Page 1 of Taken By my Brothers' Best Friends

CHAPTER 1

Vera

“Why didn’t you call me last night?! How long have you known? What did they say when they proposed? Evie! I’m so happy for you!” I turned onto Main Street and fought the wave of sadness I felt at not being closer to my best friend. “I wish I could hug you so tight.”

“You’re coming soon, right? To see the babies? Hug me then.” She paused and then let out a quiet laugh. “The guys apparently find it weird I can orgasm and then call you right after. I was going to wait a few minutes last night and then call but the guys were in fine form. I passed out and didn’t wake up until the alarm went off this morning.”

“It’s not weird. Why wouldn’t you be able to call? You already came. What more do they want?”

“I know! They’re all suspicious you’re writing about them, too, so I have to pretend like I don’t gush to you about everything we do.” She groaned. “Stop looking at me like that, Turtle! I can’t wait to take you back home to your mom. You’re so mean.”

“Are you fighting with Billie’s dog?” I felt my phone vibrating with incoming notifications and took a deep breath. “Hold on, Eve. I’m pretty sure my overbearing older brothers are blowing up my phone because I didn’t tell them I wiped my ass this morning.”

I glanced down at my phone and a wave of rage washed over me. My oldest brothers were driving me insane. Why did I have to have so many of them? I glanced up at the road and back down at my phone quickly to see what they were texting me about.

“Are you checking your phone right now, Vera? You better not be! I can’t be on the phone when you die in a fiery crash.”

“Jeez. Why’s it gotta be fiery?” I saw a message in all caps and felt a little more of my happiness being smothered out of me.“I swear to god, Eve, you’re so lucky you’re an only child. If my brothers were any more up my ass, I’d need an enema to get them out. I’m—”

Things went bad all at once. My seatbelt locked, my car slammed to a stop, and the sound of crunching metal was so loud I didn’t have to look up to know everyone on Main Street was looking. Dread was heavy in my stomach as I opened my eyes and saw I’d rear-ended a massive pickup truck.

“Oh shit.” I put my car in park and turned it off, that feeling of dread turning into a sense of doom as the driver side door of the truck flew open and a mountain of a man stepped out. “Oh, shit. Oh, no.”

“Vera? Vera, oh, my god! Did you crash? Don’t do this to me! If you die, I’m going to lose it!” Eve’s panicked voice dragged me back to reality.

“I’m okay, Eve. I just—”

The morning sun was shining from behind the man stomping my way so I couldn’t see his face but I could tell he was pissed. As if one wasn’t enough, two more men got out of the truck to march my way.

“Oh, shit.”

“Stop saying that and tell me what happened?!” Eve swore. “I’m pregnant and you’re stressing me out!”

I undid my seatbelt and rubbed my neck where it’d dug in. “I’m about to get chewed out. I hit someone’s truck. Men are so sensitive about their trucks here, Eve. This is going to suck.”

I went to open my door but the man was already yanking it open and leaning down to peer in at me. Oh.Oh. He wasn’t anyone I recognized and that was rare in our small town. His rugged good looks caught me off guard and I forgot I’d just rear-ended him. I was debating on how I wanted to flirt with him when he opened his mouth and reminded me of why I was still single.

“You were on your phone, weren’t you? I should take it away and ground you, like your parents should have. Do you have any idea how dangerous what you just did is? You’re driving a tiny ass plastic toy and plowing into the back of a real truck like you have a death wish. Is that it? Do you have a death wish? Or was your latest podcast episode just so good that you couldn’t wait to share it with all your friends?”

Multiple things occurred to me at once. His accent wasn’t from Texas. Maybe Georgia. I would’ve found it sexy if he wasn’t being a dick. He smelled like leather and vanilla, two scents I normally enjoyed. And his stern expression would’ve been beyond hot. Again, if he wasn’t being a jerk.

“Vera? Who the hell is that? Do you need me?”

“No, Eve. I’m good. I’ll call you back after I let this asshole know where he can shove his condescending attitude. Love you.” I tossed my phone in the passenger seat and got out of my car, forcing him to move back. Glaring way up at him, I dug deep to find my meanest voice. “I’m sorry I hit your truck, but if you keep talking to me like that, I won’t be sorry I hit you.”

Of course, both of the other men were just as painfully handsome. The one in a cowboy hat tipped it up to look me over. “Well, aren’t you a little spitfire. You’re barking up the wrong tree, though, sweetheart. We aren’t men who are afraid to dole out a spanking if it’s needed.”

My jaw had to have hit the floor. “Are you serious? I don’t know what hole in the woods you three crawled out of, but do everyone a favor and crawl back into it.”

The third guy grunted. “What the hell did I do?”

“You’re with them. That’s bad enough.”

The first guy stepped closer, invading my personal bubble and really putting his nose out there for me to thump. He lifted his hand and moved like he was going to touch my throat so I slapped his hand away and held my arms up like I wasfully prepared to chop him again if I needed to. He let out an exasperated sigh, like I was inconveniencing him.

“You’re already bruising from your seatbelt. Go home and put some ice on it and think about taking a driver’s ed course. I don’t have time to tell you all the ways you’re a danger on the road.” He looked at his truck and pulled out a card from his wallet. “I don’t have any damage and I don’t have time to sit around and argue with a kid. Here are my details. If you need anything for your insurance, just call me.”

I snatched the card from him and scowled. “I’m not a kid, asshole.”

---