Wright Rival E-Book

K. A. Linde

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

Seitenzahl: 425

Beschreibung

A sexy enemies-to-lovers romance set in the world of the Wrights about Hollin & Piper from USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde...

No one on this planet pushes my buttons like Hollin Abbey.

I don't know if it's the rugged, sexy cowboy look or the Harley Davidson motorcycle or the cocky swagger. Or just him. But whenever we're together we fight like cats and dogs.

Now our vineyards are rivals in the annual wine competition, and I'm determined to win.

I just have to take out my Wright rival.

Leseprobe

WRIGHT RIVAL

K.A. LINDE

CONTENTS

Also By K.A. Linde

I. My Own Worst Enemy

1. Piper

2. Hollin

3. Piper

4. Hollin

5. Piper

6. Piper

7. Hollin

8. Piper

II. Bad Habits

9. Piper

10. Hollin

11. Piper

12. Piper

13. Piper

14. Hollin

15. Piper

16. Hollin

17. Piper

III. I Hate You, I Love You

18. Piper

19. Piper

20. Hollin

21. Piper

22. Hollin

23. Piper

24. Piper

IV. Love Story

25. Piper

26. Hollin

27. Piper

28. Piper

29. Hollin

30. Piper

31. Piper

32. Hollin

33. Piper

V. A Love Like War

34. Piper

35. Piper

36. Hollin

37. Piper

38. Piper

39. Hollin

40. Piper

41. Piper

Epilogue

Wright That Got Away

Also By K.A. Linde

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Wright Rival

Copyright © 2022 by K.A. Linde

All rights reserved.

Visit my website at

www.kalinde.com

Cover Designer: Okay Creations,

www.okaycreations.com

Photography: Lane Fotograf,

www.michellelancaster.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: 978-1948427548

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

MY OWN WORST ENEMY

1

PIPER

“It’s not that I hate Wright Vineyard,” I said, gesturing to the interior of the barn I was currently drinking in with my friends. I shot a pointed look at Jordan and Julian Wright, the owners of said establishment.

Jordan quirked a smile. “I appreciate that, considering you’re here for our one-year anniversary event.”

I held up my wineglass. “See, Julian, I don’t hate it here.”

Julian held his hands up and said, “Hey, I didn’t say that you hate us.” He slid his arm around his girlfriend, Jennifer. “That’s what Hollin has been spouting.”

I seethed at the very mention of his name. Hollin Abbey was…trouble. He was a thorn in my side on a good day and a huge pain in the ass every other day. It was unfortunate that he was the hottest guy in town. He swaggered around like he was some Greek god to be worshipped. And worse, he knew how to push every one of my buttons.

“Hollin is an asshole,” I spat.

Julian laughed. “Obviously.”

Jordan nodded.

His girlfriend, Annie, flipped her long red hair off of her shoulder and leaned forward. “Yeah? You’re not new here.”

“It is kind of his specialty,” my best friend and roommate, Blaire, said.

She’d ditched her signature baseball cap for the night and looked stunning in jeans with her dark curtain bangs falling into her blue eyes.

Bradley shot me a dopey grin. “You should just ignore him, sweetheart. Don’t let him get under your skin.”

I gritted my teeth at the words coming out of my boyfriend’s mouth. It had been six months since Bradley and I had decided to try this for real. After years of on-again, off-again, it was now or never. He was perfectly nice and normal and everything. The kind of guy I should want happily ever after with. Then why did every word out of his mouth make me want to cringe? Why did the thought of continuing this for another six months seem more like a business arrangement than anything with passion? Why was I even doing this?

“Sure. Ignore him,” I said. “That’s a good idea.”

Blaire hid a smile behind her wineglass. Jennifer coughed to try to cover her own laugh. The three of us were roommates, and they’d heard the long diatribe of should I or shouldn’t I dump my boyfriend.

“Hollin isn’t great at being ignored,” Julian said with a smile of his own.

Jordan took a sip of his wine. “We have the entire winery because he was that persistent.”

Jordan and Julian had all of that Wright charm with the dark hair and eyes, enough charisma to spare, and the dominance of someone who always got what he wanted. But the knowing look on both of their faces said that they’d heard about the worst of my relationship, too. Wonderful.

“Just ask every girl he’s three-date-ruled,” I said with an arched eyebrow.

“Three-date rule?” Bradley asked.

I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. What he said isn’t true. I like it here. It’s just not Sinclair Cellars.”

“Touché,” Julian said.

My father had worked at Sinclair Cellars since the ’70s. He’d met my mom around the same time that she and Abuelitahad immigrated from Mexico. After the owner’s kids had shown no interest in the property, my dad had worked his way up and been rewarded with ownership of one of the best vineyards in West Texas. I’d been working there since I was a kid—putting up Christmas lights for our annual display, serving hot chocolate, and giving tours—and I now managed the entire property. It was in my blood.

“You have to admit, the barn is great here though,” Bradley said obliviously.

“Sure,” I ground out. Whose side was he on? “But the wine is better at Sinclair.”

Jordan winced. “Hey, our new vintage is impeccable.”

“And yet we’re not drinking that.”

“Take that up with Hollin,” Julian said with a smirk.

