by Piper Rayne
Georgia retired and I turned down the promotion because I’ll be traveling back and forth between Sandsal and Cliffton Heights. Plus, I think Jack was right. Maybe I was born to be exactly where I already was.
The next day
Because Adrian cannot wait even one day, we have a truck outside the Rooftop Apartments, and he’s recruited all the guys to help us move our stuff.
“I can’t believe this is it,” Rian says. “I’m all by myself.”
“Adrian paid my share for the rest of the year, so we only need to find you one roommate. You could leave after the lease is up if you wanted.”
She looks across the hall. “I love it here.”
“I’m only across the street. The rooftops are the same height,” I say, but I know it’s still different.
Knox walks in and sits on the couch. We both look at him like ‘do you not realize we’re in the middle of a conversation?’
“So I have a guy who needs a place to live,” he says.
Rian’s face scrunches. “A guy?”
“He’ll barely be around. He travels and does these shows.”
“What does he do?” I ask.
“Fuck, Seth, lift your end,” Ethan yells.
“Hey, big guy who works out like five times a day, get your ass off the couch and help,” Seth says.
Knox flips him off. “He’s a tattoo artist.”
“Does Dylan know him?” Rian asks.
Knox nods. “Yeah, but they don’t run in the same circle. He’s kind of the ‘no one will tie me down’ type. ‘Life is meant to be lived’ type of guy. He’s from back home, but he mentioned to me he really needed a place to hunker down for a few months. Find himself and figure out what his next move is.”
“You just said he wouldn’t be around a lot,” I say, crossing my arms.
“Believe me, he’ll sign the lease and I guarantee you, it’ll give him a rash to be in one spot. He’ll be back on the road after a month tops.”
Rian’s hands knot together. “I don’t know. I have to share a bathroom with him.”
“Listen, it was only a fast fix. If you don’t want—”
Dylan walks in with a girl, and Rian rolls her eyes.
“Moving already?” Dylan asks.
“Just getting home?” I ask, glaring bullets at the girl. Although it’s not her fault.
“Tell him yes,” Rian says without looking at Dylan. “He can move in whenever he wants.”
“Awesome. I’ll let him know.” Knox stands and clasps Dylan’s shoulder. “Jax is going to move in here with Rian. Great news, right?”
“What?” Dylan whips in Rian’s direction. “With you?”
He leaves the girl and follows Knox to their apartment.
The girl with more piercings than I can count waves to us. “Hey.”
I force a smile because it’s truly not her fault she’s in the middle of this.
We hear Dylan and Knox yelling at one another across the hall.
“What is going on?” Blanca asks, coming into the apartment. “Who’s arguing? It sounds like they might kill one another.”
“I don’t know. Dylan is going ballistic after he found out some guy Knox knows is gonna move in here,” I say.
“Hi, I’m Blanca.” She puts her hand out in front of the girl.
“Hi.” She never offers her name.
Blanca backs up and mouths, “Who is she?” at us.
Dylan breezes past us and into my bedroom with a duffle bag swung over his shoulder.
“You’re being unrealistic,” Knox says, following him.
“I’m not leaving that douche alone with Rian in an apartment.”
Blanca smiles and I smile, both of us looking at Rian.
Could someone be a little jealous?
Adrian walks into the apartment and lifts his shirt to wipe some sweat off his forehead. Damn, it’s like picking between cake or a brownie for dessert. I want to take my man and go christen our new place, but at the same time, I want to stick around here. Because whatever happens in this apartment when this Jax guy arrives will be epic.
How did that second meeting with Adrian’s parents go?
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Next up for THE ROOFTOP CREW?
Could Dylan finally see Rian as more than a friend, or is she just a prize to win and show off to his enemy?
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Sneak Peek into The Rival Roomies!
Dylan’s loud voice interrupts my concentration and I rise from my bed to see what’s going on. It’s only been one day since my entire roommate situation took a one-eighty. I went from a couple to two men. One of which I still haven’t met.
“There are rules here,” Dylan says.
