Firestorm - Ellie Masters Page 0,1

liked Erin; said she was trouble, but they tolerated her for my sake.

I’m the fucking asshole with blinders on, thinking she loved me when she was only using me to get to La Rouge money. Too ready to settle down, I missed all the signs.

“Glad you found out now, instead of later.” He gives me a long look. “You good?”

“I kicked her out right after I shoved Felix’s balls so far up his ass that he might as well have swallowed them.”

Brody tips his head back and laughs. “Now that’s a visual.”

“Well, Felix won’t be showing his face around here anytime soon.”

“I’m surprised he showed at all, considering…”

“I agree. Fucking-Felix can rot in hell with his bruised testicles. As for Erin, she can cry her eyes out. I’m done with relationships.”

“About damn time you came to your senses.” Brody spreads his arms out wide. “We’re young, wild, and free. No need to go tying ourselves down.”

Except we’re not as young as we used to be. In two years, we’ll be thirty. Eventually, one of us is going to crack and give our mother the daughter-in-law she always wanted and those grand-babies she’s been waiting on forever. Hell, when she was our age, we were little hellions in second grade.

I palm my face and drag it over the stubble of my jaw. It’s too damn early and I’m getting tired of these all-nighters and the nameless women who flock to a La Rouge brothers’ party. Our events are memorable. Always have been, but I’m tired of this shit.

The backbreaking work to keep this place going, and the constant pressure not to lose it all, is getting to me.

I’m grouchy.

It’s an hour before the ass-crack of dawn.

And I have work to do.

It begins in the barn where there’s shit to shovel out of the horse stalls, where memories of Erin’s betrayal linger, and where the youngest La Rouge triplet is currently getting it on.

Unlike Brody, I don’t have the day off. There’s shit to do, and from the look on his face, I’m not getting any brotherly help.

Brody shifts on the couch and swings his legs around. He reaches down and swipes up the used condoms to toss them at the trash can. Only one of the three actually makes it inside.

“Your aim sucks.” I shake my head, then glance out at the barn. Brody follows the direction of my gaze and his mouth twists into a grin.

“He’s out there, isn’t he?”

“Yeah.” Brody huffs a laugh. “Took two with him.”

“I’m surprised it wasn’t three. Shit, you guys come down for a long weekend, chase tail, and fuck anything with two legs, while I…”

“Whoa! Slow down there. We don’t fuck anything with two legs. There needs to be pussy attached and the longer the legs the better. Which is exactly what you need.”

“What’s that?”

“A little pussy action, idiot. You need to get laid; the sooner, the better. A little pussy will make you forget all about that bitch. Erin is trash, and speaking of trash, you know Felix is just going to go stirring shit up.”

“Yeah.” Felix always had it in for us. I’ll be looking over my shoulder waiting for whatever revenge he has in mind.

As for forgetting Erin? I’m not sure keeping my dick wet is the best idea.

First off, my reputation around town is legendary. Brody and Cage fly in and fly out. They sleep with women all over the globe and only occasionally come home. I’ve been sticking my dick in the same local waters for the past decade and, except for Erin, scared off any potential interest years ago. I’m known as the fuck-them-and-forget-them-man.

“Tell me, aren’t you tired of a new girl in your bed every night?”

“No.” His brow quirks up. “I like having options. No strings. No commitments. Just fun.” As an investment banker, Brody’s killing it in the city, but he’s never been in a relationship that lasted through the night.

I cringe thinking about all the places he’s dipped his dick. Despite his aversion to relationships, he’s never without some model-gorgeous catch of the day hanging from his arm. He has those rugged good looks girls go crazy for and a panty-melting grin which never fails to seal the deal.

I should know, I have the same looks. That same smile. Those same arresting forest-green eyes which never fail to get me laid.

When people look at us, they only see the similarities. I see the differences.

Brody spends his life behind a desk. He’s got the same wide