Perfect (Holt Brothers Book 1)

by Leila Lucas

  After somehow managing to get myself out of my dress, I showered, scrubbed all that makeup off my face, and hopped into bed. I didn’t get any work done today, so I take advantage of the peace and quiet in the hotel room and start editing a few chapters before I go to sleep.

  His leather jacket…

  His dark brown eyes…

  His tattoos cover his arms from wrist to shoulder…

  His perfect smile…

  Sitting across Dylan while I write has proven to be distracting. I have basically written Dylan into my book. I unknowingly think about him as I write. I think about him when he’s sitting across from me. And even now he’s distracting me from working.

  I.

  Can’t.

  Stop.

  Thinking.

  About.

  Him.

  I admit defeat. I put my laptop on the other side of my huge bed and get under the covers.

  I reread our texts from tonight once more and put my phone down.

  I pick it up again.

  C: Thank you for keeping me company tonight

  Delete.

  C: Did you guys have fun tonight? Sad I missed it

  Delete.

  What the hell am I doing?

  * * *

  A sudden buzzing noise wakes me up mid-dream. Takes me a while to register that my phone is vibrating on my bedside table. I check the time. Two a.m. There’s only one reason anyone ever calls me after midnight. It has got to be an emergency.

  “Hello?” I sit up. Within the short time of me waiting for a response all the worst scenarios ran through my mind. Would it be my mom? Hospital? Police? Did Vikki go out without me knowing and something bad happened?

  “Why does Laura choose Marc?” a sleepy male voice asks.

  “What?” I put my hand on my heart in an attempt to slow down my heavy breathing. Whoever it is has the wrong number or is just playing a prank on me. There is no emergency. Nobody is dying.

  “Aaron was her best friend and he’s done everything for her, but she can’t see it.”

  Slowly my brain wakes up enough to realize that:

  A) It’s Dylan.

  B) Dylan sounds really hot when he’s tired, and

  C) Laura, Marc, and Aaron are characters in my latest book.

  “Dylan?” I ask to make sure it really is him and that I’m not just confused.

  “Yes, sorry. It’s me. Figured you still had my number and caller ID?”

  “Yeah, I do, I just grabbed my phone without checking. You read my book?”

  “I did.”

  I lean back against my bed head. “What’s wrong with Marc?”

  “He was nowhere near as nice as Aaron. She was into Marc because he was new and different, but Aaron was there the whole time. I expected her to realize that, but she chose Marc.”

  “Marc was spontaneous and fun. She needed some adventure in her life.”

  “But Aaron knows everything about her. They grew up together.”

  “You can do everything in the world for someone, but if there’s no spark between you then…”

  “Then it’s boring.” He finishes the sentence for me. “Like Aaron. So does boring Aaron find a boring girlfriend?”

  “He does. She’ll be briefly mentioned in my next book.”

  “Oh, is that an exclusive?”

  “Yup, a little spoiler just for you.”

  “You are very good at what you do. I didn’t expect anything less, but it genuinely made me laugh out loud a bunch of times.”

  “Thank you. You really could have just asked me for a free copy.”

  “Well, I was already getting something from there, so I figured I might as well get yours.”

  “What were you getting from the book store?” I ask to keep the conversation going because I want to keep talking to him.

  “Your books.” He laughs. “I’m not a very good liar. I just went in there to buy your books.”

  My life would be so much easier if he wasn’t so perfectly sweet.

  Chapter Eight

  CHLOE

  “Are you sure about this? Ben and cooking just doesn’t sound like it should go together.” I knock on the front door.

  Since we didn’t grow up celebrating Thanksgiving in Australia, both Vikki and I had nothing planned, so we took up Ben’s offer to go to their place for dinner. We were told to pack overnight bags. Nobody would tell us why, but we did anyway.

  “I’ve been told his Friendsgiving parties are famous because of the amazing food.”

  “So he just hired a catering company?”

  “Probably.” She laughs.

