The Next Day (Foothills Book 2) by Carrie Thorne (christmas read aloud TXT) 📕

He’s a little irritable with all the nightshifts lately. At least skip the kiss.”

His phone buzzed with a response from Asher. A flip-off emoji. Huh, he hadn’t seen that one before. Smirking, he hollered to Pippa, “You didn’t tell him you were coming with us, did you? I’m trying to make him jealous and make him dream about me necking with his woman.”

Sophie rolled her eyes, “I don’t think he has any jealousy issues, but Freya’s been trying to drag me out all winter. He knows she wouldn’t miss my wobbly ankles and inevitable wipeouts.”

A familiar sensation fluttered in his chest as Sophie blushed at the text that just came in on her phone. No doubt about who sent the text and the gist of it, based on the heat flaming over her cheeks. Asher may not have jealousy issues, but Grady might. Not about Sophie anymore, but… yeah, he was so far off track from where he had envisioned himself at this point in life.

He’d accepted that Sophie wasn’t the one for him, but his life was damn depressing. All of his friends were deliriously happy in love. And not one had planned to settle down anytime soon–well, Pippa had been planning she and Lincoln’s wedding since preschool–but Asher had been the epitome of irresponsible bachelor. Until Sophie had entered his life. And Zane and Freya had been set on keeping things casual, until they accidentally eloped last summer.

Not that he wanted to avoid his friends, they were awesome… Seriously, they’d changed his life in such a good way. A year ago? He was a festering jackass. Since he’d been roped into the crew, having an almost foreign, unyielding support? Incredible. His infamous temper was almost nonexistent now.

Dammit; he was handsome, articulate, financially stable, and, pretentious as it may sound, he was good at everything. Further supporting the egomaniac he’d been raised to be, he knew he had poetic, ocean blue eyes, untamable surfer blond hair that people paid a fortune for–that he came by naturally–and a great body, if he said so himself.

Still, it wasn’t enough. In an effort to build the perfect human beings, his mother had enrolled her children in every extracurricular activity under the sun. Hockey, football, baseball, riding, martial arts, piano, art, debate. He’d hated debate, so why had he gone with lawyer?

Sophie dropped his hand and motioned to the exit. “Hey, Grady, I’m going to head out. You coming over Saturday?” Sophie skated smoothly to the side.

“Yeah, sounds great.” Blinking away the self-pity-party that was hammering in his thick skull, Grady shook his head. “That reminds me. My parent’s annual gala is on the twentieth. Patricia said I could invite a few guests. Apparently, now that I am thirty and a successful attorney, I’m allowed to have an opinion. I wasn’t planning to torture you guys with it, but now that it’s approaching, I really think I’d enjoy seeing Asher and Zane looking awkward in penguin suits. You guys in?” He skated to the side and told Pippa and Sophie the details of the annual bore-fest, in which his mother and stepfather got dolled up in their fanciest attire and invited their snootiest friends for a fancy-ass party.

Freya grinned, her blues twinkling. “Love it. We’ll be there. Zane will hate it, but I’ll wear something slinky and he’ll give in. Asher won’t be pleased, but he’ll go. Pippa will be on board; she loves parties.”

Sophie nodded toward the exit. “Are you heading back to work soon?”

He glanced at his watch. “I’m going to run a few drills first. I’ll head over to Black Op in a few.”

They paused, expressions working on the damn pity he should have worked harder to avoid. Watching his two very taken, very committed friends walk away, he skated to the side to grab a puck and stick to burn off some of… whatever the hell was rotting his soul.

Dribbling a few quick plays, Grady felt the adrenaline surging, the thrill of the game washing over him. Players skating full speed at him to take the puck, checking them as he passed. A Mallory never got into fights, unless it was in the spirit of the game, then it was permitted. Naturally, he’d taken to hockey like a salmon to the stream. Feet moving, eyes on the goal, he ran a one-man scrimmage. Skates scraping the hard surface under his feet, that crisp smell of the ice a treat for his nose, he almost forgot where he was.

Until he saw her.

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Can’t wait to read more? Me neither! Read Carrie Thorne’s A Day Late today!

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You can find Carrie (and more sneak peeks to upcoming releases) online at: https://carriethorne.com/

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Other Books by Carrie Thorne

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Foothills Romance:

Make yourself at home in the Foothills Romance series set in the Cascade Foothills of Washington State.

All the Days After: Former Navy SEAL Asher Sutherland can’t seem to get a grip on his future, nor can he keep his hands off his sister’s best friend.

 

The Next Day: Zane is completely lost when he gets to Foothills. It may take the intriguing Freya to distract him from his nightmares.

 

A Day Late: Grady seems to have it all together, until he falls for completely the wrong woman who just might help him discover it’s okay to let go.

A New Day: A relationship is lowest on blogger Haley Salsborough’s list of priorities when she moves home to Foothills, but a rebound... Professional football player Finn Halseth's isn’t looking for anything serious when he comes home to Foothills with a bum knee and a boatload of grief, but a summer fling...

 

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Demon Hunters:

Plucky, yet badass demon hunters in this paranormal romance series.

Six: Fate sucks. Even demon hunters deserve a little normal.

 

Wildest: Montana werewolf. Studious demon hunter. Too bad the mission