

Weston snorted. “He will hate that. For someone in the spotlight, he sure hates it.”

“Which will make it the best,” I said with a laugh. “Something only siblings can get away with. I’ll get together with Blaire to make sure he doesn’t find out.”

“Still bitter that you didn’t get to plan their wedding, huh?” Hollin asked.

I scowled at him. “It wasn’t cool.”

“You were involved,” Weston said.

“I know. I know. But eloping in Vegas is different than letting me create a huge, insane wedding and giving them exactly what they wanted. And before you say anything, I know that eloping was exactly what they wanted. But I can still be sad.”

“Poor thing,” Hollin said with a shake of his head. “I’ll help with the surprise party. We can have it here.”

“I’ll help cover for you,” Weston agreed.

“Done!” I did a little twirl in my high heels. “I love surprise parties.”

“I don’t know how you do that in those death traps,” Hollin said.

I rolled my eyes at him. “Lots of practice.” I hugged my brother. “We’re going to head home early after dealing with Tamara.”

“Sure thing. If you see Campbell, tell him he’s an asshole,” he said, shaking West’s hand.

“Will do.”

We headed out to the parking lot, where my CR-V sat next to Hollin’s truck. I scanned the lot. “What did you drive?”

“Took an Uber from the airport. I left my car at the house.”

“Right, right. Taking up that extra spot in the garage.”

“What were you going to do with that extra spot?” He laughed and snagged the keys from my hand.

“Hey! I’m driving.” I jumped for the keys, but he held them up over my head, so I couldn’t get to them.

“No way, bite-sized,” he joked.

I scoffed, my ears going hot at the nickname. He’d used it when we first moved in together. I was about five feet flat and couldn’t reach anything on the top shelves. He’d had to move everything I wanted to a lower shelf so that I could get to it. That was half the reason for the high heels all the time. Plus, they were me at this point.

“I’m fun-sized. Not bite-sized. Like a Snickers—soft on the outside, crunchy on the inside.”

He snorted. “All right, Snickers. Let’s go.”

I rolled my eyes. Damn it! That wasn’t a better nickname.

“Why must you drive?”

“I haven’t had a car in six months, and LA traffic is shit. It’s the little things.”

I sighed. “Fine. I don’t normally let anyone drive my SUV. You’re lucky.”

He dropped into the driver’s side and then coughed. “Fuck.” He shifted the seat all the way back to accommodate his long legs. He adjusted the mirrors and flicked the fuzzy pink dice in the rearview mirror. “Do you need luck because your feet can’t touch the pedals?”

I rolled my eyes dramatically. “Course not. The luck is for everyone else on the road to survive my demon speeds.”

Weston cracked up and shifted us into gear. “Yeah, I really missed you.”

I flushed again as he peeled out of the parking lot. We listened to the local pop station on the way home, jamming out to Taylor Swift’s latest. West spoke of the merits of her piano playing, and I sang the lyrics at the top of my lungs to drown out the shop talk.

He parked my SUV next to his Subaru, and I hightailed it to the garage door.

“Okay, before you judge, remember that I didn’t know you were coming home. I can change any of it.”

He stood in front of me, brushing his hand against my side as he reached for the doorknob. “You’re scaring me. What the hell did you do?”

I held my arms out to try to stop him from going inside. “Not yet. Let me explain.”

But there was no way I could stop him from getting into his own house. He dropped his body down, throwing me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. His strong arm wrapped across the backs of my thighs. My bare thighs because I’d opted for a white skirt for work today. Oh God.

I screamed in shock as he lifted me and carried me over the threshold.

“West!”

“Stop wiggling, or I’ll drop you.”

“Put me down!”

He laughed as he stopped in the middle of the living room, freezing at the redecoration that I’d done to the space. “Snickers, what did you do?”

But he didn’t sound upset as he gently set me back down onto my platforms. I brushed down my skirt, trying to cover the heat on my face and the heat…everywhere else, too.

