Page 1 of The Bachelor

PROLOGUE

Camden

Nine Years Ago

Oaklyn fucking Rose, I thought as I walked into my sister’s bedroom after having just seen Hannah’s best friend in a bikini for the last hour, a bunch of us hanging out in our hot tub.Holy shit, that girl gets hotter by the day.

Tight body.

Nice rack.

At this age, I was sure she was a virgin—most of the girls in our sophomore class were.

And that was the reason I’d come into my sister’s room after the little party we had. Everyone had already gone home, Mom and Dad were due back any minute, the empty beer bottles were hidden in the trash, and buried beneath those was a jar of water with all the cigarette butts swimming inside. We hoped the bath would drown out the smell of ash.

My sister and I were always careful, hiding all the evidence.

Except for now, apparently. Her drunk ass had a beer and was sipping on it while she sat on her bed, still in her wet bathing suit.

“Wanna share that?” I took a seat next to her in my soaked swim trunks and held out my hand.

If she didn’t care about getting her bed wet, then neither did I.

She handed me the bottle. “Tonight was the best time ever.” She had a solid buzz—I could hear it in her voice.

“Good time, for sure.”

And the perfect opportunity to bring up her best friend.

“Hey, you know your girl, Oaklyn? She’s really turned into quite a hottie.”

She laughed. “She’s always been a hottie. Maybe you need glasses. When was the last time Mom took you to the eye doctor?”

“Hannah, that’s not what I mean.” I took a drink and handed the beer back to her. “What I mean is, what do you think about me asking her out?”

She tapped my arm like it was the top of our golden retriever’s head. “You’re funny.”

“I’m serious.”

“No. No.Nooo.”

“Why not?”

She faced me, crossing her legs, her hair clinging to her cheeks, which she eventually tucked behind her ears. “You’d crush her. I can’t let that happen.” She wiped her mouth after she took another drink. “Oaklyn can’t handle someone like you.”

I pointed at my bare chest. “Someone like me?”

She nodded. “My brother is the ultimate heartbreaker. I can’t lose my best friend because of a shattered heart.”

It was almost like I wasn’t even in the room and she was talking about me, not to me.

My brows rose as I stared at her. “Are you being serious?”

She gave me the beer back. “Heck yeah, I am.” She then held out her pinkie. “Make me a promise, Camden Dalton, that my friends are forever and ever off-limits.”

Shit, she was being serious.

But just to confirm, I said, “All of your friends?”

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