Simmering LoveAdvance Reader Copy
Jacie Lennon
Simmering Love
By Jacie Lennon
Copyright © 2020 by Jacie Lennon
All rights reserved.
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Cover Designer: Alora Kate at Kover Kraze
Editor: Jovana Shirley, Unforeseen Editing, www.unforeseenediting.com
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Also by Jacie Lennon
For A - you are one of the strongest women I know.
1 Ben
I need this couch gone. It’s a reminder of the conflict I have with my brother, and it’s time to sell it. I walk around each side of it, snapping pictures and making sure to take a close-up of the slight hole on the side. I will be lucky to get a hundred dollars for it, but I have to try. I can’t give that part of my life away for free. But I’ve made a pact with myself that once the couch is gone, so are my hang-ups. I’m not going to think about it any longer.
Once I’m done snapping pictures, I quickly upload them on my laptop and get to work on making a marketplace ad.
Couch for sale: $100
Great condition, except for one small hole. See pictures for details.
Must pick up. Serious inquiries only. All spam will go unanswered.
There, that should do it. I shut my laptop, walk into the kitchen of my apartment, and grab a Gatorade. My phone starts to vibrate in my back pocket, so I fish it out. Seeing the name Mason flash across the screen, I swipe.
“Hello?”
“Hey. You up for some ball? Craig and Ezra are in.”
“Always.” I wipe my hand across my mouth and put the cap back on my drink. I take another look at the couch and sigh.
A few minutes later, I’m running out the door in my ball gear, headed to the local park, our usual spot for pick-up basketball games.
I pull up and get out of the truck, my attention on getting my gear.
“Where have you been the last few days?” Ezra says.
Ezra, Craig, and Mason are firefighters with me at the same station. Most of my friends are coworkers, come to think of it. I’m the only volunteer out of the group; the rest of the guys are full-time. We don’t all usually have the same shift off of work, but today, we’ve lucked out since I took time off.
“I had a personal matter to take care of.” I lock my car and slip my keys in my bag.
Ezra gives me a nod and continues to dig something out of his truck while I take off for the court where Craig and Mason are standing.
“Who else is coming?” I ask.
“Just us,” Craig says. “Two on two.”
I hold my hands out for him to pass me the ball before dribbling it toward the hoop to make a layup. This is exactly what I needed. A little time to get out of my head. To forget about my brother.
Ezra comes jogging toward us as I stop shooting and tuck the ball under my arm.
“Okay, let’s switch it up from last time. Ezra, you are with me, and Mason and Ben are together,” Craig says.
“Not fair. You know the two of you are better than the two of us,” Mason says.
“Speak for yourself,” I snap back. “I’m a baller. Can’t help that you picked ballet over basketball.”
“I didn’t do ballet,” Mason snarls.
“Fine, gymnastics.” I snicker.
“It was for two months, and my grandmother made me go.” Mason rolls his eyes. “How do you even know about that?”
“Grams told us,” I say.
“Oh,” Mason says before holding his hands out for the ball. I pass and he takes off down the court.
Grams has been a touchy subject for Mason since she passed away. She raised him for a large part of his childhood.
Ezra and Craig jump into action, running after him while I swing around to the side. Mason lobs the ball over their heads, and I catch it, jumping in the air and releasing from the corner.
“Corner three,” I yell in Peter Griffin’s voice over the grumbling coming from Ezra and Craig. “Gotta be quicker than that, old men.”
“I’ll show you old man,” Craig shoots back.
We play for an hour before we collapse on the bleachers, each of us digging out a drink to chug. I wipe the sweat off my chest with my T-shirt that I was wearing earlier. The late August sun is brutal.
“Haven’t seen you around much,” Craig says, looking at me.
“Been busy,” I say with a shrug and throw my drink in my bag.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, just some family stuff,” I mutter, hoping they don’t push for more details.
They stare at me for a moment before Craig looks at Mason.
“So, heard you got family moving here?” Craig asks Mason.
“Yeah, my cousin. She’s going to grad school. I’m helping her move into her new apartment.”
“Why don’t you let her just stay with you?”
“I offered, but she wanted her own place. Said she didn’t want to cramp my style.”
“That means she doesn’t want to hear you bang Jules every night,” I retort.
“I don’t bang her every night,” Mason says. “Sometimes, we do it during the day.” He winks while the three of us groan.
“Man, you’ve got to quit winking; it’s weird,” Ezra says.
“Jules doesn’t seem to mind,” Mason says, bending down to retie his