“Well…” I whispered.

When Weston had left six months ago, the house had looked like a bachelor pad with an old couch, a coffee table dented from too many nights of quarters, a deformed beanbag, and an Xbox hooked up to a giant television. Since then, I’d reupholstered the entire couch with some light-gray fabric. It had taken three weekends to get the measurements right. I’d refinished the coffee table with wax and made the beanbag into a poof.

I’d begged a favor from an old Best Buy acquaintance to mount the television and hide all the cords in the wall. I’d purchased secondhand curtains for the bay window and refitted them to the space. Then, I’d filled the space with plants. Dozens of plants of every shape and size. Some hung from hooks in the ceiling. Others were in pots on little stands. Some were big enough to sit on the floor.

And…I’d painted the walls.

Every wall in the house that I had access to. I could only stare at beige for so long without going insane. And yes, the place was pink. Not as pink as my bedroom, but I had clearly designed the place for me and not for a dude.

“It’s incredible. Is that my couch?” He looked gobsmacked.

“Yeah, I kind of fixed everything.”

“And the plants. Holy shit, you have a green thumb.”

“Sort of,” I said, suddenly shy.

“Why did you think I’d hate this? It’s awesome.”

“Oh, well, uh, thanks. I just…you know, this was temporary, and I kind of took over. I don’t have a place yet, but I can find something if you give me a weekend.”

Weston blinked at me. “What are you talking about?”

“Well, I know you said that I could have the place while you were gone in LA and that it was, you know, a temp situation until I got back on my feet.”

“Fuck, Nora, that’s not what I meant! I thought you’d want to leave. I left you an out in case you wanted to get your own place. I’m going to be back and forth from LA. So, I won’t be here all the time anyway.” He shrugged, a small smile hitting his features. “You can stay.”

“You’re sure?”

“I want you to stay.” He grinned at me. “Stay.”

“Okay,” I said softly.

“That’s a yes?”

I tipped my head down and bit my lip, trying to cover my excitement. “Yes. Yes, I’ll stay.”

3

WESTON

Telling her to stay was skating a dangerous line.

I knew that, even as I told her to stay. She was my best friend’s little sister. She was my roommate. And she was also gorgeous.

Crossing that line was ill-advised.

To put it lightly, Campbell would probably murder me.

He and Hollin had warned me off Nora when we first agreed to move in together. They’d made themselves perfectly clear, and I’d given them my word that it wasn’t like that with us. Which I was determined to stick by, even as she smiled up at me with her gorgeous heart-shaped face, Abbey blue eyes, and plump lips.

Best friend’s little sister. I stamped the words on my brain as I stepped back.

“Good,” I told her. “Did you touch my room?”

She laughed and shook her head. “No. I kept the door shut. I didn’t touch the studio either.”

“The drums are probably collecting dust.”

“Well, I dusted last week. Didn’t think it’d be good for the instruments.”

I grinned. “Thanks, Nor.” I took another step back from that smile. Friends, roommates, best friend’s little sister. “I should go see Whitt and Harley.”

“You haven’t even seen your siblings?” She slipped out of her heels and was suddenly several inches shorter. She rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet. “Not that I’m going to see Campbell until he and Blaire are…finished.”

“Wife,” I offered as if that explained everything.

She waved me off and headed into the immaculately decorated living room. “Yeah. Yeah. Say hi to Whitt for me.”

“You guys been hanging out?”

She shrugged. “Not really. You know how Whitt is.”

I smirked. “Yeah. He’s a bit uptight.”

“I was unaware that twins could be complete and total opposites until I met you and Whitton.”

“That’s Whitt. Mr. Responsibility.”

“I’m sure he kept y’all out of trouble.”

“Don’t be deceived. Whitt can get in just as much trouble. He just never gets caught.”

