Page 1 of You're ours now

Chapter One

Mellie

My life couldn’t be more of a train wreck. I had everything all mapped out, yet here I am, twenty-five years old and still fucking single. I should be married by now.

“Stop laughing at me!” I snap at my friend Lily.

“I’m sorry, but it’s funny. My guys would bust a nut if I choked them, but not everyone is into that kind of thing.”

I can’t hold back my groan.

I met Lily last year when her boyfriend North helped Storm with some work at our house. Lily tagged along, looking damn adorable in her work gear. She even had a pink hammer.

The lucky bitch has a life I’m envious of, complete with three extremely hot men. When she told me about how they met and the masks, I almost combusted. I wouldn’t dare even dream ofbeing that lucky; shit, I tried to be a little kinky with the last guy I was seeing, and he ran for the hills.

“Don’t be afraid to like what you like,” she replies.

“We can’t all win the boyfriend lottery. I’d be happy with a simple spank— Oh shit! Hi, Eli.”

Eli waves shyly from the background of Lily’s video. He doesn’t talk very much, so I know it’s not that I’ve made him uncomfortable. Instead, he kisses the side of Lily’s head and moves away.

“You live with your three very attractive best friends, Mel. Remind me again why you don’t wrap yourself in a bow and see what happens?”

I inhale and close my eyes briefly. My best friends are my rocks, and we have known each other practically our whole lives. To them, I’m one of the guys, and they don’t see me as anything more. Even if one of them did, I wouldn’t want to go there—it would change the dynamic of our group. They have dated before and so have I, but none of them have brought any girls home. I am thankful for that; I don’t know if I could have handled the emotions that would have stirred up. And that’s not even mentioning the situationship between Julius and Zayne. I know they screw around, and my poor vibrator has gotten a damn good workout on the nights I hear Zayne’s bed smashing against my bedroom wall.

“Because I don’t want to ruin our friendship, and besides, none of them see me as more than a friend,” I explain in a whisper when I hear someone’s door close down the hall.

“I’ve got to go,” she blurts. “Harlen’s dragging me out to do some shopping. We’ll have to catch up soon.”

“Enjoy your perfect life and all the orgasms.”

Lily laughs as she ends the call.

I throw my phone down on my bed and a light knock on my door has me sitting up and shaking off my disappointment at not having a boyfriend.

Julius strolls into my room. “Hey, Moo, I’m making breakfast. You hungry?”

I nod, covertly appraising one of my best friends. Julius is a combination of hot and nerdy, with unruly brown curls framing big brown eyes hidden behind glasses perched on rosy cheeks. I wish he realized how hot he is. He holds out a hand to help me off the bed.

“Is Zayne awake?” I ask, and he shakes his head.

“He didn’t get in until after two this morning, so he will be out cold for a few more hours yet. Storm should be back from his run shortly. He needed to clear his head. Ford has been on his ass again about working for their family company.”

The Wells family is extremely wealthy and owns Wells International. A portion was left to Storm when his mom passed away, and his cousin Ford was among those pressuring Storm to move two hours away to take his place at the helm since he turned twenty-five. Storm has been avoiding them for almost a year so far, as he does not want to move and dislikes the idea of working in an office. It’s not his style. I would never voice it out loud, but I hope he doesn’t go, though he needs to do what he thinks is best.

“Shit, it means he’s going to be grumpy.”

Julius nods as I take a seat at the kitchen island, preparing the bacon he has already gotten out of the fridge.

“Who’s going to be grumpy?” Storm asks, walking through the back sliding door and into the kitchen.

I turn my body sideways and discretely appreciate the view.

Storm is massive in every sense of the word. He is six foot five, with wide shoulders and lots and lots of drool-worthymuscles. He keeps his dirty blonde hair short, and his slate-gray eyes could bring any woman to her knees.

“You,” Julius says with a laugh.

Storm steps up behind me and wraps me in his arms, the sweat on them rubbing off onto my skin.

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