  The door opens and Jackson stands in front of us with a ‘Happy Birthday’ hat on.

  “Hello, ladies, do come in.” He moves to the side and we walk into the lounge area. There are already about ten other people here. A few of the guys are in front of the TV playing some car racing game. Others sit on the couch drinking. For a house that has three guys living in it, it’s surprisingly neat and not as bare as most bachelor pads.

  “Is it your birthday today too?” Vikki asks.

  “No. Why?”

  “Your hat.”

  “Oh.” He laughs. “Ben said we had to wear Thanksgiving hats and I didn’t have one, so this will do.”

  “Okayyy…” Vikki nods as I try to suppress my laugh.

  “What the heck are Thanksgiving hats?” I whisper to Vikki.

  “No idea.” She shrugs.

  “I’ll take your overnight bags and lock them in Dylan’s room. You guys help yourselves to the drinks in the fridge if you want. I’d get them for you, but it’s my turn.” He points to the Playstation.

  We walk into the kitchen, which is blocked off from the lounge room, and Ben is mashing potatoes in a red apron and a hat in the shape of a roasted turkey on his head.

  So that is a Thanksgiving hat.

  “Oh. My. God.” Vikki pulls out her phone from her back pocket and takes a photo of him.

  “Hey! You gotta give the man time to pose.” Ben adjusts his hat and puts his hands on his hips.

  “This is too funny.” Vikki takes another photo of him.

  “That hat is just…”

  “Amazing. I know. Can you be just as amazing and do these potatoes for me while I check on the turkey?”

  “Sure.” I wash my hands at the sink and then start mashing the potatoes as Ben orders Vikki to put the glasses and napkins on the dining room table. He turns off the oven and pulls out the turkey.

  “Holy shit, you actually made that yourself?”

  “Well, duh.”

  “The whole turkey?” Vikki asks.

  “No, just half of it.” He rolls his eyes.

  “He’s actually a really good cook.”

  I turn around and a tall, muscly guy is standing at the door, sans turkey hat.

  “I had no idea.” Vikki still looks confused and surprised.

  “There’s more to me than all this, Victoria.” He flexes his arms.

  “I have no doubt.” She giggles. Vikki hates being called Victoria and she’s also not a giggler. I think someone stole my best friend and replaced her with a smitten teenager. Not to mention that she didn’t give the new guy a second look, which is very unlike her considering he looks like a Calvin Klein model.

  “Anything I can help with?” Mystery guy grins at me.

  “I’m just about done.”

  “Just need the side dishes plated up,” Ben says as he ushers Vikki back to the dining area with plates and cutlery.

  “Done, boss.” He walks over to the fridge and pulls out a couple of plastic containers and brings them back to the bench, standing really close to me.

  “I’m Nate.” He holds out his hand to me.

  “I have mashed potatoes all over my hands.”

  “That is the weirdest name I have ever heard.” He passes me a dish towel.

  I wipe my hands and put my hand out to shake his. “Chloe.”

  “Much better.” He
winks and shakes my hand.

  Nate is hot. Tall, dark blond hair, and I’m guessing a college football player by his build.

  “So are you here with your boyfriend?”

  He works fast. Took him less than a minute to find out if I’m single.

  “Came with a friend.” I tilt my head toward Vikki.

  “That’s good to hear.” He nods as he watches Vikki and Ben arguing over which side the spoons go on.

  “So you’ve been to Ben’s Friendgiving before?” I try breaking the awkward silence.

  “Yeah, I’m Ben’s cousin. We’ve been spending Thanksgiving together for the past four years.” Clearly there’s some superior genes in that family.

  “Time to feast!” Ben yells loud enough for the entire apartment block to hear. “Just sit wherever. I ain’t fancy enough for those cards with your name on it. But I’m the king, so I have the main seat.” Ben sits at one end of the table.

  I sit between Vikki and Nate. Everyone is talking amongst themselves, pouring drinks in their glasses.