She laughed. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

“We’ll get him drunk. That’s when the best Whitt comes out,” I assured her. “All right. I’ll see you later.”

She waved as I hurried back out of the house. Unlike Nora, who I’d wanted to surprise, I’d told Whitton and Harley that I was coming back into town. Whitt would not have been pleased with an ambush, and Harley was busy as a freshman at Texas Tech University. Her schedule was a nightmare. Between classes, her scholarship requirements, and her active party life, I’d be lucky to see her at all.

I slung on a jacket out, which I’d left behind since I didn’t need it for perfect LA weather, and grabbed the keys to the Subaru. I’d gotten the Forester back in Seattle for a deal. She had nearly a hundred thousand miles on her and was still going strong. With all the money coming in from the Cosmere album, I might be able to replace her, but I hated the idea of it. We’d had a lot of good trips.

The drive to Wright Construction wasn’t long, and then I was parking in the lot off campus. Whitton had gotten a job at the company that had our namesake by making a phone call. I still didn’t know how I felt about it all, and Whitt felt weirder, but he wouldn’t squander an opportunity when it looked him in the face.

Because two years ago, our entire lives had been flipped upside down. The three of us had grown up in Seattle with our mom, Tanya, and our dad, Owen. He’d given us his name, but they weren’t married. As we’d gotten older, we had known that him living in Vancouver and showing up randomly to be with us was strange. A lot different than the other kids in our school. But we let it go.

Then, I decided to dig. What I found made me sick—we were dad’s secret family.

He had two other sons, Jordan and Julian Wright, who had lived in Vancouver for most of their lives and recently moved to Lubbock, Texas, where the head of the corporation was. I emailed my half-brothers, and when I didn’t get a response, I decided on a whim to drive over from a show I’d been playing in East Texas. Whitt had advised against it, but we got the truth that way.

After a year of back-and-forth about what to do, I decided to give this new life in Texas a shot. It ended up being the best thing I’d ever done. I’d met Campbell while working at a local studio and recorded a major album for the biggest band in the world.

One decision, and I had suddenly gotten everything I’d ever wanted.

I entered Wright Construction and took the elevator up to Whitt’s office, knocking on his door. His head whipped up, and then he waved me in.

“About time,” he said.

I shook my head at him. “Seriously? Not even a welcome back?”

Whitton shot me a twin look. “Welcome back.”

“Now, you’re just being a dick.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Let me finish this email, and then we can go meet Harley.”

I flopped back into the seat across from his desk, grabbing a pencil and flipping it between my fingers. Whitt gave me an insufferable look. But I saw the edges of his lips tug up.

We might be opposites. Whitt, the realist, to my dreamer. The suit to my rocker. The serious to my go with the flow. But he’d missed my wild energy as much as I’d missed his evenness. That was how it had always been.

“What do you think of the job?”

Whitt shrugged. “It’s a job. I’m going to get a promotion next month.”

“Yeah? You know already?”

“I’m doing three people’s jobs. They’d be stupid not to move me up. Jordan said so anyway.”

“How’s it going, working for our brother?”

“Half-brother,” Whitton snapped.

I held my hands up. “Fuck, Whitt, half-brother, if you must.”

“I like him.”

I snorted. “You don’t sound like you do.”

“He’s a fair boss. Though I don’t work directly under him.”

“Nepotism and all.”

“Look at you, remembering vocabulary,” Whitton joked.

I flipped him off. “Anyway, Nora says hi.”

Whitt’s eyes flicked to mine. “Oh, yeah? You already saw her?”

“Surprised her at work.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Don’t use that voice with me,” I groaned.

“Don’t do things that make me use that voice.”

“I have done nothing.”

Whitt went back to his email. “You like her?”

“Nah, come on, bro. She’s my roommate.”

“Right,” he said, clicking a button.

“That’s the voice again.”

“Well, because I know you.” Whitton hit another button and then nodded. “Email sent. Now, you can continue to annoy me on the way to see Harley.”

