My Beautiful Neighbor (The Greene Family Book 1) by Piper Rayne (phonics reading books TXT) 📕

I hammer out a text before I change my mind.

Me: So sorry, something came up. Rain check?

The three dots appear immediately.

Presley: Sure. Not sure how long I’ll be in town but let me know when you’re available.

Me: Definitely. I’ll message you tomorrow.

That gives me twenty-four hours. She might be gone by tomorrow evening anyway. Xavier said she and Clara are meeting in the morning.

Jed comes trudging back down the stairs. “God, I’m so pissed. That building was ours. I could see perfectly what we could do in there. I think we might have to look at relocating or opening up a second location.” He sits down and places his remote for the Xbox in his lap, holding the one sitting on the coffee table out to me. The guy hides his remote because he thinks it’s bad luck if any of the rest of us use it.

I blow out a breath, but what else do I have tonight now that I canceled my date?

“Could’ve gotten laid and now your sorry ass has to play video games with your brother.” He clucks his tongue.

“I don’t know about a second location. That’s a huge expense. So is relocating.”

He turns on the game console, and we wait for the game to load. “Then we have to convince that girl to give the building to Clara so that she’ll give it to us.”

I disregard him, knowing he’s talking out of his ass like usual. My mind shifts to Presley while the game logo displays on the screen. “Can you imagine finding out your parents put you up for adoption and they kept their second born? Talk about fucking you up in the head.”

Jed elbows me. “And you thought we had it bad.”

Headlights light up the driveway, and Jed and I look at one another. Standing, we see who it is. I consider flipping the locks, but my dad will just remind us how it’s still his house and we pay him rent to live here.

My dad, Hank, opens the front door and comes walking in with my ten-year-old half brother, Rylan.

“Hey, Ryguy,” Jed says.

Rylan comes over and sits on the couch.

Marla walks in a few seconds later, a stack of our mail in her hands. “Come on, boys.” She drops it on the table.

“To what do we owe this honor?” I ask since Rylan took over my remote for the game.

“Your brother wanted to spend the night.” My dad tosses Rylan’s soccer bag in the corner. “Can you take him to soccer in the morning?”

“And you two?” I ask, not really wanting to know.

“We’re going on a date night.” My dad slaps Marla’s ass, and I gag. “Grow up.” He shakes his head at me. “I heard you guys aren’t getting Denise’s shop after all, huh?”

I shake my head. “How’d you hear that?”

Marla walks around the living room, picking up things, then disappears into the kitchen. I swear it’s Adam who’s leaving the mess, but if I tell that to Marla or Dad, they’ll tell us we should be doing everything we can for him, that he’s going through a hard time.

“How do you think? Everyone knows. The gossip brigade.” Marla comes back in with a garbage bag, tossing everything she views as trash.

Jed and Rylan continue to play, shifting left and right to see the screen whenever Marla gets in their line of vision.

“The gossip brigade.” Jed laughs. “Shouldn’t they be thankful they survived the war and just live in peace?”

The gossip brigade is a small group of military veterans who think they have the investigative skills to get any information they want. I’m fairly sure they’re Nikki’s primary source for her little radio station stunt.

“You know your sister will be announcing the news tomorrow morning,” my dad says.

That makes my stomach sour. First, I cancel on the woman, and now before she and Clara can even meet, people in town will know who Presley is and the circumstances for her arrival in Sunrise Bay. At least anyone who hasn’t already run into the gossip brigade. But since they mostly hang out in the Handyman Haven store, it explains how my dad found out.

“Okay, we’re out. Call us if you have any problems. If we don’t answer, don’t worry, we’ll call you back.” Dad winks, and I suppress a full-body shiver. “Marla, it’s their mess. For heaven’s sake, stop.”

Dad and Marla say their goodbyes and leave. I walk over behind the couch and ruffle Rylan’s hair. I don’t mind the kid spending the night. He trains for soccer so much that I don’t see him as much as I should.

“How’s Calista?” Jed elbows him.

“Stop it. She’s annoying,” he says, but there’s a flush to his cheeks that makes me smile.

“You can’t stop the Greene genes, kid. Women love us,” Jed says, his thumbs flying over the controller.

“I’ll order pizza.” I go into the kitchen and pull out my phone. Before I order our dinner, there’s something else I need to take care of.

Me: Do me a favor and hold the story for one more day.

The three dots come up.

Nikki: Why?

Me: Put yourself in her shoes.

Nikki: Tell me the REAL reason and I’ll consider it.

Me: What do you want me to say?

Nikki: I heard you asked her out. Come on big brother. Fess up.

I blow out a breath, knowing exactly what she wants.

Me: I like her. Is that what you want to hear?

Nikki: One day. Then it’s my job to report what’s going on. Make it count. ;)

Me: Thanks.

Nikki: ☺ who’s your favorite sister?

Me: Chevelle

Nikki: Okay who’s your favorite stepsister and think carefully about this…

I laugh.

Me: You of course.

Nikki: Good answer.

I pocket the phone, happy she’s willing to hold off. But still, I only saved Presley for twenty-four hours. Then we’ll see if she can handle some of what comes with a small town. I’m not sure if I want her to handle it or run back home.

I might as well get the Uber driver’s personal number because every day, the