Sass Read online

  CHAPTER ONE

  Reed

  A Year Later

  Small town Saturday night in the South, and I’m doing what I’m supposed to be. Hanging at Hank’s Bar with Justin and Sass. They’ve been constants in my life since my formative years, and they’ve been nothing but supportive since the shit hit the fan with Lacey and Taylor. My parents were workaholics, and while maybe that’s rubbed off on me, I hope I can always keep these two close. Sass, in particular, is very protective and never lets me get too far in my own head. If it wasn’t for this woman, my life would have imploded over the past twelve months. She’s done more than she’s had to, and by the way she’s looking at me, I think that’s going to continue.

  “Do you want me to act like we’re together?” Sass asks, her mouth tilting up in a grin as she takes a pull off her bottle of beer. “Ya know, make ’em jealous? Lacey won’t be able to shut her mouth if she thinks you’ve moved on to your best friend’s little sister.”

  She’s commenting on the fact that Lacey and Taylor have taken up residence a few tables down from us and are having a grand old time showing me just how close the two of them are. Walking in here with my arm empty was something I hadn’t wanted to do in front of her, but the fact of the matter is, I haven’t been out in the last year. I’ve been lying low, licking my wounds, and doing my best to get on with my life. The scenario Sass has presented is one that piques my interest.

  I roll the idea around in my head. Could I do that? Would Sass do that? I’m not stupid; Sass has had a crush on me for years, but she’s never acted on it, and neither have I. I glance over at Lacey, noticing she’s looking at me too. There’s interest in her eyes, and a little bit of jealousy as she sees Sass lean closer. Oh fuck yeah, this will work. We’ll make it work, crushes be damned. I’ve moved on from hurt—I’m to the point in my grieving process where I want to dish out some good old-fashioned pay back.

  “C’mon.” I tilt my head at her as I pull back my chair and pat my thigh. “Let’s do this.” I look over and wink at Justin, hoping he realizes I’m playing—that this isn’t what it looks like to people on the outside looking in. There’s not a smile on his face, or a look of understanding, I’m going to have some explaining to do. Since this will never go anywhere, that’s not a problem, and it’s a concession I’m willing to make.

  There’s a mischievous grin on Sass’s face, and I know without a doubt she’s going to put her all into this. Sass does nothing half-assed; never has and never will. She shakes her ass as she walks towards me, situating herself on my leg so we’re in prime view of Lacey and Taylor. She sits there, pressing herself into my side as I lazily swing my arm around her back, cupping her hip, letting my hand linger on her butt cheek. “She’s looking over here,” Sass whispers as she puts her mouth to my ear.

  I cut my eyes over to where I know Lacey is, and for a moment the two of us catch each other’s glances. There’s a pain on her face I hadn’t expected, red color riding high on her cheeks. Jealousy. I recognize it well, because I’ve seen it many times over the years. I let a smile spread across my face, because knowing that she’s jealous feels fucking good.

  “Good, I hope she realizes what the fuck she’s missing. Bitch could have been marrying me tomorrow.”

  The words are said in a joking manner, but I mean them. Our wedding date was scheduled for the next day—before she decided to stab me in the back and fuck one of my closest friends. I pull Sass closer, push my hand up around the small of her back and let my fingers play against the soft skin. It was one of the things Lacey used to love for me to do. I make sure our eyes meet again and offer her a smart-ass wink. I hope the show I’m putting on makes her believe I’m better off since she left.

  But I’m not. I’ve been pretty fucking miserable. Tonight is my first night delving back into the nightlife of small-town Alabama, and I sure as fuck didn’t think I’d see her here.

  Sass pulls me into her as she bends down. “Go with it.” Her lips smash into mine, her fingers tangle in my hair and tug, and regardless of how this started—my body reacts. I can’t even be embarrassed because I know Lacey sees it. I hope she knows she doesn’t have me by the dick anymore, and I hope she and Taylor Carter are fucking happy together, because starting now, I’m taking back my life. I feel her eyes on me as I break the kiss with the woman I’m holding in my arms. I’m shaky and not sure what just happened between the two of us, but right now, all I know is it hurt the woman who would have been my wife. I can see it in her eyes as she strolls over to our table.