“Finally.” I jumped up and waited for Whitton to pull on his black suit coat before heading out of his office.

“So, Nora?” Whitton asked, heading toward his shiny silver Lexus instead of my baby Subi.

I regretfully followed him.

“She’s cool, but she’s also Campbell’s little sister. He’d kill me if I looked at her wrong.”

“That may be, but she seems to be a very genuine person. She’s reached out a few times to help me acclimate to Lubbock.”

Once we were in the car, he took off toward campus.

“She is. She decorated the entire house while I was gone. Which I shouldn’t have even been surprised that you decided to get your own place, by the way.”

“No, you shouldn’t have. I like things a little more modern. A little more…”

I waved him off. “Yeah, yeah, we have different tastes.”

“In women as well, which is how I know that Nora Abbey is right up your alley.”

“No way,” I lied. Because he was so fucking right, and it was dangerous to think about. “Have you met anyone?”

“I have not,” he said. “A few dates, but nothing promising.”

“No one crazy enough for you?”

Whitton, despite being the suit, had a thing for…well, I could only describe it as batshit insane girls. Like the more psychotic they were, the more he was into them. I wasn’t sure if it was his actual type, but it was the only kind of girl I’d ever seen him pursue. And there wasn’t a screening process for the level of crazy he was into.

“You’re such a dick,” Whitton said. “I don’t look for crazy girls.”

“Sure, Whitt.”

He scowled at me as we pulled up to Thai Pepper. The line was already ten people deep in the hole-in-the-wall Thai place that had the best noodles I’d ever had in my life. We had excellent Thai in Seattle, and I’d been skeptical when Nora insisted we go here. But damn, she had been right.

Harley waved from a seat at the back of the restaurant. She was in a black miniskirt with ripped fishnets and Doc Martens, paired with a white leather jacket that might have been one of my old ones. Her long, freshly dyed, blonde hair was in two pigtails, her eyes were heavily lined, and she had on bubblegum-pink lipstick. Oh, Harley.

We pushed through the space to where she was.

“West!” she cried, throwing her arms around me.

She was nearly six feet tall but didn’t hide behind her height. She never slumped or refused to wear heels or anything. She took up as much space as she wanted, and I loved that about her.

“Hey, Harley.”

“I’m glad you’re back. How was LA?”

Whitt hugged her next, and then we took the seats opposite her.

“Oh, and I already ordered for the table.”

“Thanks,” Whitton said.

“LA was great. Just wrapped the album. Best work of my life.”

“I bet it is,” she said enthusiastically. “I cannot wait to hear it. When do I get an early copy? Also, can I meet Yorke? Because hello!”

“No!” Whitt said automatically.

“That sounds like a bad idea,” I agreed.

Yorke was another member of Cosmere. He played guitar, was usually silent unless it mattered, and had an avid following called the Peppermint Patties.

She sighed and slumped back. “Y’all are no fun.”

Whitton froze. “Are you using Southern phrases now?”

“Well, I’m Southern!” Harley said, leaning in just to irritate him.

“You’ve lived in Texas for six months.”

“Yeah, but Dad is from here, which means we’re from here, which means I get to say it. I find that way better than you guys or something fucking gendered. At least y’all is neutral. You can say it about any group of people. We don’t have to be so goddamn binary.”

Whitton looked at me in panic. “This is what you’ve missed.”

“Our little sister, all grown up.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Whitt grumbled.

“Anyway, when are you going back?” Harley asked. “Can I come with?”

“I don’t know when I’m going back. I have a standing offer on the table as a producer for the studio. They loved my work with Cosmere and said they could take me on full-time.”

“That sounds like a solid job,” Whitton said.

“Yeah. It would be, but I don’t know. I feel like there’s so much happening right now, and I’m not ready to be tied down to just one thing.”

“What’s the five-year plan? What do you want out of all of this?” Whitt asked.