Slate (Breaking the Declan Brothers #2)
CHAPTER ONE
“Damn, girl.” I whistle as Emmie comes down the stairs in a pair of red heels, tight black skinny jeans, and an even tighter off-the-shoulder black shirt. “You look like Olivia Newton-John in Grease. Well, without those big seventies curls.” I laugh. “Remember that song, what was it?” I turn to Lurlene for a little help.
“Never saw it.” She shrugs, not bothering to pull her eyes from the book she’s reading.
“What!” Emmie and I say in unison. Granted, the girl’s a couple years younger than we are, but really, who hasn’t seen Grease?
“You’re the one that I want...Oo-oo-oo, honey...” I snap my fingers. “That’s it!”
Lurlene scrunches a freckled nose at me as if there’s something wrong with me for knowing the song from one of the best movies ever. Then she flashes her emerald eyes at Emmie. “So, what’s in the bag?”
“Wait.” I hold up my hand, ready to move on from the ever so serious Lurlene to mess with my longtime friend, Emmie. “I know,” I say glancing at the pink gift bag. “It’s your heart, isn’t it? You’re finally handing it over to Jax Declan, aren’t you?” I flick my brows at her and, as predicted, Emmie flips me off.
I love the girl. I’ve known her since grade school. We’ve been through everything together—good times, bad times, and all-night crying times. She’s gorgeous, too. She’s one of those girls who—even in the morning without any makeup, hair all a mess—is still pretty. A lot of girls in high school couldn’t handle her pretty. I think they were jealous. Not me. When I look at Emmie, I see that girl who held my hair back while I puked my brains out at Brian Delaney’s barn party. I see the girl who fed me tissues and kept everyone away at my brother’s funeral. I see the girl who convinced me that I was good enough to get through college, and then gave me the push that I needed to leave Bayou Vista, Texas and pursue my dreams.
“No.” Emmie grabs her purse from the coffee table and slips it over her shoulder. “Thanks to you, Rayna, Jax Declan already has my damn heart.”
“Moi,” I say, placing a hand one my chest, dramatically batting my eyes.
“Yes, smartass, you,” she says, trying horribly to hold back a smile. “You’re the one who convinced us to come back here for the summer.”
“Yeah, she is.” Lurlene glances up from her book. “But you were supposed to break Jax Declan, not give him your heart,” she says with a grin.
I love Lurlene, too. She’s our reason. I haven’t known her as long as Emmie, but still, somehow, she fits perfectly in our friendship. I tend to stray over to the wild side, Emmie is the strong one, and Lurlene, she’s the logical one. She’s an English teacher. You’d think, me being a mediator, that I’d be the one to keep this trio in line. Honestly, it’s Lurlene. Sometimes, a mediator needs a little help too, and Lurlene is my go-to girl for that.
“Don’t start.” Emmie points at Lurlene. “I’ve seen you a few times with Zeke Declan. Have you broken him yet?” Her brow rises. “In case you forgot, you’re supposed to break that Declan brother.”
“I’m working on it.” Her eyes drift back down to the book. She’s been quiet about her progress when it comes to breaking Zeke Declan. That’s Lurlene, though. And you know those quiet ones; you gotta watch out for them.
“And, you, little Ms. Smartass…” Emmie turns to me, her long blond hair swinging along the way. “What about Slate?”
Oh boy, teasing her about Jax must’ve pissed her off. She hadn't brought up Slate since we saw him that night at his apartment when I talked Emmie into going to see Jax. It was a bad idea. We were drunk. Even from afar, seeing Slate broke my heart a little.
Me and my bad ideas are what brought us back to the Bayou for the summer, a place Emmie and I grew up. I thought it’d be fun to come back, see some old friends, and cause a bit of trouble. My sister keeps a place here, so it was nothing to jump on a plane. But during that night filled with too many glasses of wine, I also managed to drag the legendary Declan brothers into our summer fun with a challenge for each of us to break one of those reckless boys. I knew Emmie always had a thing for Jax Declan, so I threw that challenge at her, and it appears she’d succeeded. She might have fallen in love with her challenge, but Jax seems to have fallen hard, too. It’s in the man’s eyes whenever he looks at her.
Zeke is the youngest Declan brother. He’s a player, a good guy, but there’s no settling down for that boy. If you want to sleep with him, well, then he has rules—four of them, to be exact. Rule number one; don’t call him, he’ll call you, two; he doesn’t date, three; no sleepovers, and rule number four, absolutely no virgins. So, of course, I handed him over to the virgin, Lurlene. Don’t let the virgin part throw you off; she’s more experienced than she lets on. She’ll do it. I’m confident that she’ll break that Declan brother.
