In the novel, the protagonist, Elise, finds herself in a whirlwind romance with Deacon, a charming and attentive man. As their relationship deepens, they navigate moments of intimacy, vulnerability, and self-discovery. Despite the challenges they face, including pressures from friends and personal insecurities. Elise and Deacon's bond grows stronger as they open up to each other. However, their relationship takes a new turn when Deacon's brother, Hunter, enters the picture. As Elise gets to know Hunter, she discovers a different side to the dynamic between the brothers and finds herself drawn to Hunter's enigmatic personality. Through shared experiences and conversations, Elise and Hunter develop a unique connection that challenges her perceptions and feelings for both brothers. As Elise navigates the complexities of her evolving relationships with Deacon and Hunter, she is forced to confront her own desires, fears, and loyalties. The shifting dynamics between the three characters lead to moments of tension, growth, and emotional discovery, ultimately shaping the course of their interconnected lives.
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It was a rainy day when I woke up this morning. My umbrella with the infamous, bouncy tiger jumping in puddles was doing it's hardest to keep me dry; even though the ankles of my skinny jeans were now soaked after being in the rain for the last three minutes. The walk from my last Anatomy and Physiology final was as harrowing as the drive to my mothers’ that I was about to take.
It’s not like I don’t like driving in my Mercedes but I was about to be stuck in a car with my other three girlfriends for five hours. The drive from one side of Colorado to the other took some time, and I knew the girls would be ready to talk about all the boys we would see when we got to my mother’s summer home that she always let us stay in for the summer. Since the four of us had graduated from high school we have always stuck together since coming to college. For the past four years we’ve lived in my father’s summer home that he bought us near the college, before he and my mother divorced two years ago he made sure he had a few extra houses set up so that I would always have some place to stay no matter where I lived.
As I got into my car and shook off my umbrella, I texted the girls to make sure they would be ready to go after I pulled into the driveway. They finished their finals in the beginning of the week and have been using their time to pack for the summer; I had to pack the week before, so I threw all my things into the car the previous weekend. The girls all love their families, but they never wanted to fathom the idea of living with their parents again. We decided pretty early on that we would all live together until we got married, or had settled into our new jobs after we finished school.
It didn’t take long to get the three responses I was waiting for, so I pulled out of my parking spot, looked at the school one last time for the next three months. I would be back to finish my last semester of med school before I was whisked away to some other spot on the map for my intern year. All four of us had started school a little later to take a vacation traveling the states and visiting countries overseas, so now we get to graduate in the winter. I had spent all three and half years focusing on my studies, and planning my future for after school, so I had a very small social life. Outside of my girls, I only had my study groups from group projects, so I didn’t talk to very many boys.
When I reached the house the girls were all sitting on the driveway, as though they had been waiting there all day - it had only taken me an hour and a half to finish my test. Even though I was the first one to finish the test, again. They all jumped to their feet and slid their cellular devices into their pockets as they skipped over, dragging their luggage behind them. Sadie was the first one to get in humming some popular song that was all the rage lately; flipping her beautiful, long blonde hair behind her shoulder, she got comfortable in the passenger seat. She stuffed her bag at her feet, then pulled out her blanket from the side of the bag; it was her baby blanket she had always brought whenever she was away from home - sentimental value and all.
Claire threw her stuff in the trunk above mine, and it looked like she was pulling something out of her bag. I figured it was probably her headphones, since she never went anywhere without them; she was a little edgy, and you wouldn’t think she fit into our group, but she always got along with us. She had this witchy aura about her that kind of kept people from our group, and honestly our group loves it, because it keeps a lot of drama away from us. Claire closed the trunk and came around to sit behind me. Her old skull candy headphones she had for road trips since we had all gotten our licenses, in her hands.
Jessie was the last one to get in the car, as usual, she pushed her roll along luggage into the back with her and Claire, puffed up her brown curls, then pulled out another smut novel she stumbled across on one of her book apps. She was definitely the quietest out of all of us, but we were okay with that. We’ve always stuck up for her since preschool, because she was always known for having her nose stuck in a book - she used to walk into walls, because it was so bad.
After everyone had clicked their seatbelts, we backed out of our home, and drove for our home. I set the music for some of my favorite artists, and waited for the first bomb to drop. “So, Elise, can it finally be time to talk about boys,” I heard Jessie shut her book. I looked in the rearview mirror, and saw the smug look on her face, so I rolled my eyes. I could feel the other two sets of eyes on me as I tried to ignore the comment. The girls erupted in their usual giggling they always did whenever they harassed me about boys.
~
The five hours of talking about boys - especially the ones I would be avoiding - finally came to an end as we pulled into my mother’s summer home that was across the street from her main home. I could see her in her garden planting her new summer blooms, and when she spotted us while picking up a pot to transfer to the dirt, she waved at us and smiled. We drove a little farther down to the house we would be staying in, got out and grabbed our things to take inside. I went to unlock the door to make things easier and when I had gotten back to the car I was met by my mother’s new husband, Charles. He was reasonably fit, especially for his age - he was sixty-four - he spent most of his time golfing due to his growing app company. He doesn’t really talk about it a lot, so I wasn’t sure what the app actually did, but I knew it was very big.
