Free Keep Her by Faith Andrews Page A

weekend?”
    “Things have certainly changed, but not with Marissa.”
    Derek’s eyes went wide and his grin grew devilish. “Ah, so you finally took my advice, came to your senses, and ditched the bitch?” There was no hiding his feelings toward Marissa. He hadn’t been a fan all along. He didn’t like that she’d dismissed having a family from the start—that was his biggest gripe. He knew deep down that’s what I wanted—whether or not it was what I wanted as a probie. But after spending time with these guys, they kind of reformed me.
    Derek was a reformed frat boy himself. Now in his mid-thirties, he’d been married for ten years and had two boys and a baby girl on the way. His wife was a fucking gem and a saint for putting up with him and his rowdy sons. So when Derek talked about women and whether or not they were wife material, it kind of made sense since he’d hit the jackpot with Kelly. I probably should’ve listened to him all along rather than wasting two good years of my life trying to convince Marissa I was husband material.
    But I didn’t want to talk about marriage, kids, and the future on this fine Monday morning. Unlike Marcus, Derek was the kind of person I could tell anything to without judgment. I wanted to bounce ideas off him and tell him all about Riley. It certainly couldn’t hurt.
    “So, are you gonna elaborate or make me pull it outta you? I may have been with the ball and chain for what seems like an eternity, but I can sense when a guy’s sampled some new pussy after sticking it in the same one for a while.”
    What a way with words. “Yes, new pussy, Derek. You read me so well.” I didn’t look up from the stove, where I was preparing the usual massive breakfast for the guys.
    “I fucking knew it! Anything worth regaling my underused one-pussy-for-the-rest-of-my-life dick with or was it just a one-nighter like old times?”
    “Definitely not just a one-nighter. We’re talking Riley Grayson here.” It surprised me how easily that slipped off my tongue.
    Without looking, I could tell by the loud thud and the squeak of the lever that Derek had propelled the recliner from lounged to upright rather swiftly. “You must have a death wish.” He was making his way toward me. “What would possess you to fuck Marcus’s sister, Beck? He’s gonna freak.” He attempted to steal a piece of bacon from the steaming pile, but I swatted his hand away.
    “Precisely why we’re not telling him,” I answered matter-of-factly.
    “Oh, we’re , as in the two of you are an item? Why would you to start a new we when your old we is still warm on the slab?”
    “Calm down, old man, there is no we. And back away from the pancakes. Can’t you wait for me to finish, you fucking beast?”
    “Stop thwarting the topic,” he said, chewing with his mouth open.
    “Thwarting? Seriously? Been reading the dictionary lately?”
    “Yeah, exactly, smartass, but I’m serious. Why her? Don’t you have enough problems with Marissa? Why complicate your friendship with Marcus and Riley?”
    It was more complicated than I cared to admit, but talking on the phone with her, laughing and joking and just having a good time—it made all the other shit go away for a while. I wasn’t ready to over complicate things, but I wasn’t ready to stop whatever was going on with Riley before it even started. “I don’t know, bro. It just kind of happened. It’s not like I haven’t thought about Riles like that before, but—I don’t know. I kind of always stayed away from her because of the age difference, and Marcus, and then Marissa. But now that we’re both adults the age thing isn’t even a thought. Marissa and I are on a break so it’s not like I’m cheating, and—”
    “And that still leaves Marcus, and he’s one big mother fucker. I have a sister, Beck. And even though I think you’re a good kid, I wouldn’t want you fucking around with her fresh out of a two-year relationship with someone else.