Blaire snorted, Jennifer kicked her foot, and Annie looked like she was going to interrupt. I didn’t want to hear it from them. It wasn’t fair that they knew all my problems when they were all so happy. Well, not Blaire. She was single. But the other two!

“Whatever,” I got out before Annie could speak up. “I’m going to go to the restroom.”

“Hey,” Bradley said. He leaned into me and planted a sloppy kiss on my cheek. “Come back soon.”

Then, he tipped a little farther forward. Everything happened in slow motion as he lost control of his wineglass. I jerked back but wasn’t fast enough. The glass slipped out of his hand, and the red wine splashed out…all over my white shirt.

“Fuck,” I cried.

I jumped backward and threw my hands into the air. The glass fell onto the hardwood floor and shattered into a thousand pieces.

“Oh shit,” Bradley said.

I stared down in horror at the huge red stain spreading across my favorite shirt. There was no way it was salvageable. Not with this much blood-red wine all over it. I’d have to toss it. Fuck.

I was still staring down at my shirt as everyone went into motion. Julian and Jordan ran for something to clean up the mess. Annie pulled the chairs away from the spreading wine. Blaire and Jennifer pressed napkins to my ruined shirt. And Bradley…he just sat there, his mouth hanging open, utterly helpless. This was far from the first time that wine had spilled on me. It was sort of an occupational hazard, considering I worked at a winery. But this had been avoidable. My anger threatened to boil up and unleash on him.

Blaire stepped between us, as if she could see what was about to happen. “I think I have a jacket in my car.”

“I…I have a shirt. A gray shirt in the side of my gym bag,” Bradley said with a cough. It was as if he had suddenly realized he should do something. “I can go get it.”

“No. I’ll get it. I don’t want to stay here any longer.”

“I can go with you,” Bradley offered, a little manically.

But Julian came back with a broom in hand. Jordan threw a towel at Bradley. I’d never been so thankful for the Wrights.

I didn’t so much as flee as stomp angrily through the crowded barn and outside into the chilly night air. My hands were clenched into fists. I wanted to kick something. Mostly my boyfriend.

Bradley’s truck was parked at the back of the lot, wedged between two other giant trucks. I jerked open the back door and grabbed for the gym bag. His shirt wasn’t going to fit me, but it would be better than wearing something soaked in wine. Maybe Blaire could work her magic and make it look okay. After all, she was the famous influencer.

I’d just ripped my blouse off when I heard a low whistle, and a gravelly voice said, “Well, well, well, what do we have here?”

My head jolted upward as Hollin Abbey came into view. Just the sight of him made my knees wobble. I wasn’t short by any stretch of the imagination, and still he towered over me. He had on jeans and a white T-shirt, revealing the inky-black lines of his full sleeve. His beard had recently been trimmed. His hair was a soft blond, and his eyes were so blue, as if reaching the endless depths of the ocean. When they caught sight of me, shirtless, my breasts half-spilling out of the nude bra, they rounded wide.

I was too angry to be self-conscious. I balled up my shirt, threw it into the cab of the truck, and put my hands on my hips. “Like the view, Abbey?”

He smirked with the cocky, annoying look he always gave me. “Yeah, I do.”

I huffed. “I don’t want to deal with you tonight.”

He leaned against the truck next to Bradley’s, which I belatedly realized was his. He crossed his muscled arms across his chest. I averted my gaze, so I wouldn’t stare at the bulging biceps and incredible chest.

“Why are you naked out here? If you want more people to come to Sinclair, this probably isn’t the way to do it.”

“Fuck off, Hollin.” I yanked out a gym towel and patted down my skin. “Bradley spilled a glass of wine all over me. I’m getting a shirt.”

He snorted. “Smooth.”

“I didn’t think you were coming out tonight. Missing the one-year anniversary of your own winery for a date.” That was what Julian had said. It seemed low, even for Hollin.

He took a few steps toward me. Always in my fucking personal space. “Jealous?”

“Not in a million years.” I went back to rummaging through the bag to find that damn shirt. “I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to be graced with your presence.”

“Don’t worry, Medina,” he said, his voice silky smooth. “I’ll always be around for you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Save it for your next conquest.”

When I didn’t find what I was looking for, I opened the side of the bag. I sank my hand into it, and it closed around a box at the bottom. I froze.

Hollin must have read my change in body language. “What?”

With a gulp, I withdrew the box from the bag, praying to all things holy that it wasn’t what I thought it was. In the parking lot light, the black box was very clearly for a ring.

“Oh fuck,” Hollin said with wide eyes. “Is that…”

I gaped and popped it open. A glittering diamond ring peered back up at me. It was…not at all something that I would have picked out for myself. I’d always liked simple things. I wasn’t one for grand displays or crazy jewelry. This thing was almost gaudy.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I breathed.

“Bradley’s proposing?” Hollin asked, his voice had an edge to it that I’d never heard before.

“He sure as fuck better not.”

I closed the ring box and threw it back into the bag like it was a grenade with the pin pulled. I shook my hands out. Fear blossomed in my stomach.

“Sure looks like he’s going to.”

“And why do you care?” I snapped at him.

Hollin chuckled. “Still got three dates with you, babe.”

“You’re going to get three dates with me over my dead body.”

“We’ll see.” All confident, as if it were inevitable. He nodded his head at the bag. “What are you going to do about that?”

“None of your business.”