  “Can we help you?” I ask, my eyebrows up in my hairline. I try to affect a bored look, but right now I’m hard as a rock and trying desperately not to make Sass uncomfortable.

  “Didn’t know you were slumming with Justin’s kid sister.” Lacey sneered, showing me in two seconds flat the kind of person I would have married.

  I smile patiently at her, running my tongue over the lips Sass has just thoroughly kissed. I can taste the coconut flavor of her lip gloss, and it’s a welcome distraction from the taste of bitterness I’ve been trying to get rid of for the past year. It gives me hope that maybe I can overcome this.

  “Slumming? Really? At least I don’t take my best friend’s sloppy seconds, and her lips taste better than yours ever did.”

  She’s speechless as she looks at me. For so long I haven’t had a backbone when it came to the hurt she’d placed in my heart. I have it now, and fuck it; I’m doing whatever it takes to keep it.

  “So you’re a thing?” she asks, her lip curled.

  Her eyes go back and forth between us. They land on Sass, and I can see it; she’s eyeing her up and down like she’s competition. This time, though, there is no competition. Lacey had me once, and she threw it away; I’m not stupid enough to put myself back in that situation any longer. I may be a lot of things, but a glutton for punishment is not one of them.

  “We are.” I caress the ass sitting in my lap as my eyes meet Lacey’s. I make sure she sees it, and again I see a ribbon of jealousy in her eyes. I make a decision. I’m all in, because this is revenge I want, something I want to throw back in her face if given the chance. I want to; I want to be a man someone wants, not the man someone can throw to the wayside when they’re done. That shit hurts like a motherfucker, and I’m sick of hurting.

  The little white lie will never hurt anyone. We’ll play the game and we’ll win. Reed Shamrock is done being the man who got his entire world rocked when he found his fiancée on her knees sucking his best friend’s cock.

  For the first time in months, I feel like I’m in control.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Sass

  I eye Lacey as she walks away from us, resting myself against Reed’s side like I belong there. Because really, there’s nothing I won’t do for him, and it’s been that way since I was a teenager.

  Being a fourteen-year-old who’s growing into herself isn’t exactly the best place to be in life. I’m gangly. My legs are too long, my chest is too small, and the braces that are supposedly going to make my teeth straight don’t do anything for my smile right now. It makes me more self-conscious, and I hate it. Walking over to the full-length mirror in my bedroom, I take a look at myself, wondering when I’ll be beautiful. I wonder when I’ll be the girl who catches the eye of the guys. Of one guy in particular. My brother’s best friend, Reed Shamrock.

  He’s everything I think a boyfriend should be. He’s nice to me, doesn’t make fun of me, and he smiles easily. I hardly ever see my older brother, Justin, smile. At least not anymore. Reed though? He always has a smile for me, a little joke, or a question to ask. Not to mention he’s got muscles on top of muscles. Lately he’s been sporting a little bit of scruff, and his hair is longer than he’s ever had it. It touches the edges of his shirt—whenever he wears one.

  Reed’s kinda my hero. Less than a year ago, when my dad died, he found me crying on the roof of our house. He sat with me for hours as we talked about our favorite memories, and then he
hugged me against his chest when we lapsed into complete silence. He never once pressured me to keep talking, never once made me think I was stupid for crying, and he never tried to make light of the subject. I’ll never, ever forget that, and I don’t think he knows, even now, how much it meant to me.

  “Sass, you here?”

  It’s Justin, probably checking to make sure I’ve made it home from school okay. I’m fourteen, but you would think I’m six. He likes to check in, every single day, to make sure I’m not off doing illegal things I’m not supposed to be doing. I roll my eyes, thankful he can’t see me. He’s lectured me about being responsible a lot lately.

  “Be right down.” I purposely yell louder than I need to. Hopefully he gets the message that I don’t need him checking up on me every day.