  “Sorry I’m late.” Dylan walks into the kitchen with damp hair and pulls out the chair at the other end of the table to sit down. Without fail all eyes go on him. Most of the girls have enormous smiles on their faces. Luckily for the girls their boyfriends were too busy plating up their food to notice them perving.

  “Oh, hey you!” He looks surprised to see me.

  “Hey.”

  “Ben didn’t tell me you guys were coming.”

  Thanks, Ben.

  “Must have been a last-minute invite.” It probably wasn’t considering he told Vikki about this a month ago.

  “Enough of the talking. Eat.” Ben instructs and so everyone keeps the chatting to a minimum and starts stuffing their faces. Surprisingly the food tastes even better than it looks. Ben’s Friendsgiving is definitely living up to its hype.

  “Dessert isn’t for a while, right?” I turn to Nate, who is leaning back in his chair.

  “Oh, I forgot you’re new to this. You packed a change of clothes, right?”

  “Yeah,” I say nervously. I still haven’t had the chance to find out why I had to bring my overnight bag.

  “Don’t be too scared.” He laughs. “We have an hour to recover from this dinner then we get paired up for twenty rounds of different games. You need to accumulate at least five points to have dessert.”

  “Wow, that’s… elaborate.”

  He nods. “At midnight we watch a Thanksgiving episode of Friends and have dessert… for those who are allowed. The losers have to sit and watch us eat.”

  “And the overnight bags?”

  “You must sleep over and have breakfast here, which is made by the two lowest scoring guests who also have to wash all the dishes from the night before.”

  “Ouch, that’s cruel. Nice of Ben to warn us about all of this.”

  “Don’t worry. It’s really fun, I promise.”

  After five hours of board games, truth or dare, and random games Ben made up, we finally get to sit in our pajamas and eat the pumpkin pie. The pie is store bought because apparently Ben’s talents in the kitchen don’t extend to baking, not that anyone is complaining because we’re all hungry and exhausted. I got paired up with Nate and Vikki got Ben, which I’m not entirely sure was a coincidence.

  “Your friend dating Ben?”

  I follow Nate’s gaze to Ben and Vikki, who are watching a video on his phone and laughing. She’s sitting so close to Ben she is almost on his lap, leaning on his shoulder as they’re watching. I would never put those two together, but they look like a really adorable couple right now.

  “No, just friends. Well, for now anyway.”

  “She seems too sweet to be with someone like Ben.”

  “How so?”

  “The Holt boys are known for being womanizers. I mean, neither has ever had a girlfriend, without another two on the side.”

  I watch Dylan laughing with Sarah, who is the pretty brunette he was paired up with, and wonder if Nate was telling the truth about them. I don’t know why I care, but the entire night I wished I were paired up with Dylan. After a few episodes of Friends and too much pumpkin pie we went to our assigned bedrooms. After half an hour of tossing and turning I gave up and went to the lounge room to play on my iPad so I don’t disturb Vikki by turning the lamp on. The lounge room is completely empty and quiet, aside from the faint sounds of snoring coming out of the music room where Jackson and one of the other guys are sleeping.

  “Are you okay?” Dylan comes out of his bedroom with a surprised look on his face when he sees me sitting on the couch.

  DYLAN

  “Can’t sleep,” she whispers. She’s wearing gray pajama bottoms and a USC sweatshirt, no makeup on, and her hair is up in a bun on top of her head.

  “You?”

  “Can’t sleep either…” Okay, so I lied. I’m pretty fucking tired, but I couldn’t go to sleep until I found out which room Nate is sleeping in. I love the guy, but he is a huge sleaze and hasn’t left Chloe’s side the entire night. Not that Chloe is mine, but she deserves better than Nate.

  “I don’t want to bother you if you’re working,” I say, looking at the little creases between her eyebrows as she concentrates on whatever she’s doing.

  “I’m playing Words with Friends.” She flips her iPad for me to see.

  “Stuck?”