I found the gray shirt I’d been looking for and drew it over my head. It smelled like Bradley, and for a second, I felt nauseated. He’d bought an engagement ring. He must have thought that I’d say yes. I couldn’t even fathom it. Was this his now or never?

Hollin frowned down at my shirt. “Not that.”

He popped open the passenger door of his truck and tossed me a shirt from inside. It was a white button-up, three sizes too big for me. It smelled like musky cologne that made my toes curl in my boots. Hollin. It smelled like Hollin.

For the first time in our long acquaintance, I didn’t argue. I slipped Bradley’s shirt back off and pulled Hollin’s onto my curvy frame. I worked on the buttons, and when I was done, he stepped forward. I stilled, wondering what the hell he was doing. He took my arm in his hands and slowly rolled the sleeve up to my elbow. His eye caught mine for a split second, and I stopped breathing. Then, he switched to the other arm, drawing the fabric up inch after precious inch. My body tingled at every brush of his skin against mine. And I swore that he knew it, too.

He grinned. “Tuck it in, in the front.”

I did as he’d instructed with an eye roll. “This?”

He appraised me with a hungry glint in his eyes. “You look good in my clothes, Medina.”

I took a step toward him. His eyes rounded slightly in surprise before settling back to his arrogant know-it-all look. “When we get back inside, you’re going to keep your mouth shut about everything that happened out here.”

“And if I don’t?”

“I’ll take a baseball bat to your Harley.”

He hissed. “Cold-blooded, babe.”

I arched an eyebrow. Then, I sauntered back inside, as if I hadn’t just seen an engagement ring or been completely frazzled by Hollin Abbey, of all people.

2

HOLLIN

The last thing I’d expected to see today was Piper Medina, half-naked.

I wasn’t complaining. Not by a long stretch.

When I’d rounded that corner and seen her in nothing but a nude bra, her tits spilling out of the top of it, my brain had short-circuited. Piper had always been fucking gorgeous, but it was her anger that fired me up. The way she held her temper back for everyone but me. As if my very presence lit a fire under her. It was hot. It was why I kept doing it.

My brain came back online the moment I saw that ring though. Piper and I were oil and water. We poked and pressed and fought. We didn’t mix. But one look at that ring, and…I had no fucking clue what came over me. All I knew was that there was no way she was marrying that brain-dead loser. Luckily, she had the same idea.

She wrapped that lush, curvy body in his stupid shirt. I could have let it go. I should have…probably. But when it came to Piper, I always pushed the envelope. Giving her my shirt could have backfire, but what was most surprising was that she let me.

She did up every little button in front of me and looked at me with those enormous brown eyes. I couldn’t help but push it a little further. That look on her face when I rolled up her sleeves…she might have threatened me right afterward, but I’d seen it nonetheless.

Piper Medina might hate me, but she wanted me, too.

And I could live with that.

I adjusted my cock inside my jeans. I needed to stop thinking about her tits in that bra and the way she’d looked, doing up the buttons on my shirt, and those huge eyes as I touched her skin. I had to follow her inside. I needed to talk to Jordan and Julian about my trip. I couldn’t do that with a semi in my fucking pants.

“Get it together, Abbey,” I grumbled under my breath.

After another moment, I rolled my shoulders back and strode toward my winery. My winery. Sometimes, it was too much to consider.

I’d worked at West Texas Winery all through college and after graduation. It was a dump that just happened to have good wine. No one cared about it, and the owners chased the college crowd to cover their debts. When it went under, I swore that I’d get it back up and running again. I loved it too much to let go.

Somehow, I’d convinced my cousins, Jordan and Julian, to drop the money on renovating it. I ran day-to-day operations and had all the experience while they had the business acumen and finances to get it off the ground. Now, we were a year out from the first day we’d opened, and it had never been better.

I strode inside and was immediately greeted.

“Aye, Abbey,” the burly, tatted man at the entrance said.

“Good to see you, man,” I said, clapping hands with my buddy Zach, who sometimes worked security for the vineyard.

He nodded at me, and I continued through the barn, shaking hands and offering hellos to everyone. The Wrights might have their name on the place, but I was the heart of the operation.

Lubbock, Texas was a dusty, windy small town, five hours away from the rest of civilization, but it was home. I’d grown up here with my two siblings, Campbell and Nora. I’d gone to college at Texas Tech. I’d stuck around when most of my friends had ditched, including my brother.

Finally, I shoved through the last of the crowd to where my cousins were seated. Piper glanced up at me and then hastily away, returning her attention to her boyfriend. An irritated scowl crossed her face. I barely suppressed laughing at it.

“You made it!” Julian said. He hopped out of his seat. We slapped hands, and then he pulled me into a hug. “How’d it go?”

Jordan held his hand out, and we shook. “Give him some room, Julian.”

Julian laughed. “Just excited.”

I liked that about my cousin. Julian was enthusiastic. Jordan wasn’t quite solemn, but he was serious. He’d had to grow up fast to protect Julian from their father. That was a sentiment that I understood. Even if I hadn’t gone down the same route. I always found it hard to subdue my larger-than-life personality. When my cousins had first moved to Lubbock about five years ago, I’d thought that it would put them off, but they hadn’t missed a beat. It was as if they had always been in my life. I couldn’t imagine Lubbock without them now.

