I text Parker before I pulled out of the driveway and told him to be outside to get his wife when I pulled up.
“I love you, Livy.” Staci’s voice was so soft I could barely hear it.
“I love you too. You’re my sister.” Livy hiccupped, and I prayed that she didn’t throw up in my truck.
“What if we actually become sisters?” Staci whispered, and my heart thundered in my chest.
“Like sisters-in-law?” Livy asked then the two of them started laughing again. “I can’t wait for you all to get married.”
“Shhh, Livy.” I saw Staci slam her hand over Livy’s mouth, and I tried to hide my laugh. “He’s right there.”
“What does it matter?” Livy’s mumbled voice was barely understandable. “He already knows you love him.”
Staci groaned then they were quiet for the next several minutes.
When I finally pulled up outside Parker and Livy’s house, they were both passed out against each other and Livy was letting out the tiniest little snore.
“It looks like they had fun.” Parker opened my back door and lifted Livy in his arms.
“That would be an understatement.” I chuckled as I ran my fingers through my hair.
He nodded toward Staci who was completely sprawled out in the backseat. “You got her?”
I knew he meant did I have her tonight, but I had her. I had her for everything she needed. “I got her.”
He nodded his head as if he understood exactly what I meant, then he carried my drunk ass sister into their house.
Staci
Two Months Later
I was running late for dinner at Mason’s house, but work was crazy. The guy I had been tattooing was not prepared for the commitment he was making when he asked for a full sleeve, and I dreaded having to listen to him bitch through the whole thing during his next session.
I had tattooed eighteen-year-old girls who had handled it better.
He caused me to have a damn headache.
“I’m here. I’m here,” I yelled through the house as I threw my bag down on the table in the living room and moved toward the kitchen.
I almost tripped when I saw the kitchen covered in yellow daisies. My favorite, yellow daisies.
“What’s going on?” I looked at Mason who was leaning against the kitchen counter with a smile on his face.
“Do you like it here?” He didn’t move an inch from where he stood.
“What?” I was so confused.
“Do you like it here? My house? Do you feel at home here?”
I looked around at his house, a house that I had been spending more nights at than my own apartment and turned back to him.
“Of course, I do.”
“But do you really feel at home here?” He took a step toward me and my breath caught in my throat.
“Yes.” I touched one of the yellow daisies. “Why are you asking me that?”
“Because.” He moved another step closer to me and wrapped his arms around my center. “I think it’s time that you start living with both feet on the ground.”
I didn’t know what to say to him. I didn’t know what he was asking of me.
“My house.” He motioned around him. “This place. It means nothing without you. It doesn’t feel like a home without you.” He ran his fingers along my cheek. “I know that it takes a lot for you to trust, but I want you to put your trust in me. I want you to trust that I will always put you first and I will always take care of you. I want you to trust that as long as you’re willing to take a chance on me, I will want you.”
“I do.” I could barely get out the words.
“Then move in with me.”
It may not have seemed like much to some, but it was everything to me. It was everything that he knew what it meant to me. It had been so long since I had truly felt at home, and he was right. It didn’t matter where we were. I wouldn’t feel at home anywhere without him. He had become my home. My safe place.
“Are you sure?” I didn’t want to push him into anything. I didn’t want him to feel like he had to do this.
“I’ve never been more sure about anything.” He pushed a piece of hair out of my face, and I rose on my tiptoes to press my mouth to his.
My hands roamed over his beard, and I kissed him hard.
“Is that a yes?” He mumbled against my lips.
I laughed and nodded over and over again as he slid his arms around me and lifted me off the ground.
“Finn’s excited.”
“He is?” I looked out the window toward his house.
“Yeah. He told me that he could definitely get you to be his girlfriend now that you were his neighbor.”
“And what did you tell him?” He ran his fingers over the back of my neck as he looked down at me.
“I told him that if he wanted to stay best friends, then he needed to back off my girl.”
I pressed my lips together to stop my laughter.
“That little shit told me that he could find more best friends, but he’d never find another girl like you.”
I couldn’t control my laughter then, and Mason pinched my side which only made me laugh harder.
I watched his eyes dance with humor before he started carrying me toward the bedroom. Our bedroom.
“It looks like I taught him something right after all.”
He smiled then leaned down and pressed his lips against mine.
He tossed me onto the bed, and I laughed as I looked at the man that I loved.
And I knew that I could read every romance novel that lined the walls of my apartment, but nothing would ever compare to this.
Because Mason Connor had somehow surpassed every single one of my book boyfriends.
Other Books by Holly Renee:
I hope you enjoyed Where Bad Girls Go to Fall with Staci and Mason ! If you want more from their world, keep reading for the synopsis of Staci’s and Brandon’s stories, Where Good Girls Go to Die and Where Bad Boys are Ruined.
Where Good Girls Go to Die
The Good Girls Series, Book 1
A Second Chance Romance
It was a bad idea from the beginning.
He was my brother's best friend and the definition of unavailable.
But I didn't care. I had loved him for as long as I could remember.
He was worth the risk. He was worth everything.
But then he broke my heart as easily as I fell for him.
He watched me fall, spiraling out of control, and as I reached for him, he wasn't there to catch me.
So I ran.
Four years later, I never expected to see him again.
He was still my brother's best friend, and he was more unavailable than ever.
He looked every bit the bad boy I knew he was, covered in tattoos and a crooked smile.
Guarding my heart from him was top priority because Parker James was where good girls go to die.
Unfortunately for him, I wasn't a good girl anymore.
Where Bad Boys are Ruined
The Good Girls Series, Book 3