Liam, and the rest of the Hillcrest crew? Click HERE to read how it all began with Filthy Little Pretties.
Read Filthy and want the tea on Red Oak? Click HERE for Poisoned Minds.
Add the rest of the Prep Series to your TBR’s:
Hillcrest
Red Oak
St. Simeon-Burr
Madison
Looking for something darker? Check out Trilina’s other series, HERE.
Interconnected MAFIA stand-alones
Truth
Worship
Depraved
Fumbled Future
By Meagan Brandy
Chapter 1
Mia
“This is fucking stupid,” Kalani huffs, grabbing the bottle of Patron and lifting it to her mouth.
I manage to snag the damn thing before she tips it too far, and successfully yank it away.
“No, it’s not, so stop being a whiner.” I walk across the room, stuffing the bottle in a drawer, knowing damn well it won’t stop my stubborn-ass cousin from doing any damn thing she wants in the end.
“You can get as drunk as you want tonight, but there will be no afternoon dress drinking.”
“The need to drink came from this very suck-ass afternoon, asshole!” she complains, but with no real bite to her tone. “Plus, let’s not forget how you’re the one who made me watch all those ‘who did it better’ shows and in every single one, the bride is being fed liquid courage while she’s getting ready. You’ve fed me nothing, Mia.”
I laugh. “True… but you’re not the bride and this isn’t your dress, so is it okay for you to potentially spill tequila on my very first client as a seamstress? No.”
“Potentially, Meems,” she huffs.
“Better to be safe than sorry, Lolli.” I laugh, calling her the nickname I deemed her with at age five.
“Why are you doing this anyway? I told you I’d help you pay for school.”
“You already gave me a place to live and don’t think I don’t know about the trust fund account you put in my name either.”
Kalani laughs. “Come on, just let me be your sugar mama.”
I chuckle. “Love you cousin, and I appreciate it, but let me crash and burn before you bail me out, okay?”
Kalani opens her mouth to argue, but then the door is shoved open, and our attention’s pulled.
Payton, our friend Parker’s baby sister, bounds in the door, hair a mess of blonde on top of her head, eyes tired and red, fussy baby boy crying in her arms. “Someone, for love of hot coffee, help. Please.”
“Aw…” Kalani steps off the little stool and heads her way, but I intercept her ass.
“Ha! Lolli, get real!” I shake my head. “Baby puke is another big fat no to be spilled on this dress.”
“Again, Mia. Potentially. And you’re getting on my nerves now.” Kalani looks to Payton and scrunches her nose like a brat. “Sorry, she’s being full drill sergeant.”
“It’s fine, I just… really wanted to shower before Nate’s parents get here. I hate looking like I suck at life when they come.” Payton’s shoulders fall a bit.
“You don’t suck at life and know that Sara and Ian would never judge,” Kalani tells her about her man’s parents.
“Bright side is they won’t be getting into town until around five.”
“True!” Kalani adds.
Payton frowns from me to Kalani. “It’s five-thirty.”
I tense and Kalani’s eyes fly to mine.
I start laughing instantly, knowing what’s coming.
“I’ve been doing this for three hours?” she snaps.
Payton grins from her to me, bouncing her little guy in her arms, but he doesn’t calm any.
I slip a pin between my lips, grabbing the right hem between my fingers once more. “I’m almost done, I swear.”
“Well I’m done now,” she whines. “I gotta get out of this before they get back and—”
“We’re back,” Mason, Nate’s cousin, calls from the front room, and all three of us freeze.
We look between each other and all start running around like crazy people.
I spit the pin to the side and quickly begin unzipping her while she pulls the clips from her hair.
Payton tries to escape the room, to run down the hall and into her own, I’m guessing, but Mason appears before she can, and the three of us freeze on the spot.
His focus falls to Payton, his brows dipping low at the sight of her frazzled little face. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she rushes out. “Everything’s fine—”
“She needs help with Deaton,” Kalani cuts her off.
“Lolli,” Payton hisses, slowly looking back to Mason.
He doesn’t say a word but wears a slight frown as he gently steps toward her and reaches for the baby.
Payton hesitates, but only for a split second before handing him over and running down the hall.
He holds him up, swaying him lightly as he pats on his back. “What’s wrong, little man,