I sank into a spare seat next to Blaire.

“Hey, Hollin.”

I nodded my head at her.

She looked good tonight. Normally, she hid behind baseball caps and oversize T-shirts, but now, she was in some tight dress. She was some high-profile influencer on social media, but I so rarely saw her like this that I sometimes forgot. She was just Blaire, the striker on our soccer team, the girl who ate more pizza than me and who could drink more beer than should have been humanly possible for someone her size. She was practically one of the guys.

“Piper was just saying you were nice enough to let her borrow your shirt,” Blaire said with mirth on her lips.

My eyes flicked to Piper’s. “Is that what she said?”

“No,” Piper said flatly.

Blaire arched an eyebrow. “She might not have said it that way.”

“What can I say?” I said with a shit-eating grin. “I’m a giver.”

Blaire practically choked on her drink. Piper bristled but said nothing. Bradley, the poor guy, looked flummoxed. His gaze shifted between us, as if he were trying to decipher the meaning of life.

“So,” Julian prompted, “how’d it go in Austin?”

Piper was still looking at me. She thought I’d gone to Austin for a date. Julian had told her that. It was our cover story, of sorts. We didn’t need one, but we weren’t sure that our plan would work. We didn’t want to tell anyone other than Jordan before we were ready. And they’d both agreed not to tell their girlfriends, which was the biggest bet that it would get out. But Piper had sounded jealous at the prospect of me going out of town for a date. I should disabuse her of the notion, but what fun would that be?

My grin doubled in size. “It went excellent. I’m definitely in.”

“Yeah?” Julian asked. “No complications?”

“None at all. It was even easier than I’d thought it would be.”

Piper rolled her eyes but said nothing. That wouldn’t do. I wanted a reaction from her.

“That’s good,” Jordan said. “You were worried for nothing.”

“I wouldn’t say I was worried. I always get what I want.”

Piper snorted this time. “Classy.”

Blaire scrunched up her face. Jennifer looked to Annie, and Annie shrugged. Well, at least the guys had held up to their word.

“You got something to say, Medina?” I asked with an arched eyebrow.

“No,” she said.

Jordan picked up on what was happening first. He shot me a look. “We should tell them.”

“Ah, Jor, let me have my fun,” I said with a laugh.

Julian glanced around and then made a comical O with his lips. “Ohhh.” He cleared his throat. “I guess I should do the honors.”

All the girls looked even more confused. I winked at Piper, and she glared back at me. She could look at me that way all she wanted. But I remembered the one second when her guard had come down and she gazed under those thick lashes without any bullshit between us.

“I’ll do it,” I said, coming to my feet.

“No one cares about your date, Hollin,” Piper said. “Keep it in your pants.”

Blaire muffled a laugh. “She’s not wrong.”

“I’ll have you all know that I didn’t go to Austin to get some ass.”

Jennifer choked. “Good for you?”

Annie cackled and nudged her friend. “I love you.”

Jennifer reddened. Julian was wearing off on the shy girl. Julian drew her in closer and pressed a kiss to her temple.

“I can get ass just fine here,” I told them.

Jordan groaned. “Get on with it, Hollin.”

“Right,” I said, tipping my head at him. “I entered Wright Vineyard into the IWAA Texas Wine Award Competition in Austin.”

“What?” Annie gasped. She swatted at Jordan. “You didn’t tell me.”

Jennifer’s eyes lit up. “That’s amazing.”

Blaire pulled me into a hug. “Really? That’s incredible!”

But Piper…Piper did nothing. Bradley was up, shaking hands with Jordan and Julian. Piper remained seated in my fucking shirt, looking hot as fucking hell. I had no idea what was running through her head. Was she processing that I hadn’t been talking about a date at all? Was she mad about the competition? Why was she blank-faced?

“Hey,” I said, drawing her eyes up to me. “This means I wasn’t on a date.”

She scowled. “Like I give a fuck.”

“What’s with the face? Can’t even be happy for us?”

The others had grown quiet at my words. No one else had realized that Piper wasn’t jumping up and down with excitement. There was no guarantee that we’d win this award. It was a huge competition. But it was a possibility. The wine I’d entered was our newest vintage, and it was above and beyond what West Texas Winery had ever made. Everything had come together in the last year. The grapes had yielded better than any before that. It was as if we’d sacrificed the old winery to some ancient deity and Wright Vineyard had been reincarnated out of the ashes. Blessed in some way.

But that didn’t explain Piper’s reaction. Yeah, she managed a separate winery, but we were a small enough operation not to dip into Sinclair Cellars’ profits or anything. They’d been around for decades. They were a huge operation. A national name. It didn’t change the rivalry. How could it when we were both so antagonistic?

“I’m happy for you,” she said without a hint of emotion.

“What is it?” I asked, taking a step toward her. “Say what’s on your mind.”

She met my step by coming to her feet and lifting her chin. A slow smile curled on her lips. There she was. There was the fire heart.

“It’s nice that you entered, but you’ve no chance of winning.”

My eyebrows shot up at her gall. The rest of the room disappeared as I got into it with her. I didn’t know what the others were doing or saying. When we got like this, tunnel vision narrowed in, and I forgot everything but the fight.

“And why is that?”

“Because I entered last week.”

