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

He disappears upstairs, and I continue scrolling through my phone and eating my eggs. I’m midway through seeing what my high school girlfriend, Reese, posted last night when my phone vibrates, and my grandma’s name flashes across the screen.

“Hey, Grandma,” I say.

“How’s my favorite grandson?” she asks, which means she needs a favor.

“Would no one else answer their phone?”

She laughs. “You’re my first choice, always.”

“What do you need?” I pick up my plate, rinse it, and put it in the dishwasher.

“Something is wrong with Dori’s Cadillac and it won’t start. We promised to take out a friend who’s visiting. Could you pick us up and drop us off? We can find a ride home.”

“When do you need to be there?” I glance at the time on the microwave because a guy is coming in today to taste a few beers and let us know if he wants them on his shelves. He owns five small grocery stores in the neighboring communities.

“At nine, then you can just drop us off at Two Brothers and an Egg.”

“So you want me to come to Lake Starlight and bring you back to Sunrise Bay? Sure.” I’ll make it back in plenty of time.

“With one pit stop to pick up my friend at Glacier Point.”

“Okay.”

“Great.” She sounds so happy, it makes me go over what she said like I might’ve missed something, but nothing stands out. “See you soon and make sure you shower and look nice.”

“Um, okay?”

“I can’t have my friend saying my grandson smells like he works in a brewery.” She chuckles at her own joke. “A spritz of cologne would be nice.”

“Cologne?” I can’t even remember the last time I wore cologne. Jed, on the other hand, has five different bottles, and he plays a game of eeny, meeny, miny, moe with them before he goes anywhere.

“You know how us grandmas are. We like to brag, and I can’t brag if you show up looking like a slob.”

I’m not sure the last time I embarrassed my grandma, but it’s easier to agree with her. “Sure thing.”

We say our goodbyes and I hang up.

Jed comes in through the back door after his run, pulling the earbuds out of his ears. “What’s up?”

“Nothing. I have to go pick up Grandma and take her and her friends to breakfast.”

His eyebrows rise. “Have fun with that. I’m showering and heading to the brewery. I think I’m going to book some appointments up north to pitch the new beer. Do you think you can handle the town council meeting on your own?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Okay, it’s at the end of the week and I know they’re going to be talking about Mrs. Harrison’s business. If blondie wants to open something, she’ll have to tell them and get their approval. This might just be the nail in her coffin.”

I shake my head at Jed because he’s got a one-track mind. “We don’t even know what she plans to do with it.”

“I saw her and Clara yesterday and they looked tight, so I’m pretty sure Presley’s sweet-talked her into cooperating.” He gulps down a green smoothie he had in the fridge. “Xavier said Clara told him that she gave her half of the building to Presley.”

“I’m heading out. We can discuss this later.”

Jed just needs to give up the fight at this point.

“You’re only being this way because you want her,” he says.

I shake my head. “I did, but I ruined my chance.”

I’m not going to divulge to Jed that I’m beating off to imaginings of Presley at night. That she was the first woman in a long time who interested me. Because all he can see is that building and how he can’t have what he wants. Presley is in the way of that, so she’s the devil.

“She’s not worth it anyway. I mean, yeah, her ass is out of this fucking world, but…” Jed stops and narrows his eyes. “Fuck no.”

“What?”

“You still want her. I just saw that jealous look flash in your eyes when I talked about her ass.”

Adam walks in, looking like he woke from a long hibernation about a minute ago.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Jed hits Adam in the arm, and Adam actually moves his hand over his bicep like it hurt. The guy is a forest ranger and in a helluva lot better shape than either of us. “Look at Cade.”

Adam stops in front of the fridge. “What am I looking at?” His voice is still groggy.

“You know that new chick in town, Presley? Man, I want to bend her over, put both my hands on that ass of hers, and get to grinding.”

Adam laughs, the first one I’ve heard from him in weeks.

Jed’s smug grin says I’ve proved him right. “See? Told you. She’s our enemy, man.”

I raise my hands in the air.

Adam opens the fridge and pulls out a batch of wings I brought home last night after we closed. He bites into one and goes back upstairs.

Jed and I both follow Adam’s movements until he disappears.

“I’m gonna call for an intervention if he’s not in the angry phase by next week,” he says.

“She left him with no explanation other than she wasn’t happy. Give him a break.” I grab my jacket from the hook by the back door. “I’m out of here.”

“Don’t get lost and end up licking Presley’s honey pot, okay?”

I shake my head and shut the door before he can say anything else that will give me visuals to add to my spank bank.

I pick up Grandma Ethel and Dori from the Northern Lights Retirement Center. They each have their own apartments there, and since Dori can’t drive anymore, Grandma drives Dori’s Cadillac. Dori is actually Doris Bailey, owner of Bailey Timber Corp, the largest timber company in the state. She comes from as big of a family as we do, except they’re not a blended family like mine.

“So nice of you to pick us up, Cade,”