Prologue
Tucker
“I’m going to kill Trevor! Ugh!!” Eva yelled as she stomped into the house and slammed the door. I leaned back in my chair and took a sip from my beer, keeping my eyes on the television screen. There was a game on, but I didn’t have a fucking clue what it was or who was playing. My mind had been focused on waiting for Eva to return home from her date. She was home after only a couple of hours. Good.
These days, I wanted to slap myself upside the head for thinking about her so much. Ever since my body started reacting to the womanly curves she’d developed, I tried not to. I was twenty-two, and she was only sixteen, but no matter how much I lectured myself on the fact that I was lusting after a kid—and my best friend’s little sister, no less—my dick still stood at attention every time I saw her full tits, round hips, long legs, or heart-shaped ass.
Speaking of...Eva marched into the den, past where I was sitting, giving me a perfect view of that luscious ass. Shit. I looked at the ceiling and gulped down half my beer while thinking about Trevor in a bikini. Anything disgusting or boring to get my hard on to disappear.
Eva flipped her long, straight blond hair over her shoulder before putting her hands on her hips...hairy legs, spiders, saggy breasts...and stopped in front of her father, Justice. “Where the hell is my jerk of a brother?” she snapped.
“Language, baby girl,” he said with a frown.
She sighed, “Sorry, Daddy. Do you know where my snot-nosed, butthead of a brother is?”
Justice’s lips mashed together, clearly trying to suppress a smile, but the twinkle in his eyes gave away his amusement. “He’s not home, Eva. Why?”
She huffed and threw her arms in the air. “My date was practically shaking in his boots when we left the house! He wouldn’t touch me—he barely even looked at me the whole time we were out! Then he came up with some lame excuse to bring me home right after the movie when we were supposed to go to dinner.”
I couldn’t see her face, but it was clear that Justice’s attempt to hide his glee at this news had failed when she folded her arms and stomped her foot. “Stop it, Daddy! This isn’t funny! If Trevor doesn’t stop scaring my dates, I’m going to die an old maid—and if you say one word about that being okay with you, I’m telling Mom.”
That got him to wipe his expression clean real fast, and I had to fight not to laugh. Justice was one of my dad’s best friends, so our families had spent a lot of time together growing up. Trevor and I found it hilarious that our fathers were completely whipped by their wives. Not that I blamed them. When my mom was mad at me, I went running in the opposite direction. Anything to avoid her wrath or, worse, her disappointment.
“I’ll have a talk with him, baby girl,” Justice promised. “Trevor will leave your dates alone from now on, okay?”
Eva bent down and threw her arms around her dad...for fuck’s sake, Tucker, get your mind and your eyes off this little girl’s ass! After she hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, she stood and spun around. By the look of surprise on her face and the twin spots of pink that bloomed on her cheeks, she obviously hadn’t noticed me before. “Hi, Tucker,” she said softly, smiling sweetly. Her rosebud lips were plump, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop picturing them wrapped around my dick.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. It was a really good thing that I was leaving in a month. I needed to get away from temptation before I did something really stupid. It didn’t help that I knew Eva had a crush on me. Unfortunately, my attempts to control myself around her often made me look like a complete asshole. Particularly when I made an effort to treat her like a kid—as a reminder to myself that she was off-limits.
I swallowed hard and managed to smile back without leering. I didn’t want her dad catching on to my lust and kicking my ass from Manhattan to Connecticut. “Hey, Eva-bear.” She gave me a cute little scowl at the use of the nickname I’d given her when she was six.
“I’m sixteen years old, Tucker. Don’t you think it’s time to start treating me like an adult?”
I snorted, earning another glare. “When you start acting like one, maybe I will.”
Eva growled and stomped her foot in frustration. I gestured to the floor and arched a brow. “Kinda proving my point there, Eva-bear.”
She turned her head to look at her dad, probably expecting him to defend her, but he shook his head and smiled regretfully. “Sorry, baby girl. I’d rather you not grow up at all, so I’m not going to encourage it. And perhaps if you stopped dating punk-ass boys who aren’t good enough for you…though I will tell Tucker to stop baiting you if that helps.” Eva didn’t hide her feelings for me very well, and I knew that while Justice hated to see his little girl hurt, he appreciated my attempts to quell her crush.
Eva threw her hands up in the air and let out a muted scream before pointing at Justice and snapping, “I’m telling Mom.” Then she faced me again, the finger now pointing at me. “I don’t know why you have to be such a jerk! And stop calling me Eva-bear!”
I shrugged and looked at the television, pretending I didn’t give a shit about our conversation, when really, I was fighting the desire to grab her and run. “I’d agree, but it doesn’t really matter. You won’t be able to hear me call you that from London.” Giving in to temptation, I glanced at her face in time to see it fall before she quickly smoothed out her expression.
“You’re still moving next month?” she asked softly, her shoulders drooping.
“Yup.” I returned my eyes to the television.
There was silence for a few moments, then I heard an almost inaudible sigh before her footsteps left the room.
“You know, Trevor left for Costa Rica last night.” I turned my head and found Blair, Eva’s mom, standing in the doorway.
Justice smiled at her with an innocent expression. “Did he?”
She stepped into the room and crossed her arms over chest, glaring at her husband. “You know very well he did, Justice Kendall. So who threatened Eva’s date?”
My dad chose that moment to enter the room, and I silently applauded him for his timing. “What’s the score?” he asked as he flopped down into another recliner facing the television and took a swallow from his beer.
Justice answered him before glancing back at Blair, his expression still innocent. She narrowed her eyes and stared at him for a moment before rolling her eyes. “We’ll talk about this later.”
After she was gone, Justice met my gaze and lifted his beer in a salute. I returned the gesture, and we both drained our bottles. It was his way of saying thank you. Not just for pushing Eva away, but because Trevor wasn’t the one threatening the little assholes attempting to date Eva.
I was.
Chapter 1
Tucker
My dad pulled me into a strong hug and pounded me on the back. “I’m so damn happy to have you home, son.”
“Thanks, Dad.” He let me go after a minute, and my mom’s arms wrapped around me, squeezing me tight. Her head only came up to my shoulders, and I smiled as I bent my head to kiss the top of hers. “Hi, Mom.” She sniffled, and I shook my head as I hugged her back. “Don’t cry, Mom. You know we hate it when you cry.”