  As I get to the bottom of the stairs, I’m greeted not only by my brother but by Reed as well. My face immediately flames because of the thoughts I was having not too long ago. Judging by the way they look, they’ve obviously been out cutting yards. It’s what my brother does now that he’s graduated high school. Reed has been working with a friend with a construction business, but when he finishes a job or construction is slow, he tries to help Justin knock out a few yard jobs. I heard them talking the other day, and Justin admitted the money he makes from cutting yards is the only thing keeping my family afloat financially, and it makes me look up to Reed even more. Deep in my heart, I know this hero worship will one day be the death of me.

  My eyes can’t help but take in Reed’s strong profile. I hope he doesn’t realize how powerful this crush I have on him is. I hope it’s not obvious in my eyes how much I think constantly about how he hugged me on the rooftop. How I wanted it to be so much more than the way a brother hugs a sister; I wanted it to be the way a guy hugs a girl he likes.

  “You get home okay?” Justin asks as he hurries into the kitchen. He goes around the small space, grabbing stuff to make him and Reed some sandwiches.

  The room is quiet as both of them down bottles of water in record time. “Yeah, I didn’t have a problem with the new bus route.” I try not to let my voice sound thin. After dad died, our mom couldn’t afford the house they’d lived in since they had gotten married. Now we live in a cheaper house, further out in the county. It’s been a hard adjustment. I had both my home and my dad taken away from me in the span of months.

  Justin ruffles my hair. “You’ll be drivin’ before long anyway, and if Reed or I can get away, we’ll come get you when we can.”

  It’s a promise I’ve heard many times before. One I know he’ll keep, but it doesn’t make this situation any easier.

  “It’s okay.” I smile up at both of them, my eyes not meeting Reed’s completely. “We do what we gotta do. I understand.”

  Justin takes another bite of his sandwich. “I appreciate you doing everything Mom and I have asked you to do, Sass. You’re helping us by doing what you’re supposed to do and keeping yourself out of trouble.”

  I nod, but I can’t say anything because of the lump in my throat. Some days it feels like it’s never going to go away, other days it’s not so hard to swallow around. Today is one of the difficult days.

  I wait for him to speak again, but he grabs his sandwich, taking it to the living room as he mumbles about calling his girlfriend, Morgan.

  “It’s still just as hard for him as it is for you,” Reed confesses softly as he leans in and puts his arm around my shoulder. “He doesn’t know how to make things easier for any of you, and it’s tearing him up, so be sure and give him a break. He’s doing the best he can, and he’s got a lot on his plate right now. You keep doing what you’re doing.”

  “I will.” At this moment, some sort of dam breaks inside me, and embarrassing tears spill forth. I fight to get my breath while trying to unlock the tightness in my chest. I can’t believe I’m crying—again—in front of the guy I have the biggest crush on.

  I try to turn away, but he doesn’t let me. Instead, he uses his arms to pull me into a hug. I collapse against him, not realizing how much I need someone to hold me up, sobbing like I haven’t allowed myself to do since my dad died. Like I haven’t been able to do in front of my mom and brother.

  In this moment, as Reed Shamrock lets me cry against him, I, Cassandra Straight, fall head over heels in love; damn the six-year age difference. As he lets me grieve in his arms, I know when we get older he will want no one but me. He will be mine, and I’ll be his. It’s a clarity I’ve never had before.

  Bless my crazy little fourteen-year-old heart.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Sass

  The scene from last night plays over and over in my head, like the highlight reel of a football game. The culmination of my entire teenage dreams of love and marriage are wrapped up in the man I’m now calling mine. I can’t believe Reed and I told his ex-fiancée we’re a couple. It’ll be all over town soon, and we won’t be able to escape it, but I’m okay with that. I’ve had a thing for Reed for as long as I can remember, and if this is a way for me to get into his life, then I’ll take it as the gift it is. I’ll put myself out there, and maybe when the time comes, he won’t be able to let me leave.

  I’m working on invoicing for the family business when my brother comes pounding up the front steps, throwing the door open.

  “You’ve lost your damn mind.” He shakes his head as he plops down in the chair in front of the desk.