I thanked him as I followed him through the door. He assured me that my mother would be over soon to help us girls settle in after she cleaned herself up from gardening. He left me in the living room as he took my bags up to my room, and I turned only a little bit as something caught my attention. A black motorcycle zoomed past the house, which was a little weird because no one we knew had ever gotten a motorcycle since one of the neighbors fell off their brand new bike within the first hour of having it. I got to see the mystery character pull into their driveway two houses down, and pull off his helmet to unfurl these beautiful blond locks. He glanced over towards the house where I was, and flashed a warm smirk. I could feel myself getting flustered, and I knew this summer would be the most different from any other.
Chapter 17~ I woke up very relaxed, and the room was dark from the black out shades that were in the room, but I could hear the birds chirping outside. I wasn’t under the covers, but I was still warm laying between the two naked men on either side of me. The events of last night were still swirling in my head. The room smelled very much of sex with a mixture of both boys’ cologne. Hunter still slept like a child holding a toy as he latched onto me. Deacon on the other hand was facing the other way, curled into a ball. I lifted my head off the pillow and saw my phone lying on the dresser, probably dead. I peeled myself out from between the two and sat on the edge of the bed to assess how I actually felt. From the mirror above the dresser I could see small bruises the size of kisses all below my neck line. There were also hand prints throughout my arms and legs from where Deacon gripped a little too hard. I touched each and every spot gently and a tingly sensation went through my bod
Chapter 16 “So, do you wanna talk about today?” Deacon asked softly from the door. I had yet to roll over as I was internally rolling my eyes in my head. I mumbled something into the bed where he couldn’t hear it. What I really said was, ‘I really would rather you go away,’ but it was unintelligible. He crossed the room and scooped me into his strong arms. “I promise I won’t talk about us again to anyone else; that was very stupid of me. I wasn’t thinking,” he went on, definitely unaware that I would rather be left alone. I crawled out of his arms, tears slowly streaming out of my eyes and started, “I’m not even upset that you told Hunter; I’m upset that he used that information as an advantage to touch me in a way I was not ready for. I don’t know him like I know you yet, and I was comfortable doing those things with you so when he touched me, I was very caught off guard.” It felt as if the whole room went cold, but I could tell it was just Deacon, and he had an icy glare as he st
Chapter 15 “I hope you know you’re gorgeous. Like very gorgeous,” Hunter called from about a yard in front of me. I threw my head back and laughed a little bit to myself, Honey Lemon seemed to understand where my self worth was as she neighed in what I could only think of as protest. Hunter didn’t turn around when this happened, so he missed the whole thing. After about thirty minutes of riding slow, I had Honey Lemon catch up to Hunter and his horse. He moved his horse closer to mine so that they were trotting in step right next to each other, and then slowed them both down and reached for my hand. “I figured since this was a date I could hold your hand and ride,” he beamed at me. Hunter was about thirty years of age, but he had a baby face. It was almost like his humor was keeping him young. He always seemed to be happy and enjoying himself no matter what he was doing. It was true even today. As we rode on we talked more and got to know each other. At one point he asked if our age
Chapter 14 Even though I remembered going to bed with Hunter the night before, it had completely startled me in the morning to have his arms wrapped around me. They felt similar to Deacon’s big, strong arms; but they held me differently. He was holding me like he would never let me go, and curled into my back with his head pressing into me. I tried wiggling my way out to no avail, so I gave up and laid back down and enjoyed the sunshine that was pouring onto my face. After a few moments, I began struggling again, to get out of Hunter's arms, and this time they gave way. I slid out from under him and turned my body to see his face. Mostly, just to make sure it was him and not some random stranger. I relaxed my body after seeing his face; seeing how soft his expressions were, like he were a small child holding onto a teddy bear to make him feel better. Once I was content again about my surroundings, I laid back down. I made sure to at the very least drape Hunter’s arm over me, so tha
Chapter 13 We started our adventure with a nice, hot soak in one of the higher temperature pools. By this time, we had started switching from smoothies over to alcohol, and we could definitely tell that it was an adult drink. I sat between Deacon and Hunter in the pool, and held both of their hands. I kept having to ask if I could have one of my hands back so that I could also drink what I ordered. They thought it was very amusing, and it was nice to see the brothers relaxing and enjoying each others’ company, even though I sat between them. Both figuratively and literally. “What should we do after this,” Deacon asked nonchalantly, leaning his head back against the granite that lined each pool. He rolled his head to the side to look at me, as if I had an idea, so I just shook my head and shrugged. He then focused his attention on Hunter who was mid sip of his cocktail. Hunter’s eyes widened as he realized that Deacon was looking at him, and now the question was pointed towards him.
Chapter 12 I woke up with Deacon snuggling into my backside like a big spoon, he had stayed over the night before. We didn’t do very much but play games on the television in my room and catch up on the events from Hunter’s version of a date. The sun was shining through my curtains; the window was still cracked from the night before, because we wanted to feel the breeze from outside. It was a lovely scene to wake up to, so I nestled myself more into Deacon and closed my eyes again to soak this moment in. Another hour had passed before I could no longer keep my eyes closed, and I let out a sigh. Deacon let out a little chuckle of air through his nose. “You know I was awake the first time you woke up? I just wanted to lay here a little longer since you were as well. We most definitely could have gotten up,” he said in a quiet, deep voice. A small smile formed across my lips and I wiggled my way around to face him. I dropped a small peck of a kiss on his nose and wrapped my arms around
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