3

PIPER

Hollin’s stupid smirk dropped for an entire second as my words registered. His brows furrowed, and he tilted his head slightly, the soft strands of his blond hair falling across his forehead before he pushed it out of the way. It was like a victory. Until it disappeared and he smiled again, bigger and brighter than before.

“We’re competitors, Medina.”

“I guess we are.”

“I’ll be your Wright rival,” he crooned.

He held his hand out. I warily looked at it before putting mine in his. I stared him down. Heat bloomed between us. Something potent and commanding. A binding spell cast over this handshake. Magic of old sealing our words.

The contact made my hand tingle. As if magic had really been flung over us. Ribbon tied around our wrists to connect us. And I didn’t know how I felt about that. How I felt about having any connection to Hollin Abbey.

I jerked my hand back first. “I’m going to win.”

“We’ll see,” he said with a smirk.

Julian clapped a hand on Hollin’s back, and everything crashed down all at once. As if a bubble had been burst and the last stray traces of glitter fluttered to the ground, forgotten. Noise returned to our reality. Our friends huddled around us to congratulate us both for even entering. And somehow, I was still trapped in that in-between place. Not quite ready to give up whatever had come over us.

I made the mistake of looking up into his endless blue eyes. He was still Hollin, of course. Still a hundred and ten percent arrogance, wrapped up in a towering, tatted bow. But for a second, I thought he felt it, too. That nowhere in which nothing else existed but our rivalry.

He raised one eyebrow. A question and an invitation. Not that I could ever answer that particular question or RSVP to whatever he was inviting me to. Not with Hollin. Not ever. I knew what he did to girls who showed an ounce of interest. Just one ounce. I wouldn’t be one of those girls. No matter what had happened between us.

“Good luck,” I said without a touch of goodwill in my voice.

He laughed. The sunshine to my grumpy brooding. “I don’t need it. But you might.”

Then, Julian and Jordan pulled him away to get champagne for a toast. My friends bombarded me a second later. Thankfully, Bradley was shoved out of the way as the girls each drew me into an excited hug.

“When did you decide to do this?” Annie asked. “And why weren’t we informed?”

Annie was the bossiest one of the bunch. She was in residency as an ER doctor and radiated confident energy. She somehow exuded enough of that for all the rest of us.

“Yeah,” Blaire said. “I’m your bestie.”

I shrugged. “We enter competitions every year. Usually smaller regional competitions. Our wines do all right, but I wanted to go bigger this year.”

Jennifer tucked a strand of her light-brown hair behind her hair and smiled. “We want to celebrate every achievement. You know that.”

I should have known that. But sometimes, I didn’t think that applied to me. Jennifer was a wedding photographer for Wright Vineyard, but she had also recently started working with Hollin’s rockstar brother, Campbell. After her photo of him had gone viral last year, their record label had hired her to do the photography for the cover of their latest album. They were now on an international tour for said album, and her photography was everywhere.

That felt like something to celebrate. Entering an award competition felt like nothing.

“A toast,” Jordan interrupted the conversation.

The guys passed out champagne, and we all held our glasses aloft. Bradley returned to my side, sliding a hand across my hips. I was self-conscious about it, knowing what I now knew awaited me in his gym bag. He wasn’t happy about me wearing Hollin’s shirt after I came back—what guy would?—but he’d shrugged it off quickly. As if me wearing another guy’s shirt didn’t even matter. Was he that secure in us?

“To one year at Wright Vineyard,” Jordan said.

“One phenomenal year,” Julian added.

“And friendly competition to follow,” Hollin said.

He tipped his head at me, and I just stared back blankly. What part of this made him think it would be friendly?

Still, I held my glass aloft and clinked it with my friends’ glasses. I took a sip of my champagne. The Wrights had splurged on a vintage Veuve Clicquot, and I could appreciate every single delicious note of the champagne. Wright Vineyard didn’t make a sparkling yet, but few could compare to the historical French wineries anyway.

We settled back into our seats. Bradley scooted his chair even closer to mine, draping his arm across the back of it. I was ready to leave. I needed to get this over with. But Jordan was still standing and speaking, and I should focus. I couldn’t leave yet. Even if I wanted to.

“While I have your attention,” Jordan said with a wide grin, “I’d thank everyone for joining us on this adventure. It’s had its highs and lows. I never believed I’d move out of Vancouver, but now, I’m here, and I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.”

A few, “Hear, hear!” were chorused as others listened in on his speech.

Other Wrights were in attendance. Jordan and Julian’s cousins—Jensen, Austin, Landon, Morgan, and Sutton Wright—ran Wright Construction in town and were the reason that the Wright name was associated with Texas royalty. Jensen’s wife, Emery, was hugely pregnant while their one-year-old tottered around their feet. Landon had his three-year-old, Holden, with him, who was happily playing with Sutton’s seven-year-old, Jason, and two-year-old, Madison. Landon’s wife, Heidi, wasn’t in attendance since she had recently had twin boys—Hudson and Harrison. The number of Wrights in this town was growing exponentially.

Morgan and Patrick had set a date for their wedding for this fall. Everyone kept looking to Austin and Julia, wondering when they were going to tie the knot. But they had always done their own thing, and I appreciated that.

