Trouble with the Fake Boyfriend (Rock Bottom #3) - Holly Renee Page 0,20

time to live.

“Not too much.” I leaned back into the cushion and relaxed. This place, the feel of it, the smell of it, nothing had ever felt quite like home since leaving here, and there was something about being back here that took a weight off my shoulders. “We’ve got a pretty damn good team right now.”

“Good.” My dad nodded his head. “What’s next? You all going to take it easy for a while or you already have something else up your sleeve?”

I couldn’t tell him about the business proposition I made Brooke. Not only would he either think the business idea or our relationship was a sham, he would lay into me about how dumb of a decision it was.

He would try to talk some sense into me, and I didn’t have time for that right now.

“We’re working on perfecting what we have for right now.”

I never lied to my dad, and I hated that I was doing it now.

“What about that girl in there?” He nodded toward the kitchen.

“What about her?” My heart rate kicked up.

“Is it serious?” He arched an eyebrow at me.

“It’s as serious as I get, I guess.” My dad knew I wasn’t ready to settle down regardless of how badly my mom wanted it. Me and him had talked about it a dozen times.

I told him I would settle down when I was ready, and he told me that being ready had nothing to do with it. According to him, it would knock me off my ass when it was time, and if it didn’t? It wasn’t time.

“That’s a bullshit answer and you know it.” He crossed his arms, and even though he was trying to have a stern heart to heart with me, I couldn’t help laughing at him. My dad didn’t have an ounce of hard-ass in his body.

Not a single trace.

“I haven’t been knocked on my ass yet if that’s what you’re asking.”

He nodded his head in understanding. My mom was passionate, full of life, and sometimes overbearing, but my dad was the rational one. They balanced each other out perfectly.

“I have a feeling about that one in there.”

“You’ve met her once and you already have a feeling about her?” My dad was so full of shit.

“Exactly.” He stretched back in his recliner like he didn’t have a worry in the world. “Sometimes you just know.”

“You’re crazy.” I shook my head. And here I thought he was the level-headed one.

“Think what you want, but I’ll be telling you I told you so.”

“You’re getting worse than Mom in your old age. I think she was right. You are going senile.”

He clicked on the TV and whatever football game that was currently playing blasted through the speakers.

“We’ll see.”

By the time my mom and Brooke finally made their way into the living room, Brooke was covered in flour and a giant smile.

“I made biscuits.” She shrugged her shoulders, and I swear if I was some lovesick puppy I would have thought it was the cutest fucking thing I’d ever seen. But I wasn’t, I was just pretending to be.

“I see that.” I stood from the couch and made my way over to where she stood. “Did you actually put any flour in the biscuits or are you wearing it all?”

She smacked my arm playfully, and God, the urge to press my lips against hers was strong.

What the hell was happening?

“Let’s eat.” My mom motioned toward the dining room, and we all followed her in there.

Brooke took the seat next to me, and my mom had a grin on her face as she started passing around food.

“Brooke tells me that Kennedy and Tucker finally moved out.” She passed me the biscuits, and I had to admit they looked amazing.

“Yeah. Just this week, actually. It’s weirdly quiet in my apartment.”

“Mine too.” Brooke nodded around a bite of food.

She was eating the food so quickly you would think the girl had never had a home-cooked meal in her life.

My mom grinned harder. “Have you two thought about moving in together?”

I coughed around my drink and I was pretty sure Brooke was choking on her biscuit.

“Sarah, leave them alone.” My dad shook his head, but he didn’t seem at all surprised by her words.

“What? I was just asking. It would save them a lot of money on bills.”

And a lot of time on her schedule of marriage and children.

“I just got my own bathroom for the first time in my entire life. I’m not sure I’m ready to