  “Got these crap letters left.” She moves her feet from the spare seat on the couch, making room for me.

  I look at her crap letters and pray to the alphabet gods that I come up with something impressive.

  “If you use your empty tile to add an O, quodlibet,” I say casually like it was nothing, but really I’m so fucking pleased with myself right now. I spell it out for her and she puts the tiles in order. She doesn’t say anything as her word score gets added up and sent off to her opponent to have their turn.

  “Well, I’m impressed,” she says without looking at me.

  Two hours later, I have my own Words with Friends account, six opponents, and a dictionary app. And best of all? Chloe almost leaning on my shoulder as she’s trying to help me play.

  “What’s going on here?” Nate walks out of the bedroom in gym gear. First thing I noticed was that he didn’t come out of Jackson’s bedroom where I know Chloe was supposed to be sleeping.

  “What’s the time?” Chloe jumps up and checks the time on her phone.

  “Five. You guys been up the whole night?” His gaze moves between Chloe and me.

  “Yeah.” I don’t say anything else to build up his jealousy, which is already showing on his face.

  “You leaving already? What about the breakfast?” Chloe asks him.

  “I’ll be back by breakfast. I think I’ll stick around for a few more days too.” He winks at Chloe. I know he said that more for me than her. “But now I have to get to the gym. You don’t get to look like this by sleeping in.” He picks up his bag and walks out the door.

  “Where were we?” Chloe asks as she leans back on the cushions. I expected her to go to sleep, but I think she might be enjoying this as much as I am. I open my phone and we go back to playing.

  “I think Nate really likes you.” So subtle, dickhead. I want to take back the sentence as soon as I said it.

  “You got that from those few seconds of interaction?” She smiles at me. She knows I’m jealous. Of course she does.

  “Just the way he was around you last night. He’s a love them and leave them kinda dude.” Also he gave Ben one hundred dollars to pair him with Chloe, but I leave that out because I don’t want to be a snitch. And if I knew before the games started, I would have doubled it to partner up with her. Sarah is sweet, but she spent most of the night texting her boyfriend to pay any attention to me.

  “Funny, he said the same thing about you and Ben.” She laughs.

  “Which part?”

  “The womanizing part.”

  Of course the fucker said that, but considering Chloe spent the night han
ging out with me I guess she either didn’t believe it or it didn’t affect her. Ben and I aren’t saints, but we’re two normal single guys in our twenties. Mutual agreement with a girl to have a one-night stand doesn’t make you a womanizer. Nate is a different story. The amount of times he has cheated on his girlfriends is never-ending. I’m pretty sure he has a girlfriend back at college right now, as he spent the night flirting with Chloe.

  “Just so you know, I’m nothing like that.” I’m going to be man enough not to rat out Nate.

  “I know.” She nods. Not sure how she knows, but I’m not complaining.

  “If Nate asks me for your number, should I give it to him?” If there was an award for unsubtle ways of getting answers out of a female, I’d be inducted in the hall of fame.

  “No, please don’t.”

  I keep a straight face, but really, I want to do victory laps around the house.

  “I’m not into guys at the moment.”

  “Oh.”

  “I mean, I am… into guys. Only. But I’m on a man detox for a year.”

  A year.

  Three hundred and sixty-five days.

  Fifty-two weeks.

  Fuck.

  “When did the detox start?”

  “Two months ago.”

  Ten months to go. So much for that victory lap.

  I decide to mind my own business and not pry into her private life. I like to think we’re friends, but we’re not at that place where I can ask her too much. But it sounds like someone hurt her. Or cheated on her. Why the fuck would you want anyone else when you can have her?

  She gets up and stretches her arms up in the air, exposing her midriff a bit. “We better go have a nap before breakfast.” She walks toward the door clutching her iPad. “Thanks for helping me out.”

  “What happens if you meet someone before your detox is over?”

  She stops in front of the door and turns around to face me.

  “Then I hope he thinks I’m worth the wait.” She disappears into the room.

  I do.