Tessa Ever After by Brighton Walsh Read Free Book Online

years ago. They’re the brothers I never had. And it’s always been a joke between us—the revolving door in my bedroom—but something about the way he said it, or maybe whom he was referencing, pissed me the fuck off, whereas normally it’d just roll off my back.
    Just as I walk through the door to my apartment, my phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out to see Adam’s name on the screen. I wouldn’t put it past Cade to call him and get him to bitch me out about this as well. Blowing out a breath, I answer, “Don’t tell me you’ve called to warn me to stay away from her, too.”
    There’s a beat of silence on the other end before he says, “Stay away from who? And who told you that?”
    I groan, dropping my head back on my shoulders. I totally fucked myself over with that one. “Whatever, it’s not a big deal. What’s up?”
    “Nothing, just sitting in traffic. So who are you supposed to stay away from?”
    After a brief pause, I say, “Tess.”
    “Tess? As in . . . Tessa? Our Tessa?”
    “Well, Cade’s Tessa, if he has any say in it.”
    “Wait a minute. What am I missing here? Since when is there anything at all with Tessa?”
    “I don’t know, man. All I know is I’m here, looking after her and Haley, doing exactly what Cade asked me to, and then I get a phone call today because I’ve been spending time at their place.”
    “O . . . kay,” he replies, clearly confused.
    “Basically told me to dip my dick somewhere else.”
    “Shit.”
    “What the fuck, right?”
    “Did Tessa say something to him?”
    “I don’t know, she probably told him I was there helping out a lot last week. And then he flips out.”
    “You know how he is with her. I’m surprised he doesn’t have surveillance on her.”
    “Yeah, I know how he is with her, but I don’t give a fuck. That shit’s not cool.”
    “I’m not saying it is.” He’s silent for a minute, then he clears his throat, and I’ve known him long enough to realize he’s about to ask something that’s going to make me uncomfortable. “So . . . is there anything going on with Tessa?”
    “Oh Jesus. Not you, too.”
    “Hey, I don’t care one way or another, so long as she isn’t just another chick in your bed.”
    “You know she’d never go for that, even if that’s what I wanted.”
    “Well, do you?”
    “No,” I say immediately. When only a weighted silence greets me, I groan. “Fuck, I don’t know. I mean . . . did you realize how hot she is? When the fuck did she get hot?”
    He barks out a laugh. “Uh, yeah, I knew. You saying this is new information to you?”
    “I’m saying I never saw her as . . . that . Or I didn’t let myself see her as that, whatever. But lately”—I scrub my hand over my face—“fuck, I don’t know.”
    “You already said that.”
    “Yeah, well, the sentiment is still accurate.”
    “You better know before you start anything with her.”
    “I’m not going to start anything with her.”
    “Why not? I know Cade would be a pain in your ass—”
    “That’s putting it lightly.”
    “—but who cares? He’d get over it. Eventually.”
    I’m shaking my head even before he can finish. “It’s not gonna happen. And it has nothing to do with Cade and everything to do with me. C’mon, man, you know Tess wants the real deal.That’s why she’s been doing that online match bullshit. That’s not me.” Before he can say anything more, I change the subject. “Besides, I have other shit to worry about. My parents have finally added a deadline to my ongoing undergrad career.”
    “No shit? That mean you’re gonna graduate this year?”
    “Looks like.”
    “And then what?”
    “Then I go to whatever school Dad deems appropriate to get my master’s and learn the ropes at the firm while I’m at it so I—and I’m quoting—don’t fuck everything up.”
    “So your dad’s still an asshole, then?”
    “Yep.”
    “On the bright side, think of all the secretaries