Pretend

PRETEND THE NEIGHBOR FROM HELL PREQUEL NEIGHBOR FROM HELL BOOK FOURTEEN R.L. MATHEWSON RERUM CARTA INDUSTRIES, INC. CONTENTS Bradford Family Tree Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Epilogue A Sneak Peek at Playing for Keeps Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Other titles by R.L. Mathewson: Connect with R.L. Mathewson About the Author BRADFORD FAMILY TREE Descendants of Robert & Elizabeth Bradford Timothy and Regan Bradford’s children are: 1. Jared, married Megan, their son is Jason Bradford, (m. Haley, children are Cole, Elizabeth, Joshua, and Hunter. 2. Sarah, passed away. Her son is Trevor (m/ Zoe, children are Jonathan, Sebastian, Mathew, and Jessica) 3. Ethan, married Mary, and their children are, Duncan (m. Necie, one daughter and son on the way), Danny (m. Jodi, two children), Lucifer (m. Rebecca), Kenzie, Arik, Garrett, Reese (m. Kasey, child Mikey, two sets of twin boys), Darrin (m. Marybeth, triplet girls), and Aidan (m. Melanie, 5 children) 4. Mark married Jessie, sons are Reed (m. Joey, one son) and Matt. 5. Ryan, married Amanda, their children are, Eric and Theo. 6. Shane, married Caylee, son is Devin (m. Charlie, children Dustin and Abbi) 7. Thomas, married Heather, daughter is Nikki. The James Family (Cousins to the Bradfords) Raised by Wes and Beth Bradford: David James, divorced, raised children by himself, Rory (m. Connor, two children), Bryce (m. Cayley, one son, Drew), Johnny, Craig, Brian, and Sean. CHAPTER 1 Many Years Ago… “I never really liked Amber,” Jason, his asshole cousin and the reason why Eric was trying to wrap his mind around what just happened, said, sounding thoughtful as Eric sat there debating beating the shit out of him, but… God, he couldn’t fucking believe this. One minute, Eric was trying to convince himself that he wasn’t making a mistake, and the next, he was walking in on the little bastard fucking his fiancée in the men’s room, all because the other little bastard bet him that he couldn’t do it. Then again, since Eric actually thought that Amber was in love with him, he probably would have taken that bet, too. That, and according to the woman that he thought he would end up spending the rest of his life with, she’d been saving herself for marriage. “I don’t know what you saw in her,” Trevor, the little bastard that made the bet, said with a pitying shake of his head as Eric sat there, slowly taking a sip of the beer that Amber’s parents were paying for as he once again wondered how he’d missed the fact that his fiancée was a manipulative bitch. “Bradfords don’t propose,” Uncle Jared said with a sad shake of his head as he helped himself to one of the steak dinners that Amber’s family abandoned after everything went to hell. Eric opened his mouth to tell them that the Bradford curse was bullshit, only to finish his beer instead. He should have listened to his family, Eric thought as he handed off his empty bottle to a passing waiter and gestured for another beer. His family had been on his ass for the past year, telling him that he was making a mistake, but he’d refused to listen because he was a fucking idiot. “You didn’t love her,” his father said, dropping down on the chair next to him with a heavy sigh. The sad part? He couldn’t really argue that, could he? How else could Eric explain his reaction to hearing his fiancée begging his cousin to fuck her? He’d heard the panted demand, stood there for a moment, fucking sighed, turned around and headed back to the bar for a beer. He should have been pissed, should have yelled, decked his cousin, and called Amber a bitch, but instead, he’d calmly ordered a beer while he’d told the asshole that almost became his father-in-law that the wedding was off. He never should have- “I love bubbles,” came the slurred announcement that had Eric’s lips twitching as he looked over at his best friend to find Morgan hugging a bottle of champagne against her chest. God, she was just so fucking adorable, Eric thought, reaching over to push the glasses that were always threatening to fall off back up her cute little nose. Her wavy dark brown hair that she always seemed to wear in a ponytail, hung free around her shoulders, one thin strap of the black cocktail dress that he’d never seen her in before made its way down her arm, and- Had him fucking sighing as he took a sip of beer, realizing that the only good thing that came out of this whole mess was that he got to see Morgan in a dress, something that he never thought would happen again after the unfortunate incident that occurred at their prom. “I know you do, Morgan,” Eric said, unable to help but smile for the woman that always had his back as he reached over and plucked the bottle of champagne out of her arms. “My bubbles,” Morgan mumbled sadly as she watched him hand the bottle over to a passing waiter. “I’ll get you more bubbles later,” Eric promised her even as he gestured to his cousin to hand him the bucket of ice on the table behind him. Jason grabbed the bucket and moved to hand it to Morgan when Eric snatched it out of his hands with a glare because letting the little prick next to her was the last fucking thing that he was going to let happen. With a sheepish smile, Jason murmured, “Right,” grabbed an abandoned beer from one of the