PROLOGUE - MARE - AGE TENHer frail hand is cold and shaky as she moves blonde ringlets from my forehead. She looks so tired as she glances down at me sadly. “Momma’s gonna leave tonight, honey,” she tells me, her voice not quite sounding the way I know it should.“Where are you going, Momma?” I ask, nuzzling deeper into her chest. I’m as gentle as possible, careful not to hurt her. Daddy’s always reminding me that Momma is fragile now. I have to watch my movements around her so I don’t make her feel any pain.Momma sighs. It’s long and drawn out. One of those big sighs I only ever hear from grown-ups. Suddenly, her body begins to shake underneath mine. I look up to see her eyes full of tears.“Don’t cry, Momma,” I beg, carefully pushing off the bed to wipe away her tears. “I’ll go with you so you don’t have to go alone.”Her eyes close as water streams down her pale cheeks. I miss the color they used to be before she got sick—tan with a tinge of pink from the sun from when she’d forg

Last Updated : 2025-11-16

My shoulders shake violently as I try to take a calming breath. It’s something momma taught me to do. In through the nose, out through the mouth. I repeat the motion a few times before my small, shaking hand reaches up to grasp the doorknob. It’s cold against the inside of my palm, causing the hairs on my arm to raise. I pause, waiting to turn it as I peek down at my clothes.Momma would be horrified if she knew I was running around in my nightgown with a cold bite in the air.Too bad Momma isn’t here anymore.I stare at the door, my mind racing with how much things are going to change with Momma gone. Deep down, I know I should turn in the hallway and slip into the room where my best friend sleeps. Pippa could sleep through anything. She probably wouldn’t even wake up if I crawled into bed with her. I could pretend, just for a little while longer, that Momma hasn’t left us.It wasn’t Pippa I wanted—or needed. At the same time, I knew it was wrong to open his door and slip inside his

Last Updated : 2025-11-16

1MARE - FOURTEEN YEARS LATERWhat is it about airplanes that make people forget about all semblance of personal space?We’ve only just landed on the tarmac when every person next to me stands up, despite the fact we’re at the back of the plane. We won’t deplane for another ten minutes at the very least, yet I’ve got all three passengers from the row behind me leaning over my seat and breathing on me as if huffing and puffing down some stranger’s neck will help everyone else move faster.I’d had to book the flight in the middle of the night after my best friend, Pippa, called me sobbing. There weren’t many choices of seats for a flight at seven the very next morning. I’d had the wonderful luxury of sitting in a middle seat between two strangers; neither adhered to the armrest rules—AKA the person in the middle gets at least one armrest. It's just human decency in my own little humble opinion.The phone vibrating in my lap snaps me from my thoughts. I look down at it, holding it close

Last Updated : 2025-11-16

CADE - PRESENTMy eyes flick down Mare’s body as she gawks at me in what looks like disbelief. Her gloss-coated lips part as she stares a hole right through my head.I’m not sure I blame her. The last time we saw each other—the last time she saw me—we were standing at this very airport. She’d offered to give me everything she had to give but I denied her. I walked away from her.It seems she hasn’t forgotten how we left things.I haven’t either.“Did that big city steal your voice?” I ask, pulling one of her blonde curls. Her hair is much longer than the last time I saw her. I loathe how much more tamed it looks now that she’s all grown up. Maybe it’s the fact that the carefully styled locks are just another reminder that she left our small town and didn’t look back once. She adapted to city life like it was made for her.Like her place wasn’t at the ranch where mine would always be.Mare scrunches her nose at me. If it’s an attempt at a snarl, she epically fails. It’s much cuter, and

Last Updated : 2025-11-16

Her words are like a kick in the gut. Years ago, we were in almost this exact same spot when she begged me to listen to her and what she wanted. We stare angrily at each other for a few more seconds before I let out a long sigh.“Get in the damn truck or I’ll put you in there myself. Either way, I’m not fucking leaving without you.”She looks me up and down, as if she’s trying to see if I’m bluffing.I’m sure as hell not. The past few days have been shitty. Adding in the fact that I have to see her again, where we ended things of all places, means my patience is non-existent.To prove a point, I step closer to her.Her hands instantly come between us in an attempt to keep me at a distance. “Fine!” she yells, taking a step away from me. “I’ll get in the truck.”She’s silent as she slides into the seat and closes the door. I get in, yanking my door closed.My fingers tap against the steering wheel. With both of us in the truck, I know I should just shift into drive and go, but something

Last Updated : 2025-11-16

All Chapters of Rewrite Our Story: Best Friend's Brother Second Chance : Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

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