Blame it on the Champagne (Blame it on the Alcohol #1) - Fiona Cole Page 0,123
him, and he always turned her down, but it was so obvious to everyone but her why he never took her up on a one-night stand. He wanted so much more.
“Come on, you were laughing right along with me,” she said to him.
The last wedding we’d had for Nico and Vera had started with a ton of tequila and ended with me twerking on the dance floor while Raelynn scrolled through Instagram, stealing pics I swore to kill her over if she ever posted.
No, she never posted.
But she had seen Patrick start an Instagram live video that he notoriously invited fans to join. Lucky Raelynn requested to join under my handle and magically got picked. She’d greeted him, announcing she only knew of his band because her friend was half in love with him. At that point, unbeknownst to me, she turned the camera on me mid-ass shake. I had no idea any of it was going on and shimmied toward her, rapping along to Missy Elliot.
Yeah, I didn’t want to repeat that performance. But just the memory of it had me wanting to drink the embarrassment away.
“Give Austin your phone,” I ordered.
“Oh, come on.”
“Do it,” I said again, taking the shot.
“Fine.” She gave him her phone, and he shoved it into his pants pocket. “I can’t wait to hunt for that later,” she said with a wink.
“Jesus,” he murmured.
She laughed before leaning her ample cleavage on the bar to get the bartender’s attention. “Three more shots, please.”
We did our shots, and my phone vibrated just as another was handed to me. I dug in my pocket and downed the drink.
“Come dance,” Rae pleaded.
I looked down at the screen.
Text Message from Rockstar.
“Take Austin. I’ll be right out,” I said distractedly.
“Thanks for throwing me under the bus,” Austin grumbled as Rae tugged him past me.
“Oh, we both know you like it,” I shouted.
That had him shutting up.
Just like every time his name popped up my heart picked up pace like an unstoppable freight train. A picture of a carved pumpkin and strong, long fingers holding it in place accompanied a text message.
Rockstar: Remember when your mom made us all carve pumpkins?
Me: Ha. Yeah, like we were the Brady Bunch. That was the first year after our parents married.
Rockstar: A good year, if I remember correctly.
It’d been a great year, but I couldn’t bring myself to send that. When I didn’t respond, another message came through.
Rockstar: I wish you were here.
Rockstar: When are you going to let me see you again?
When the thought didn’t fill me with panic. When I felt like I could meet him and have full control of my emotions, unlike when I was a traumatized teen full of angst.
He’d been asking to meet me since he saw me on that Instagram live video.
See, I’d always been aware of him, even when he lost track of me.
Raelynn and Vera knew I loved his band—they just didn’t know I used to love him.
They didn’t know he used to be my stepbrother.
Nova’s book is book two in the Blame it on the Alcohol series and you can preorder now! You’re not going to want to miss this step-brother, rockstar, second-chance romance! Check it out HERE!
If light and fun with a touch of angst and forbidden are your jam, check out Imagine Me or Deny Me. They’ll have you laughing, swooning, and holding your breath all at once!
If you’re looking for something a little more forbidden, check out this student-teacher romance, VOYEUR. It’s book one of six in the best-selling series.
Want more angst in your books? Check out my new adult, second chance romance, SHAME. Find out how Anna and Kevin discover each other and learn to understand their unique sexuality.
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Acknowledgments
My family: Thank you for always understanding and supportive. Thank you for the cuddles after a hard day and laughs when all I want to do is rip my hair out. I couldn’t do this without you being the foundation holding me up. I love you.
Karla. Dream Team, baby. This year, man. It’s been wild and there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of this book ever being done without the epic support you give. I literally couldn’t have done this without you!
Serena. You’re the lady behind the scenes making this all work. Thank you for everything you do and keeping me sane and always talking me down and calling me out on my shit. Best. PA. Ever!
The amazing women in this community. This year did number on me and with every trip and fall and crumble, someone was there. Someone who didn’t need to be, but was. Someone who didn’t need to hold my hand when I cried, but was. Someone to help me when I didn’t know what to do, and was. I went to an author retreat earlier this year and these ladies changed me life. This year was hard, but it would have been harder without them pushing me to be better and letting me know I was going to be okay. And thank you to everyone in between who’s always been there.
Najla Qamber. Whew! This cover! You outdid yourself. Five years and your patience and skill still amaze me. Thank you for helping me create my vision and then bringing it to life.
Valentine PR. This group of ladies is amazing and take so much pressure off my shoulders so I can write with confidence knowing everything else is being taken care of. Megan, you’ve been an amazing person to work with and your ability to make me laugh and feel better knows no bounds! Thank you!
Kelly. Thank you for being an amazing editor. Thank you for being an even better friend! You give me the confidence to publish a book I know is the best it could be because of you.
Julia. Thank you for always being able to beta read. This may have been the scariest book for you to read and knowing you liked it infused me with so much confidence. Your beta reading is critical and holds so much weight in the book I put out.
Review team. You ladies are wonderful, fun, kind, and beyond supportive. Thank you for every share, every review, and everything in between. You guys are the real MVP and I loved every second of you impatiently waiting for Nico and Vera!
Lovers. You guys are my safe place. You guys give me the best book recommendations and make me laugh. You’re more than I could ever ask for. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve scrolled through your comments and have been brought to tears. Thank you for being such an awesome group.
Bloggers. To every single one from personal pages to the bookstagrammers. You all work so hard and take beautiful pictures and write such amazingly kind words in reviews. I don’t have enough words to let you know how much you all mean to me. I couldn’t do this without you.
Readers. You guys rock my socks off. Thank you for taking a chance on my words. Thank you for taking the time to read something I’ve created. You’re the best.
About the Author
Fiona Cole is a military wife and a stay at home mom with degrees in biology and chemistry. As much as she loved science, she decided to postpone her career to stay at home with her two little girls, and immersed herself in the world of books until finally deciding to write her own.
Fiona loves hearing from her readers, so be sure to follow her on social media.