by Emilia Finn
“You don’t do naughty stuff with my sister!” Ben roars and slams a fist against William’s jaw. “You never utter those words again, pendejo!”
“Olivia!” William laughs and cries in one. “Save me!”
“What’s in the letter?” Evie ignores her husband and William as they scramble for the upper hand. They’re not children wrestling on the lawn, but competitive fighters looking for the win. “Liv? You gonna share with the class, or…?”
“Um…” I reach back with a shaking hand and tug the paper from my pocket.
People mill around, half of the spectators are watching Ben and William, the other half watch me. Part of me rejects the idea of opening this letter in front of a crowd, but another part is dying to know what he wrote.
I unfold the sheet with a tremor in my hands, only to realize it’s not just one piece of paper, but several. I let my eyes scan the first page, words like guilt, choices, and love jump out. Then, frustrated with myself, I go back to the start and read again.
Dear Olivia,
Did you say it yet? Fuck, I hope so. I’m gonna keep you, even if you didn’t, but I hope you said it, because it’ll make you feel better. You’re struggling with a massive dose of guilt, and you’re giving yourself a stomachache because of it, so hopefully by the time you’re reading this, that ache has eased, and you’ve told me you love me.
I bring a hand to my stomach and rest it over the ache that isn’t there anymore.
I love you too, Olivia. I love you so fucking much that I’ve been writing letters to a woman for years, a woman I had met only a couple times, and every time, that meet lasted mere minutes before one of your guard dogs pulled you away.
I fell in love with your heart. With your soul. With your brain, your personality, your life experiences. I fell in love with your pride (lucky for you), and your wit (lucky for me). I fell in love with your words, and your view of the world.
I fell in love with you.
Really fucking hard.
And there’s just no chance of me giving that up, so if you’ve not yet admitted to loving me back, then we’re gonna have to come to some kind of arrangement.
If you have admitted you love me, then let’s move to the next step. Turn the page. Make some choices.
Always,
William.
P.S.: Conners still annoy the shit out of me.
With shaking hands, I fold the first sheet of paper, and reveal the next – except, the next isn’t lined and written on, but rather, photocopy paper with pictures of dishwashers.
“Choose the GE,” Evie murmurs. “We have that one, and it’s awesome.”
“Um… I’m choosing dishwashers?” I choke out a laugh and swipe a stray tear from my cheek. “Okay. GE, I guess.”
I flip to the next page and am presented with doors. Timber doors, some with glass designs, some with carvings, some with fancy knobs, and some with antique knockers.
At the bottom of the page, William has written in pen, “Opening doors for us. Pick one, Olivia.”
“Oh, I like the one with the flower windows at the top,” Evie whispers. “Pick that one.”
I manage a shaking smile, catalogue my choice in my head, then flick to the next page to find pictures of dogs. Three of them are Golden Retrievers, and one is a Great Dane mutt.
“Ha!” Evie snorts. “He wants to steal Giselle from Jamie. Good luck with that. Maybe you should get a cat,” she suggests. “We have way too many dogs right now.”
So I nod, catalogue my choice, and flick to the next page, only to frown at the handwritten scrawl.
“Conners fucking annoy me. Stupid name.”
“Well that’s rude,” Evie grumbles, but then she stops with a squeak when I turn the page and find more scrawling letters.
“Swap Conner for Quinn?”
“Aww—”
“Tap, motherfucker. Tap!”
My gaze snaps up to the fight in the cage, to Ben and William laid out on the floor.
William is on the bottom, but Ben is the one being choked, as his face turns a nasty shade of red, and William’s muscular arm wraps around his throat and squeezes. All around the room, spectators push closer and chant, “Tap, motherfucker. Tap!”
“Oh damn,” Evie murmurs. “Oh no.”
“Tap, motherfucker. Tap!”
“This is bad,” Evie frantically whispers. “The Sasquatch can’t go down like this.”
“Tap, motherfucker. Tap!”
“Oh god.” She covers her eyes, then changing her mind, she covers Wes’. “I’m gonna have to give him the world’s best BJ tonight to make up for this.”
“Ew.”
“Tap, motherfucker. Tap!”
I press my hands to the cage and stare at my brother and my… boyfriend? Fiancé? Love of my stupid friggin’ life? … wrestling for dominance.
William keeps his hips down, his breathing controlled. His movements slow and steady. And above him, Ben tries to slide out of the hold he’s found himself in.
Shouts echo around us, loud, deafening, so the floors vibrate, and the cage moves. But in the cacophony, William’s eyes slowly come to mine.
It’s like tunnel vision, like it’s just the two of us in the room. And when our eyes meet, and Ben slaps the floor in submission, William smiles and steals whatever semblance of distance I thought I had.
I’m in, body, heart, and soul. No room for pride, and no room for arguments.
Chewing on my lip, I lift the final sheet of paper, the one that reads “Swap Conner for Quinn?” and when I know I have his full attention, I nod.
William releases Ben and flops back to the canvas with an exhalation of relief, but his eyes stay on mine. His smile, his promise.
THE END
Continue the Stacked Deck Series in Dynamite
Acknowledgments
Oh Ben. What tf happened, bruh?
Guess we needed to know Will was strong enough to take care of business.
Now he’s the man of Liv’s house, and you… need to step aside.
*giggles*
As always, no book can come to you guys without a little help from my friends. I want to thank my very best friends – Tink and Kelly. I love you both very much. Thank you for being mine.
To my sister, Karen. You’ve saved my life a million times, in a million ways. Thank you for loving me the way I needed it, even when I didn’t know it.
More importantly, to all of my girls, thank you for loving me, especially when I couldn’t love myself.
My betas – Debbie and Siddhi – thank you for your hard work. I appreciate every scrap of feedback you give.
My cover designer – Amy Q – I seriously adore your work! Thank you.
My editor – Jen from Bird’s Eye Books. You always exceed expectations. Thank you.
My proofreader – Lindsi – thank you for making these guys shine. Ps: have you made your announcement yet? Oops… did I just do it for you?
And to my crew – I love you guys so much. Thank you for your unending and super passionate support.
Also by EMILIA FINN
(in reading order)
The Rollin On Series
Finding Home
Finding Victory
Finding Forever
Finding Peace
Finding Redemption
Finding Hope
The Survivor Series
Because of You
Surviving You
Without You
Rewriting You
Always You
Take A Chance On Me
The Checkmate Series
Pawns In The Bishop’s Game
Till The Sun Dies
Castling The Rook
Playing For Keeps
Rise Of The King
Sacrifice The Knight
Winner Takes All
Checkmate
Stacked Deck - Rollin On Next Gen
Wildcard
Reshuffle
Game of Hearts
Full House
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No Limits
Bluff
Seven Card Stud
Crazy Eights
Eleusis
Dynamite
Rollin On Novellas
(Do not read before finishing the Rollin On Series)
Begin Again – A Short Story
Written in the Stars – A Short Story
Full Circle – A Short Story
Worth Fighting For – A Bobby & Kit Novella
Looking To Connect?
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