“Damn, girl.” I whistle as Emmie comes down the stairs in a pair of red heels, tight black skinny jeans, and an even tighter off-the-shoulder black shirt. “You look like Olivia Newton-John in Grease. Well, without those big seventies curls.” I laugh. “Remember that song, what was it?” I turn to Lurlene for a little help.
“Never saw it.” She shrugs, not bothering to pull her eyes from the book she’s reading.
“What!” Emmie and I say in unison. Granted, the girl’s a couple years younger than we are, but really, who hasn’t seen Grease?
“You’re the one that I want...Oo-oo-oo, honey...” I snap my fingers. “That’s it!”
Lurlene scrunches a freckled nose at me as if there’s something wrong with me for knowing the song from one of the best movies ever. Then she flashes her emerald eyes at Emmie. “So, what’s in the bag?”
“Wait.” I hold up my hand, ready to move on from the ever so serious Lurlene to mess with my longtime friend, Emmie. “I know,” I say glancing at the pink gift bag. “It’s your heart, isn’t it? You’re finally handing it over to Jax Declan, aren’t you?” I flick my brows at her and, as predicted, Emmie flips me off.
I love the girl. I’ve known her since grade school. We’ve been through everything together—good times, bad times, and all-night crying times. She’s gorgeous, too. She’s one of those girls who—even in the morning without any makeup, hair all a mess—is still pretty. A lot of girls in high school couldn’t handle her pretty. I think they were jealous. Not me. When I look at Emmie, I see that girl who held my hair back while I puked my brains out at Brian Delaney’s barn party. I see the girl who fed me tissues and kept everyone away at my brother’s funeral. I see the girl who convinced me that I was good enough to get through college, and then gave me the push that I needed to leave Bayou Vista, Texas and pursue my dreams.
“No.” Emmie grabs her purse from the coffee table and slips it over her shoulder. “Thanks to you, Rayna, Jax Declan already has my damn heart.”
“Moi,” I say, placing a hand one my chest, dramatically batting my eyes.
“Yes, smartass, you,” she says, trying horribly to hold back a smile. “You’re the one who convinced us to come back here for the summer.”
“Yeah, she is.” Lurlene glances up from her book. “But you were supposed to break Jax Declan, not give him your heart,” she says with a grin.
I love Lurlene, too. She’s our reason. I haven’t known her as long as Emmie, but still, somehow, she fits perfectly in our friendship. I tend to stray over to the wild side, Emmie is the strong one, and Lurlene, she’s the logical one. She’s an English teacher. You’d think, me being a mediator, that I’d be the one to keep this trio in line. Honestly, it’s Lurlene. Sometimes, a mediator needs a little help too, and Lurlene is my go-to girl for that.
“Don’t start.” Emmie points at Lurlene. “I’ve seen you a few times with Zeke Declan. Have you broken him yet?” Her brow rises. “In case you forgot, you’re supposed to break that Declan brother.”
“I’m working on it.” Her eyes drift back down to the book. She’s been quiet about her progress when it comes to breaking Zeke Declan. That’s Lurlene, though. And you know those quiet ones; you gotta watch out for them.
“And, you, little Ms. Smartass…” Emmie turns to me, her long blond hair swinging along the way. “What about Slate?”
Oh boy, teasing her about Jax must’ve pissed her off. She hadn't brought up Slate since we saw him that night at his apartment when I talked Emmie into going to see Jax. It was a bad idea. We were drunk. Even from afar, seeing Slate broke my heart a little.
Me and my bad ideas are what brought us back to the Bayou for the summer, a place Emmie and I grew up. I thought it’d be fun to come back, see some old friends, and cause a bit of trouble. My sister keeps a place here, so it was nothing to jump on a plane. But during that night filled with too many glasses of wine, I also managed to drag the legendary Declan brothers into our summer fun with a challenge for each of us to break one of those reckless boys. I knew Emmie always had a thing for Jax Declan, so I threw that challenge at her, and it appears she’d succeeded. She might have fallen in love with her challenge, but Jax seems to have fallen hard, too. It’s in the man’s eyes whenever he looks at her.
Zeke is the youngest Declan brother. He’s a player, a good guy, but there’s no settling down for that boy. If you want to sleep with him, well, then he has rules—four of them, to be exact. Rule number one; don’t call him, he’ll call you, two; he doesn’t date, three; no sleepovers, and rule number four, absolutely no virgins. So, of course, I handed him over to the virgin, Lurlene. Don’t let the virgin part throw you off; she’s more experienced than she lets on. She’ll do it. I’m confident that she’ll break that Declan brother.