Cheat Codes

Cheat CodesBook One in the Dawson Family SeriesCopyright 2018 Emily GoodwinChapter OneQuinnI am a glutton for punishment. Ever since the tender age of fourteen, I knew there was something wrong with me. Because of all the boys in all the world I could go and have a crush on, I fall for him.My older brother’s college roommate. The mysterious boy with the troubled past who could have any girl he wants. The cute boy with the dark hair and deep brown eyes who’s as smart as he is cocky, who somehow managed to both get into med school and win over a lifetime friendship from sports-loving Dean, who only attended the same college because of a basketball scholarship.And those girls? I was never one of them. Not then, and I won’t be again now.I don’t expect to see him here tonight, but if he shows up, I won’t be surprised. Everyone is back in town for Dean’s engagement party, and it’s inevitable we all end up at Getaway, the bar owned by my twin brothers. My heel catches on the toe of m

Chapter FourQuinnI pour myself a cup of coffee and sit at the kitchen table, phone in hand. Blinking, still too tired to focus on the bright screen of my phone, my finger hovers over the email icon. I have a handful of new emails, and while I can assume a few are junk, I know the others are from work.If I open it and see a problem, I won’t be able to stop thinking about it. And I already have enough on my mind.“Want some eggs, dear?” Mom turns, looking at me over her shoulder as she scrambles a skillet full of eggs.“You know the answer to that, Mom.” I open Facebook instead. The emails can wait. If something was terribly wrong, someone would have called me by now.“What about over easy?” she tries, knowing I detest eggs. “I can make you pancakes instead.”“You don’t have to, Mom, but thanks. I’ll stick to coffee for now.”“You got in late.” She raises her eyebrows and smiles. “Did you have fun at the bar last night?”“I spilled a tray of drinks on myself, but it was all right. Ar

Chapter SixQuinnI cannot believe I had feelings for that asshole.A mere few hours ago, at that. Am I stupid for reading too much into last night? We talked. We bonded. We felt like friends, and for once I thought Archer looked at me like I was more than just Dean’s little sister, who he puts up with solely out of loyalty to his friend.“Quinn!” Kara squeals, walking through the foyer with open arms. “Thank you again so much for helping today!”“Of course,” I tell her as she hugs me. “It was fun.”And it was, other than the ride home from the grocery store where Archer did his best to act like I wasn’t even there. I don’t get it.And they say women are complicated.“Everything looks great. The food smells amazing and those drinks are to die for!”“I had them at a party in Chicago once. They’re too complicated for me to make, but that’s why we invited Owen and Logan, right?”Kara laughs. She’s had one or two drinks already, I can tell. She was nervous for tonight she admitted while w

Chapter EightArcherI look out the window, watching the ground come closer and closer. The plane lands smoothly, and I lean back, yawning for the millionth time on this one-hour flight. I left the hospital at two AM, got home, showered, and slept for an hour and a half, before having to get up and get to the airport in time for my flight into Chicago. Even though it’s early, I’ll still be pushing it to get to the hotel in time to change before going to the conference.Feeling like I’m walking through a heavy fog, I get a coffee with extra espresso on my way to the baggage claim, and down the whole thing by the time I get my suitcase. There’s a car waiting for me, and it takes effort not to fall asleep on the drive over. Traffic is slow, and while I don’t want to miss anything, the thought of dozing off while stuck in a jam sounds nice right now.Quinn works in the city. I don’t know where she works, or exactly what she does to even begin to describe it to someone, but she’s here. And

Chapter TenQuinn“So, this is my home,” I say, stepping into the loft. I pull my purse off my shoulder and take my laptop from Archer, setting them on the bench next to my door. I traded my heels for comfortable walking shoes before leaving the office, and kick those off, using my foot to push them under the bench.Archer takes his shoes off as well and moves close behind me, looking around. A fat orange cat trots over, meowing when he sees us.“This is Neville.” I pick him up and he instantly starts purring. “The half-cat.”Smiling, Archer holds out his hand for Neville to sniff. Deciding Archer isn’t a threat, Neville rubs his face on Archer’s fingers. “I can see why you don’t want to give him up.”“He’s a lover. I wasn’t sure how the other cats would react to him, but they get along fine. The other three are all females and boss this fat guy around.” I walk inside, letting Neville jump out of my arms. “They’re all from the same litter. Someone a few floors down found them in the a