I press my ear against my bedroom door.
“Just relax, Phillips. I’m not looking for complications,” Jax says. None of us use his last name ever, mostly because when Dylan introduces himself to someone he never uses his last name. Even his business cards at Ink Envy only had Dylan in a dark black block font. He’s always touchy about his middle name too.
“I just want to make it clear, you aren’t to touch her.”
Jax laughs sarcastically and my palm flattens on the door as though Dylan’s recent bodyguard behavior toward me has anything to do with romantic feelings.
He’s your friend and only moved into your apartment so you didn’t have to live with a guy you didn’t know. Do not think of this as anything more.
Jax’s laugh abruptly cuts off. “Tell me, Phillips, are you touching her?”
“None of your business.”
“So this is a Naomi situation all over again?”
Naomi? I mentally mark that name to ask Knox about later.
“No. Rian is just…”
“What?” Jax eggs him on and Dylan groans out of frustration. The same tone he uses when his employees call in sick and he has to go in.
“Different.”
“She’s into girls?” Jax asks.
“No!”
“So you want to nail her and are afraid, by comparison to me, you’ll come up short?”
“Fuck no!” Dylan yells.
I slowly back up from the door.
I guess that answers the question I’ve never asked anyone but myself.
I’ve wanted Dylan since he moved in across the hall with Knox.
I sit on the edge of my bed. Someday I need to get over this crush I have on a guy who doesn’t know I exist—at least not in that way. Maybe I should list all the cons as to why we would never work. Perhaps our differences are too big to ever allow us to meet in the middle.
It’s the classic tale—good girl wants bad boy. Cliché enough to be a romance novel. Not realistic. I shouldn’t want a guy who thinks of commitment as a life sentence. He sure as hell doesn’t want a girl whose only experience was one male mathlete when she was eighteen years old.
God help me.
I pick up a pillow and groan. I’d scream but they’d hear me and I’m pretending like I’m not up yet. Which shows how much Dylan knows my schedule and routine. I’m always the first one dressed and ready out of everyone.
Their voices grow softer and Dylan’s door next to mine shuts minutes later.
I slide my shower cap on my head. Now’s my time to escape so I open up my door and tiptoe across the living area to the bathroom.
“Good morning,” Dylan says.
I jump and circle back around. He’s in workout clothes and has a bag hanging from his shoulder. My gaze goes to the microwave clock in the kitchen. It’s only seven-thirty. The shop was open last night and he didn’t return home until after one.
Someone hit me with a sledgehammer. It’s so pathetic that I know that.
“Morning.” I slide my shower cap off my head. “Where a
re you off to?”
“The gym.” He grabs a bottle of water from the fridge. “Ethan asked me to start going with him in the morning. I guess love makes you eat.” The way his mouth scrunches to the side on the word love means he never wants to find out. More evidence to mark under commitment-phobe.
“Enjoy.” I wave and keep to my mantra to take a shower and get ready for work.
“You should be fine. Jax just got home smelling like he closed the bar down. He’ll probably just pass out. Shouldn’t bother you.”
I pause by the door. Usually, I’d turn around and smile and thank him. Be polite and courteous. But a bitter taste fills my mouth that he’s acting like one of Blanca’s older brothers. I never asked, nor do I need any saving from Jax. “Have a great workout.” I step into the bathroom, shut the door and flick the lock.
Have a great workout? Way to really give him a piece of your mind, Rian.
I turn on the shower to the hottest possible temperature so that the mirror will fill with steam and I don’t have to look at myself. I need a life. One where my obsession with Dylan isn’t the main focus.
Screw him, I’m baking lemon cake today.
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Cockamamie Unicorn Ramblings
For those you who read our ramblings with each book, you know that we try to write new tropes. Although, I’m sure you’ve figured out some of our favs. Enemies-to-lovers anyone?!?
Royalty was one we’d yet to conquer so we thought, why not? We knew we wanted to do ‘a win a date with a celebrity or prince’ kind of storyline but we needed the prince to be in Cliffton Heights since that’s where all our peeps are. This time we had our act together before her book and were able to tease out Sierra’s love for Prince Adrian Marx on social media and gossip blogs in My Bestie’s Ex. It’s nice to be on top of it for once!