My twin brother, Peter, was in attendance with his boyfriend, Chester. He looked up, as if sensing my eyes on him across the room. Twin thing. He flipped me off, and my hardened veneer dropped. I laughed and covered it by taking another sip of my wine. Bradley glanced at me in confusion.

Jordan had been talking all this time. Giving the fancy Wright speech the family was known for. It was a good one. I was sure it was. I hadn’t been paying attention, but still…

The crowd gasped all at once.

My eyes snapped back to Jordan Wright, who had gotten down onto one knee. My jaw dropped as he removed a red ring box from his pocket.

Time slowed as he faced Annie Donoghue with a stunning Cartier ring. Her hands flew to her mouth. Tears came to her eyes. Shock rippled through the crowd. They’d only been together for a year. But when you knew, you knew.

Didn’t you?

Bradley’s eyes were on me. I looked over at him, and he was giving me giant puppy-dog eyes. Ones full of hope and awe. As if he saw us in what was happening right now.

My eyes didn’t mirror his. I felt…horror. Riotous, dawning, gaping horror in the pit of my stomach. This couldn’t be happening. Bradley couldn’t propose to me. I imagined myself in Annie’s shoes for a minute and thought I might be physically ill. I’d say no.

No.

It was so final. The end of everything we had. And yet I knew it without a shadow of a doubt.

I’d touched that ring box in his gym bag and tossed it aside like it didn’t matter. But now, it was an immediate visceral reaction. I had to do something about this. I couldn’t sit here and pretend things were okay.

“Yes!” Annie cried.

Everyone was up and applauding as Jordan slid the diamond onto her finger. They embraced as if this were the best day of their entire lives. A year ago, everything had started in this very room for them. It was magical.

If only there wasn’t a distress signal in my head. A loud beeping, telling me to escape.

I stepped out of Bradley’s arm when I got to my feet, and as I stumbled forward to congratulate Annie, my foot caught on something imaginary. I tripped, barely catching myself before face-planting on the hardwood floor of the recently renovated barn.

Then, there was a strong pair of arms on my hips, steadying me. I was hardly the clumsy damsel in distress.

So, my first instinct was to push the person away. “I’m fine.”

I looked up to find Hollin arching a pointed eyebrow at me. “Medina,” he said, rolling my surname across his tongue.

“Don’t touch me,” I said.

Every inch he touched was on fire.

“You’re welcome,” he said cheekily. “You almost fell on your face.”

“I had it.”

He finally released me. “Seem flustered.”

“Hollin,” I growled. “Shut your face.”

“Just saying,” he purred under his breath. “You went into straight panic mode at the sight of that ring.”

Had it been that obvious? “I did not.”

“Okay, fine. Only I saw it.”

“You can’t read me that well.”

“You almost fell on your face,” he repeated.

“I’m happy for Jordan and Annie.”

“Of course. How could you not be? They were made for each other.”

“Exactly.”

“Are you agreeing with me?”

“No,” I said automatically.

He chuckled. His hand slid to the sleeve of my shirt. I looked up at him as he fixed where the sleeve had come undone.

“Abbey,” Bradley said, suddenly appearing at my side.

Hollin dropped the shirt and smiled at my boyfriend. “Had to fix my shirt. Looks good on her, doesn’t it?”

Bradley looked between me and Hollin, as if he couldn’t figure out whether or not he should punch him. Of course, that would be a real problem. Since Hollin probably had a hundred pounds of muscle on Bradley. Frankly, it was obscene.

“Shut up, Hollin,” I growled and turned back to my boyfriend. “Come on. Let’s congratulate the happy couple.”

Bradley followed me away. “Is…something happening with y’all?”

I blinked at him. “With Hollin?”

He laughed softly at my incredulity. “I know you say you hate him, but…”

“But I’m wearing his shirt?”

“Yeah. And he riles you so easily.”

“You know why that is.”

Bradley nodded. “Yeah. I mean, I know what you told me. It just felt different.”

It had, hadn’t it? Fuck.

“Don’t worry about it. He’s the same Hollin.”

I glanced back at Hollin Abbey. A flash of possessiveness came into Hollin’s eyes, and my cheeks heated from the one look. It didn’t matter how attractive he was or that he looked at me like every book boyfriend I’d ever read about. He was still Hollin Abbey, and I wouldn’t ever go there.

4

HOLLIN

My new life mission was to see how often I could make Piper blush. I’d never seen her do it until that look back. Now, it was something I absolutely had to see more often. Mostly, she scowled at me and told me to fuck off. This was a whole new look.

And sure, I’d been a dick to say that shit to Bradley. I’d never been able to hide my feelings about the guy. But taunting him was a new low. I’d thought he might swing on me. Would have been a waste of energy anyway. Piper looked like she was long over him.

Finally, I tore my gaze from her to return to the moment. My friends were engaged.

“We have to celebrate,” I cheered. “Let’s open a bottle of the new vintage.”

Julian nodded eagerly. “Yes, bro. Let’s do it.”

Jordan shot us both a stern look. “Before we find out about the award?”

“It’s not like we’re opening it up to the entire party. Just us.”

Annie nudged her new fiancé. “Come on. I haven’t even tried it! And we used to taste-test all the wine.”

She winked at him, and I had a feeling she was talking about something else entirely.

Jordan’s face softened at her words. She had that effect on him. “All right. We are celebrating.”