  Last night we all drove ourselves to the bar, and I didn’t have to listen to the lecture I think is about to come. From the grim set of his mouth, and the way his eyes keep darting back and forth, he’s been working up a good one all day.

  “How’s that?” I ask, but I know the answer. This is all about Reed.

  “You’re playing with fire, baby girl.” He shakes his head again, using the nickname our dad used for me. “Do you honestly think you can pretend to be in a relationship with Reed and not end up gutted when it’s over? Where is your fuckin’ head?”

  I’m used to him being pissed off, used to him questioning most of what I do, but to be honest, I hadn’t been sure he would question my motives with Reed, or his motives with me. I thought we were pretty damn transparent, for the most part.

  “My head is in wanting to help Reed. You and I have both seen how lonely he’s been this year, how much of a shell he’s been of the former person we knew. He needed help, and this is help I can give him,” I defend myself. “Besides, Justin, it’s not real. I know and I understand that.”

  He scoots forward in his chair and levels me with a stare. “Do you really, Sass? Do you understand as the two of you pretend, you’re going to come to a point where you aren’t going to know what’s real and what’s not? You’ve wanted this for so fucking long, you’re not going to know, I don’t care what you say. You’re not going to know.”

  I shoot him what I hope is a bored look. Trying to explain this to him isn’t going the way I want it to. He’s not giving me room, and he’s not letting me be the adult I am. He’s never been very flexible where I’m concerned, especially since our dad died, always seeing himself as the man of the house and my protector. “You saw his face last night when he saw her, and you saw her face when she saw the two of us together. This is going to do exactly what he wants it to do, and maybe in the end, I’ll get him out of my system. Either way, people hopefully won’t refer to him as the guy who got fucked over by his best friend.” I shrug as I continue entering data, like it’s not a big deal.

  “So you’re letting him use you?” His voice is hard, disbelieving. Like he can’t believe I’m letting this happen, but how can I not? Even if it’s not completely true, it’s what I’ve always wanted.

  I try to make him understand. “I’m using him too. Can you imagine what a catch I’ll be in this town after Reed Shamrock dumps me?” I ask, silently praying it won’t happen.

  Justin turns to look at me, really look at me. He can see through me most of the time, and I hate it. There are things I like to keep hidden
, things I don’t want him to see, I don’t want him to know. He does, though, every time. “Sass, you may think I don’t know what’s going on in your life, or your head, but I’m not stupid. Don’t set yourself up for a heartbreak like this unless you can take it. Reed doesn’t need you to save him.”

  “That’s not what I’m trying to do at all,” I argue—even though I am trying to save him. I don’t want him to hurt for her anymore. I want him to live for me. “I’m helping a friend. That’s all this is. Don’t look any deeper in it than you need to.”

  He looks like he wants to say more. “I could tell you the same thing, but you’re a grown woman, and you’re gonna do what you want to do. Just be careful, that’s all I ask.”

  I love him for doing this, I love him for being my big brother, but I can make my own life decisions—whether they be good or bad. “I will. I promise.”

  He gets up and puts his hat on. “The only other thing I ask is you don’t force me to choose. He’s been my best friend since we were kids. I don’t want to have to make a decision. You will always come first, but he’s as much my family as you are. And face the fact I’m gonna have to kick his ass for even agreeing to this stupid stunt. It might not come today, it might not come tomorrow, but he’s gonna get an ass whoopin’ from me.”

  “I would never make you do that, Justin. If things go south with this, then I promise it won’t affect your relationship with either one of us.” I mean what I’ve said, but even I know life sometimes happens, and none of us can prevent it.

  He leans in, giving me a hug. “I’m gonna hold you to that.”

  He leaves the office, and I hope like hell I haven’t lied my ass off to him. Against everything I should hope for, I hope maybe this game we’re playing may turn real, and maybe, just maybe, I won’t get my heart broken.

  Reed

  Southern Alabama is fucking hot in the summer time. Today is no exception. Working in construction in this heat is miserable, and I like to make sure my guys are well taken care of. The last thing I need is for any of them to have heat stroke, me included.