We weren’t surprised with some of the responses to Sierra after My Bestie’s Ex, but we do hope as you learned more about her life story you saw why she reacted the way she did. And that’s the great thing about character arcs… they always change and learn something by the end! :P
This story wasn’t meant to be so heavy with emotion. We like our stories to be lighter, but just as we try for new tropes in stories, we try for new backstories in our characters.
Rayne says she’s never cried this much while writing a Piper Rayne book. Maybe it hit home because she went off a lot of her own personal experience. A fact about Rayne, her first husband was in the National Guard. His unit was called to go to Iraq in 2003, about the same time as Sierra’s mom. Preparing in the seven days they had to get their lives situated before he would leave is something she’ll never forget. All the scary unknowns and heartfelt talks about what ifs that they discussed on their way to federal offices to assign Power of Attorneys and other paperwork. The trauma of it all was hard and they didn’t even have children. Even though their marriage ultimately didn’t make it, she’s happy to say he returned home safely from his tour.
We promise The Rival Roomies won’t be as emotional! Just lots of fun! But of course we’re going to make Dylan work for it! ;)
SUPER HUGE THANKS to our team who if not for them, we’d never be able to finish these books!
Danielle Sanchez and the entire Wildfire Marketing Solutions!
Cassie from Joy Editing for line edits.
Ellie from My Brother’s Editor for line edits.
Shawna from Behind the Writer for proofreading.
Hang Le for the cover and branding for the entire series.
Wander Aguiar Photography for the great picture of our Sierra and Prince Adrian.
Bloggers who consistently carve out time to read, review and/or promote us.
Piper Rayne Unicorns who shout from the rooftops about our new releases and love our characters like we do.
Readers who took a chance on our book with so many choices out there.
Up next? Our favorite baker, Rian and the tatted-up man she drools over, Dylan. Oh yeah and a sidekick roommate named Jax. There’s a lot you don’t know about these three. Like is Dylan really that blind to Rian’s feelings? Does he have feelings of his own for her? All things that make us go hmm…. ;)
XO,
Piper & Rayne
About the Author
Piper Rayne, or Piper and Rayne, whichever you prefer because we’re not one author, we’re two. Yep, you get two USA Today Bestselling authors for the price of one. Our goal is to bring you romance stories that have "Heartwarming Humor With a Side of Sizzle" (okay...you caught us, that's our tagline). A little about us... We both have kindle’s full of one-clickable books. We're both married to husbands who drive us to drink. We're both chauffeurs to our kids. Most of all, we love hot heroes and quirky heroines that make us laugh, and we hope you do, too.
www.piperrayne.com
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Also by Piper & Rayne
The Baileys
Lessons from a One-Night Stand
Advice from a Jilted Bride
Birth of a Baby Daddy
Operation Bailey Wedding (Novella)
Falling for My Brother’s Best Friend
Demise of a Self-Centered Playboy
Confessions of a Naughty Nanny
Operation Bailey Babies (Novella)
Secrets of the World’s Worst Matchmaker
Winning My Best Friend’s Girl
Rules for Dating your Ex
The Rooftop Crew
My Bestie’s Ex
A Royal Mistake
The Rival Roomies
The Modern Love World
Charmed by the Bartender
Hooked by the Boxer
Mad about the Banker
The Single Dad’s Club
Real Deal
Dirty Talker
Sexy Beast
Hollywood Hearts
Mister Mom
Animal Attraction
Domestic Bliss
Bedroom Games
Cold as Ice
On Thin Ice
Break the Ice
Box Set
Charity Case
Manic Monday
Afternoon Delight
Happy Hour
Blue Collar Brothers
Flirting with Fire
Crushing on the Cop
Engaged to the EMT
White Collar Brothers
Sexy Filthy Boss
Dirty Flirty Enemy
Wild Steamy Hook-up