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Twenty years ago…
I keepmy eyes closed and let the hot Texas sun beat down on me. It’s damn good to be home. I’ll be the first to admit my junior year in college burned me out.
The familiar faces and sweet Texas girls I grew up calling my friends are something I’ve been longing for. This is real. This is where my heart lives.
“Why, look at you. Did you go turn into a man on me, Trevor Monroe?” A smile comes to my lips as I open my eyes.
I find none other than Brooke Galveston taking a seat beside me on the dock I’ve been perched on, away from the crowd.
“Darlin’, I’ve been a man.” I snort. “If you weren’t so busy with your nose in them books, you would have noticed.”
“Whatever, Trevor,” she says with her Southern belle accent that warms my heart.
This right here is what I’ve been missing. Our easy banter and the peace that comes with knowing a friend so well. At school, the girls are nothing like Brooke. I can have a conversation with her without having cleavage thrown in my face or hearing damn silly giggles ring out for no blasted reason.
It all seems unavoidable since I play football for the school’s team. Over the last two years, dreams of going away to college and my love of the game have faded away. I’m a simple country boy and I miss my simpler life.
Brooke bumps my shoulder with hers and looks up at me with those big brown eyes, searching my face. “Hey, what’s up? Why do you look so down?”
“Just thinking.” I shrug my shoulders.
“Just thinking about that cupcake you stole?”
My cheeks heat. I’m sure they’ve turned pink. I knew where to find the treat. I’d been looking forward to those cupcakes as much as I had been wanting to see the face of the girl who made them.
“I plead the fifth.”
“Yeah, you would,” she laughs. “But what’s really going on?”
“I’m thinking, that’s all,” I say.
“Hmm, shouldn’t you be excited? I know I am. We’re leaving in fifteen days. This will be epic,” she says with a glow in her eyes and a beaming smile on her face.
“I’m excited.”
“Ha.” She laughs. “Sure you are.”
Honestly, I am excited about the trip. At least I’m excited about the chance to travel with my friends. The trip had been her idea. So, of course, she’s the most excited about going to Europe. Brooke has always been a hopeless romantic and has a lovers’ tour planned for everyone.
The kicker is… there won’t be a single couple on the trip, but everyone loves her and wouldn’t dream of saying no when shehas her heart set on something. That’s something you just don’t do. Which is how we’re heading to Europe to live one of her dreams with a few of our closest friends.
“No.” A shriek from across the way fills the air.
I whip my head in the direction of the voice. I know who it belongs to before my gaze finds her. From the moment my eyes land on her, I’m sucked in. She has the prettiest brown skin and those sparkling brown eyes. Her gorgeous smile, wild reddish-brown hair, and heart-shaped face are all so captivating.
She has grown into an undeniably stunning young woman. I’m not surprised at the line of guys ready to chase her around the lake. Her beauty is like a siren’s call—unable to be ignored.
“I still haven’t figured out why you won’t just ask her out,” Brooke says, grabbing my attention from her younger sister.
“Huh?”
I turn to look into a similar brown face. Just as gorgeous as the girl on the other side of the lake. Brooke’s eyes shine with mirth as the sun beams down on her. However, my heart doesn’t skip a beat the same way when we lock gazes.
“Come on.” Brooke rolls her eyes and groans. “Trev, you’ve been in love with my sister for forever.”
“Wh… what are you talking about? I love you both like sisters.”
“That’s pure, utter bullshit, and you know it, Trevor Monroe,” she accuses. “I’ve watched how you look at her.
