Love Under Construction (Love By Design 1)

Chase and Damien showed up later. Damien had some plumbing work to take care of, but I could use Chase’s former football strength to help dig out some of the more offending brush roots around the perimeter of the house. My landscaping budget was about to go to hell due to some crown molding and a porch repair.

I was determined to get this house perfect for Taylor Jane. She deserved that much and at least that was something I could control.

“Dude, could TJ have picked a worse project?” Chase and I had our elbows deep in honeysuckle bushes that were blocking a good section of the front yard.

“I don’t know. It’s actually a sound foundation. Most of our time has been spent on cosmetic upgrades for the house and some repairs here and there.”

“And cleaning up the abominable shit demon.” I regarded my pain in the ass cousin and willed him to shut his smiling mouth.

“Did you run out of stuff to do already?” I asked.

“Nope, just came out to say hello to my future brother-in-law.”

Chase dropped his brush pile and laughed so hard he bent over. “Right, because my sister isn’t planning to cut your balls off.

“I’ll give her another year to bone that cop before she sees my greatness for what it is.”

“He has got to be fucking high.” Chase mumbled turning to me with a question. “So are you seeing Taylor now?”

“Something like that.”

“Chase, don’t go there.” Whit was smirking, and I knew he had a thing for some college girl in town he’d rescued in the woods recently. I wished they’d focus on his fascination with younger chicks instead of me.

“Taylor is like a little sister to me, but less annoying. I wasn’t inquiring as to her singular status as much as I was wondering if you figured your shit out.”

“Oh my God, are we the freaking sewing circle?” I threw my branches of honeysuckle into the dumpster thinking they smelled a little like Taylor Jane, bright and sweet.

“Boy Scout rules.” Whit made the sign, and we laughed.

“Yes, we’re together.” I admitted but that was all those knitting needle dicks were getting out of me. The rest was between us.

“Yeah!” Damien yelled at the top of his lungs, doing a stupid dance from our touchdown football days, looking like a maniac.

“Shut up and keep pulling roots before I strangle you.”

“Hey, I’m not into kinky shit like breath play. I’ve told you this before.” Damien threw clumps of roots and dirt my way, and I threw it back, hitting Whit by mistake. Things escalated quickly and before we knew it we were tackling each other and Chase grabbed the hose, spraying us into muddy, disgusting messes. The water was cold and its own form of torture, but we have to clean up before going near the house. Taylor Jane would not take too kindly to four idiots tracking mud through the foyer on her new lacquered wood floors.

26

Taylor Jane

I knocked on Kristen’s door looking behind me, wondering if anyone could see me. I mean, of course they could, it was the morning and it wasn’t like I was hiding from the police, just the town gossips, who could probably smell sex in a fifty-foot radius.

“Go away.” The door talked back, and I knocked louder.

“There’s something I have to tell you, Kristen.”

She opened the door looking like hell rode her hard and came back for more. I mean, her hair was a cockeyed mess and a smear of pink lipstick ran over her puffy mouth, followed by raccoon eyes I hadn’t seen the likes of since prom.

“You’re looking at me with those judgy eyes like I’ve sinned.” Her arm was over her head, resting on the half open door. She looked belligerent, but that was her in the morning before coffee, or alcohol.

“You haven’t recently?”

Kristen was a sex kitten, but I wasn’t going to tell her that.

“Get your ass inside. You know Becky still lives down the block.”

Becky was still on my shit list for a number of reasons, and I brushed past Kristen, dumping my purse on her table.