Julian and I clapped hands and then barreled through the party and out the side door. We didn’t keep the newest wine in the barn yet. We’d bring it out as a special-edition vintage after we found out about the award. But we had a few cases in the cellar, and we trekked across the lawn to grab the bottles.

Julian shot me a look. “What’s going on with you and Piper?”

“Nothing more than normal.”

“So, you’re antagonizing her for no reason?”

“Not for no reason,” I said with a laugh.

Julian punched in the code to open the cellar, and we entered the long line of wooden wine barrels. The machinery was on one end of the cellar with offices on the other end, and a storage unit was in the middle for processed wine to sell. For the last year, it had been predominantly empty since for our first harvest, we had been using the slightly neglected grapes from when the place was West Texas Winery. Now that we had our own operation, from harvest to bottling, it was running much smoother. And the wine was exponentially better as a result.

“I have a case in my office,” I told Julian. We passed the barrels and headed into my office. I grabbed two bottles, handing them to my cousin. “Should be enough?”

“Probably.”

I grabbed another bottle for safe measure. “Just in case.”

He laughed. “You mean, more for you?”

“This red is the shit. If I do say so myself.”

“It’s your baby.”

I winked. “Obviously.”

I took great pride in looking down at the first bottle that had been all my doing. The label was cream in color with Wright Vineyard written in a fancy blood-red script and a red wax seal with the WV inside it. Under that, it said the vintage—Abbey. My wine. We’d decided a year ago to give the wines names and then describe them under the label. So, the red was Abbey, and the first white, we’d named Annie. Guess that should have been my first clue about the pending engagement.

“So, what is this reason you’re being a dick to Piper?” Julian asked.

“Oh, because it’s fun.”

Julian laughed. “Wow.”

“Yeah. I’m really mature for my age.”

“Sure. Mature. That’s the word I’d use to describe you.”

“Thanks. I try.”

We both laughed as we walked back to the barn. I filched a corkscrew from the bar on our way and had a bottle uncorked when we arrived. One of our bartenders for the night followed us over with a set of new glasses.

I poured tasting portions in each glass and passed them out to our friends. Piper held her hand out for a glass, and Julian offered one out to her. I had no idea what came over me, but I put myself between her and the wine. Julian fumbled the glass with a curse.

“Piper doesn’t get any,” I said with a devilish grin.

“What?” she asked in obvious shock.

“Hollin,” Julian grumbled.

“She’s the enemy.”

“The enemy?” Piper all but growled. Her eyes narrowed in annoyance. “What the hell?”

“We’re competitors now. I can’t let you sample the goods.”

“As if that’s going to change anything about the competition. We’ve already submitted the wine for sampling.”

I shrugged, unperturbed by the facts of the situation. “So?”

She blinked at me. “You’re really not going to let me have any?”

I crossed my arms over my chest, my biceps bulging against the confines of my white T-shirt. “Nope.”

“You’re unbelievable.”

“Not the first time I’ve heard that before, babe.”

Her displeasure turned straight primal. She looked half-ready to claw my eyes out at the insinuation in my voice. And there was insinuation in my voice. I couldn’t help it around her. I’d told Julian it was fun. It was. But there was something about poking at Piper. She reacted the best. The soft heave of her chest at the indignation. The dilation of her eyes when she realized I was fucking serious. The clench of her hand for the moment when she was deciding whether or not it was worth dealing with me. There was always a point where she’d tell me to fuck off and walk away, but it was like threading a needle to wait to get there with her.

Today, she chose sass.

“Like I want your shit wine anyway. I’ll stick to French champagne. Since they know what they’re actually doing.”

She rolled her eyes at me and walked back to her awaiting boyfriend and the Veuve we’d been using to celebrate. She thought that she’d won that round. But the look on her face had been success enough.

“Leave her alone,” Julian hissed.

I turned back to my cousin with pure innocence on my face. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Must you antagonize her?” Jordan drawled, hefting a bottle of Abbey to examine it.

“I must,” I said with a grin.

“Oh. My. God,” a voice squealed. “Hollin?”

I glanced up at the unfamiliar voice. A petite blonde stared up at me with bright blue eyes and a sizable rack spilling out of some frilly pink dress. She looked vaguely familiar. Emily? Emma? Emmie? Fuck.

“Hey,” I said with a charming smile. “Can I help you?”

She strode forward two steps in white booties that Julian had claimed were in right now. Whatever that meant. He was the fashion guy.

“It’s Emily.”

Ha! I’d been right the first time.

She waited for a response to that, but I didn’t give one. “Remember, we went on a few dates in January? You said you’d call…”

“Right,” I said, rubbing my hand on the back of my head. I didn’t always remember the girls I had gone on dates with two months prior. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s totally okay. It’s good to see you. I came with a few girlfriends who love the winery.”

“Glad they like it.”

“So…” She bit her lip and looked down, trying to be suggestive.

I remembered that about her now. That she’d been really into biting her lip. As if it was the only seduction tactic she’d picked up. Her big tits and blonde hair and heart-shaped face usually got her whatever she wanted.

We’d gone on three dates, hooked up, and then I’d given up. As I so often did. Most girls like Emily couldn’t keep my attention for that long. I’d given her the benefit of the doubt for a third date based on her rack alone.

