Irresistible Bachelors: Books 1-5 by Landish, Lauren (bts books to read TXT) 📕

Hannah says, delivering a kiss to my forehead before getting up. “Answer it and tell her all about the night. Considering how crazy you both are, I bet she has a story to one-up you. Just save some of the Cherry Garcia for me. I know how you get when you start talking with your sister.”

Hannah goes to leave, but before she can totally leave, I call out. “Hannah?”

She turns around, her hand on the door jamb to her bedroom. “Yeah?”

“Thank you for being here for me. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Probably actually end up killing guys to get your needs met,” Hannah says. “And you’d probably have the freezer stocked with those dick-shaped popsicles that have sweet cream filling.”

I scowl, my lip curling. “That’s disgusting.”

“Just joking!” Hannah says, trying to smirk before sticking out her tongue. When that doesn’t work, she sighs melodramatically. “Enjoy your talk with Mindy. Goodnight.”

Hannah disappears into her bedroom area, and for a split second I debate on answering the phone. But when I think about how long it’s been since I last talked to her, I press the button.

“Hi, Mindy!” I answer as I would any other time.

“Hey, Roxy! How's it going?” My sister's voice comes through the phone cheery and upbeat.

I don’t want to rain on her parade, and I don’t want to get her worried. “Great. How’s things for you and the fam?”

“Really? That’s good. I didn’t know if you’d still be up. I know you're wondering why I’m calling this late, but I finally got some downtime from handling Leah and thought I'd call you and leave you a voicemail.”

I smile, thinking about Leah. The spitting image of Mindy if you shrank her down and made her chubbier and cute, she’s the darling of everyone in the family. And with a new generation of women in the family, Grandma finally feels like she’s accomplished nearly everything that a woman could ask for. She’s cute as a button, and if she’s anything like her mother or her aunt, Mindy’s going to have her hands full.

“How's my favorite little niece doing?” I ask. “Still wrapping every man she meets around her little finger?”

“Of course. She’s starting to talk more, and I’m trying to take her out so she can make friends with other kids her age,” Mindy says. “It's crazy keeping up with them.”

“That's wonderful. I wish I could see her.” That's one of the things I regret about living far away from family. I have missed out on the important moments.

“I wish so too,” Mindy says wistfully. “You know, Oliver asks about you all the time. I think he thinks of you as our good luck charm, or maybe the sister he never had.”

I hold my tongue because she’s right. I feel like I somehow, in a weird, fucked up way, had a hand in getting them together. And some of my favorite memories of the past few years have been with Mindy and Oli. “How's work?” Mindy asks.

“Stressful,” I admit. “I work an insane number of hours, but I’m still learning and it’s getting easier. I’m getting a promotion, though.”

“You are? That's wonderful!” Mindy says earnestly. “I knew you could do it. Are you excited?”

“I am,” I say halfheartedly. “I start Monday.”

Mindy’s quiet for a moment, and when she speaks again, her voice is soft, worried. “Is everything all right, Roxy?”

“I’m fine,” I say. “Just tired.”

“Don't lie to me. I can hear it in your voice,” Mindy says. “Spill it.”

For a moment, I debate on telling her the truth. It’s not that I think she’d judge me, but maybe it’s just a little too soon.

“Come on, Roxy,” Mindy presses. “I'm not going to give up until you tell me. If I have to, I’ll fly Oliver out there to start poking around, and you know how he is!”

I let out a sigh. “Fine. As long as you promise not to laugh. I’m sure I’ll think it’s funny later on, but it scared me shitless.”

“Deal. I’d pinky swear, but this is the phone.”

Smiling at the old joke a little, I tell her everything about the creep and Mr. Heartstopper.

“Holy shit, that's crazy!” Mindy says when I’m done. “I bet that creeper tried to spike your drink!”

“He . . . holy shit, you’re right!” I say, impressed that Mindy thought of it. I should have thought of it too, honestly. “Still, I feel like hell. I shouldn’t have even gone, but gawd, babe, it’s been so hard. I haven’t had a lot of time for myself, and I just wanted this one night to relax, release, and have fun.” A lump forms in my throat as the words leave my lips. “I miss being the Roxy who sang her ass off for you.”

Sympathy flows in Mindy’s voice. “Oh, baby, don't be so hard on yourself. I know how you feel. I went through the same thing working at Beangal’s. God, I was so burned out, and that was a place that was literally bought just for me to run. So I totally understand. There was nothing wrong with your going out to relax.”

The tears threaten to flow from my eyes. “Mindy . . .”

“You know what? I think it's time for a visit,” Mindy adds. “You got a bestie, I know that, but nobody can get you back to normal like me.”

“I don't know . . .” I begin, but Mindy laughs.

“I mean for us to come visit you. We might have some sister time to remind you who the real baddest bitch in the family is, but this would be for the whole family. I want to see how you're living, you can have some baby time, and hell, I’ll even let your roomie drool all over Oliver for a few.”

It would be nice to see my family again. I need to see my new niece and nephew. “When would that be?”

“Not sure with the business and all,” Mindy says with a smirk in her voice. “And I think