Small Towns, Wild Hearts: Twelve Complete Stories

Small Towns, Wild Hearts TWELVE COMPLETE STORIES AJ ALEXANDER AJ WYNTER ALEXA RIVERS CLAIRE WILDER DELANCEY STEWART ECHO GRAYCE ELENA AITKEN ELIZA PEAKE JULIA JARRETT KARA KENDRICK LEA COLL MARIE JOHNSTON Copyright © 2023 by AJ Alexander, AJ Wynter, Alexa Rivers, Claire Wilder, Delancey Stewart, Echo Grayce, Elena Aitken, Eliza Peake, Julia Jarrett, Kara Kendrick, Lea Coll, Marie Johnston. All rights reserved. Photographer: Regina Wamba Anthology Cover Designer: Wildheart Graphics No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Contents Between a Rock and a Hard Place Delancey Stewart Say You'll Stay Alexa Rivers Fleeting Chance Lea Coll Seducing Saint Nick Echo Grayce Wheels and Devotion Julia Jarrett Unexpected Kara Kendrick It Was You Marie Johnston Happiest Ever After Claire Wilder The One I Couldn’t Forget AJ Alexander Choose Me Eliza Peake A Chance For Love AJ Wynter Second Chance Spark Elena Aitken Between a Rock and a Hard Place DELANCEY STEWART Between a Rock and a Hard Place I was looking for a real relationship. What I got was a naked hockey player asleep on my couch. Rock Stevens—yes, that's his real name, if you can believe that—is the single most frustrating man I’ve ever met. And through a completely infuriating twist of events, this irritatingly muscular hockey player is now my temporary roommate. I’m doing my best not to think too much about the fact that Rock appeared in my apartment the same night a psychic told me the man I’m destined to be with is already in my life. (Does finding him sprawled naked on my couch count 'as in my life'?) I’m also doing my best not to think about how ridiculously handsome he is, or about how he’s suddenly being awfully sweet to me, now that we’re stuck together. Rock’s a player, not boyfriend material. Plus, this is my apartment. And also, I hate him. I think. It’s only for a week. It’ll all be fine, right? CHAPTER 1 Drea “I’m telling you, it’s the only answer.” Paige Whitehead nodded her head emphatically as she put her beer down a little too hard on the tabletop, liquid sloshing over her hand as she fixed me with a penetrating, if slightly glassy, stare. “There is no world in which having my future told by a notorious drunk is an answer to anything.” I shook my head, glad I’d volunteered to be the designated driver tonight. Paige was listing to one side on her stool. April righted her sister in law with a gentle shove to her shoulder. “Maybe it’s not the actual answer, but it can’t hurt, can it? And it could be fun.” She grinned and waggled her eyebrows, her pretty dark eyes gleaming. I sighed and felt my shoulders slump. “Why am I so pathetic?” It was hard to sit here with my friends, feeling so completely alone while I knew each of them would go home to the man of their dreams. They were so stinking happy it was hard not to be jealous. But they were my friends, and even if I was a little envious of the happiness they’d found, mostly, I was glad for them. I just wanted the same thing. Was that too much to ask? “Drea, she’s legendary,” Paige said. “She’s known as the drunken psychic of Center County,” I reminded Paige. “I’m not sure that’s the kind of legend I need right now.” “But everyone says she’s legit,” April shrugged. “Like I said, can’t hurt.” “Okay, let’s play it out,” I said, taking a second to sip my wine. “We go over to see the drunken psychic. She reads my cards. What in the world can she possibly tell me that will magically solve this for me?” Both of my friends gave me blank looks over the tabletop. I waited, and when neither answered, I sighed again and cast my gaze around the interior of Straddler’s, the bar we hung out at whenever we had a chance. It wasn’t a regular occurrence since both April and Paige had gotten married recently, and we all had busy jobs. The handsome bartender, Wade, met my eyes and gave me a little salute, so I smiled back at him. “Why couldn’t he be single?” I muttered, sending two more sets of eyes toward the bar to stare at Wade. “He is hot,” April agreed. “So hot,” Paige said. “But Ronnie’s nice too.” Veronica, or Ronnie, was Wade’s fiancée. “I’m literally the last single person in Singletree.” I was feeling sorry for myself, but I couldn’t help it. Paige began to giggle. “Single in Singletree.” “Yes, it’s hilarious,” I agreed. “You’re cut off, by the way.” “Nooo,” she complained. But then she straightened her shoulders and nodded. “Yes. That is very responsible. Good.” I thought she’d sobered up in a hurry, but then she melted again into a pile of giggles. “It’s good you don’t have to work tomorrow,” April told her. “I can only imagine how that would go.” “I’m a doctor,” Paige told me with a serious expression, as if I didn’t already know this. “Yep, time to go,” I said, standing. “Okay, but we’re seeing the psychic on the way home,” April said cheerfully, helping Paige to her feet. Paige clapped her hands together and cheered at this. “No, we are not.” Seeing a drunken psychic could in no way assist me in relieving myself of singletude. The best bet was to keep on carrying on, living vicariously through my happily coupled up friends. They were married to two very hot brothers, Callan and Cormac. And I wasn’t jealous. I wasn’t. Dammit. I was. Paige’s legs turned to jelly when I said no, and April staggered, trying to hold her up. “Say yes,” Paige said. “Are you seriously throwing a tantrum right now?” I asked her.