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

all to go along with it. I learned that chasing my dream, and singing brought me more happiness than I ever could have imagined. For me, the decision would be simple.”

“How can I?” I ask. “My God, I took Tony’s dream of helping his family and I almost burned it to the ground. Because of me, he went against his brother. No wonder he left the way he did. He probably dreaded going home to face Oliver.”

“You let me worry about that,” Roxy says with a smirk. “Remember, Oliver Steele is my brother-in-law now, so Tony’s family too. I’m pretty sure if they don’t want me singing about Oliver’s little performance at Club Jasmine that time, they’ll at least listen.”

“Performance?” Cassie, who wasn’t there, asks. “What performance?”

“Let’s just say Oli looks better in stockings than any heterosexual man has any right to be,” Roxy says with a laugh. “But seriously, getting with Jake and following my heart changed my life. I had Mindy, and now you have me.”

“Wait . . . what’s this about stockings?” Cassie asks. “What type of fun do you people have?”

“Stick around a while, and you’ll find out,” Roxy says. “Now, I have one question. If you do this, you’re out of a job, probably both of you. You understand that, right?”

I look at Cassie, who swallows her fear but gives me a nod of support. It’s in my hands now.

“Fuck the job,” I growl, looking at Roxy. “Make the call. I’m gonna go get my studmuffin and we’re gonna save that property.”Anthony

“Thank you so much, Caleb,” Mom says as we finish fixing the water sprinkler. I can’t really blame Mom. She didn’t know where the pipes for the system ran, but when she decided to put in a tetherball set for her grandchildren and nobody exactly checked, the result was a big mess. So it fell to me and Caleb, sweating our asses off in the sun once again, to replace the four-foot cracked section of PVC pipe.

“Aw, shucks, you’re welcome Miz Steele,” Caleb drawls, and I swear he’s putting just a little extra into his voice. It’s almost annoying.

“Did you enjoy your stay?” Mom asks before looking at me and then at Caleb. “You mind telling me what’s wrong with my boy here?”

“Nothing that I know of,” Caleb says innocently. I gotta give him credit, he isn’t ratting me out, respecting that I don’t really want to talk about it.

Mom crosses her arms, and I know the look on her face. I want to tell Caleb to watch out, but she’s too quick. “Caleb, don’t you sass me, young man. You know exactly what's going on, and I’m going to find out one way or another!”

“Ma, I told you a million times nothing is wrong,” I say. “Stop embarrassing me.” I’m trying to make my voice strong and commanding, but even to my ears, it lacks any conviction. The fact is, I’ve never been in love before. I’ve never felt my heart break before, and it fucking hurts.

“Mmmhmm,” Mom says. “You know I can smell bullshit from a mile away. But I’m going to go inside. If you boys can finish that up, I’d appreciate it.”

Mom goes inside, and I look over at Caleb. “Sorry about that.”

“No problem,” Caleb says. “You doing okay still?”

I pick up my shovel and plunge it into the wheelbarrow of dirt that we’ve dug out of the hole. “Hell, no,” I admit, carefully dropping it into the ditch we’ve dug around the new pipe. “With nothing much to do for Oliver right now except scout deals over the Internet a few hours a day, I’ve had too much time on my hands to think. I keep coming back to the idea of taking a road trip to see Hannah. Calling just won’t do.”

Caleb digs in too, his shovel scooping up dirt and dropping it down evenly. “You know . . . if you really wanted to, I might be willing to call shotgun.”

I stop, leaning on my shovel. “Why?”

Caleb thinks, then goes for another scoop of dirt. “You ever wonder why I flirt with women, Cassie included, but never more than that?”

“The thought has crossed my mind,” I admit. “But I never really had an answer on why that was. “Are you not attracted to Cassie? Fuck, are you coming out to me, man? I love ya, but not like that. I’m team pussy forever.”

Caleb chuckles but shakes his head. “She’s a nice girl, but . . . I’ve been in love once. This was a few years ago. Her name was Wendy Reinhardt. I’m a little more guarded these days.”

“Wendy . . . don’t know the name,” I admit. “Must have been when I was being a party hog in college.”

“About that time, yeah,” Caleb admits. “I fell for Wendy pretty hard. I did all sorts of stupid shit to keep her attention, but I got burned. I don’t really want to discuss all the details because it fucked me up pretty bad for a while, but just . . . I know what it’s like to love and to lose.”

“You’re not telling me you haven’t been with a girl since then, are you?”

Caleb chuckles, shaking his head. “Fuck no. I still talk the talk because I’m a creature of habit, but I’m a little more cautious beyond that. I’m not ready for love again. But you, Tony . . . hell, I lost Wendy because of what she did to me. You’ve still got a chance with Hannah. I’ll tag team drive your ass tonight if you want.”

I think about it. I’d love nothing more than to have her in my arms, but if she doesn’t want to see me, if I’m going to cause her pain, I don’t want to go running to her doorstep. “Listen, man, thanks for having my back, but let me think on it.”

“I wouldn’t think too long,” Caleb says. “I didn’t say anything, kept hoping you’d seen it, but maybe you