“So?” I prompted.

“Well, do you want to meet up again?”

Julian barely suppressed a laugh next to me. I shot him a look. He already knew my motto with things. It wasn’t that I had a three date rule exactly. I just got bored so easily, and I wasn’t interested in anything serious. I hadn’t been interested in that in a long fucking time. Most girls weren’t relationship material anyway. They weren’t for me at least. I was down with fucking around for longer than that. But I wasn’t a feelings guy.

My dipshit friends called it my three-date rule. But that made it seem like I was looking for a relationship. Like I was giving up on girls because I hadn’t found the one. When the opposite was true. I had no interest in finding the one, and I was pretty sure that person didn’t even exist.

Yeah, Jordan and Julian had each found their person, but they’d gone through a whole hell of a lot of shit to get there. I wasn’t willing to invest that much into anyone but myself. Sure, it made me look like a dick, but I wasn’t leading anyone on. People knew who I was upfront. Was it my fault if they wanted to change me?

“Thanks for the offer, Emily, but I’m going to pass.”

Her cheeks reddened. “Oh. You’re going to pass?”

“Yeah.”

She gulped and her head swiveled to her friends. They waved her back over, and she bit her fucking lip again. “Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure.”

“I, um…okay.”

“Could you have an ounce of sympathy?” Annie said with an eye roll as the poor girl scurried back to her friends.

“What? She knew when we tried that in January that I wasn’t Mr. Relationship,” I said to Annie.

“Yeah, but do you know how hard it is for a girl to ask a guy out?”

“And so I’m obligated to say yes when she asks?”

“No,” Annie said, smacking my arm. “But you could let her down easy.”

Jordan held his hand out to his fiancée, and she stepped into his embrace. “Listen to the doctor. She knows what she’s talking about.”

“I said thanks for the offer,” I said with a shrug.

“It’s a waste of time,” Piper chimed in.

My gaze found her. “And why is that?”

“Because you’re tactless. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

I grinned, taking a step forward, ready to lay back into her, but Julian smacked me in the chest. “Do not say whatever just came to your mind.”

I shot my friend a look and laughed. “What was I going to say?”

“Something obscene,” he guessed.

True. I was about to tell her that I could teach her new tricks. If she’d just let me instead of always mouthing off. Who the fuck was I kidding? I’d teach her new tricks while she mouthed off, and I’d enjoy all of it.

She must have seen all of that cross my face in a split second because she suddenly stood. Her chair knocked backward, scraping against the hardwood. “It’s time for me to head out. As much fun as it is to watch Hollin three-date-rule some poor girl and not get to drink at a winery, I have to work in the morning.”

Bradley rose to his feet as well. He hadn’t touched his wine out of solidarity, apparently. He set it down on the table we were all sitting around and dusted his hands off on his cargo pants. “Y’all have a good night.”

The girls all pulled Piper in for a hug before she headed out. Blaire whispered something in her ear, and they plotted for a minute before Piper waved at everyone and then left with her boyfriend. I watched her walk away, enjoying the sway of her ass, clothed in her tight jeans.

Julian shook his head. “Never going to happen, bro.”

I laughed and tilted my head for a better view. “It might.”

“No way. She’s way out of your league.”

That, at least, was true. “Maybe.”

Didn’t stop me from wondering if a few orgasms would loosen her up.

5

PIPER

“You can’t drive,” I said, snatching the keys out of Bradley’s hand.

“Come on. I’m fine.”

I ignored him. He’d spilled a glass of wine on me. He wasn’t fine. And sure, he’d sobered up some since then, but I wasn’t going to risk it. I’d drive him home. I opened the driver’s side, grasped the oh-shit bar, and towed myself into his truck. It was a lifted F-250 that he used on construction sites, where he worked for Wright Construction. He’d been promoted to a site manager, but it was still day-to-day construction work. It wore on him, which was why he always drank so much. I almost always drove us home.

He climbed into the passenger seat with a grumble. “I could have driven.”

“Whatever. We’re out in the middle of nowhere.”

“You’re staying at my place tonight?” he asked, dropping his hand onto my thigh.

“Yeah. We’re going to your place.”

I never said I was staying there because I wouldn’t. But I wasn’t having that conversation while we drove to his house in Tech Terrace. I lived on the other side of the popular neighborhood right off of the Texas Tech campus. Though my house was slightly nicer and a lot bigger. Close enough that I could walk, far enough away that I usually didn’t.

Bradley put on the country station, and I let the heartbreak tunes serenade us on the drive home. I remained silent as I parked the truck in his driveway. The garage was too packed with all of his construction tools that he couldn’t get anything else in there.

He hopped out, and I followed him out of the truck. He strode right up to the front door but only stopped when he realized I wasn’t beside him.

“Piper?” he asked.

I took a deep breath. I’d prepared myself for this. I knew what was coming. It didn’t make it any easier to do. “This is over, Bradley.”

His eyes widened, and he stumbled back down the steps. “What are you talking about?”

“This isn’t working.”

“Why not?”

I didn’t even know where to begin. “It just isn’t.”

“Is this because of Hollin? Is that why you’re wearing his shirt?”

My face was a mask of disbelief. “What? No, of course not. I’m not interested in Hollin Abbey. I’d never do that to you. It’s about you and me.”