Page 1 of The Nice List

Chapter 1

Cory

“Seriously, Alexis? Maddox fucking Campbell?” I scoff at the ridiculousness of her dating the playboy football kicker.

She just shrugs unapologetically.

I don’t know what I really expected from a girl with about the same emotional capacity as a grapefruit…and an attitude just as sour.

“Hate to break up this little spat,” my boss, Zack says with a grin. “But we need another case of Mich’ Ultra from the back.”

I nod as I turn without another word—realizing that whatever I had with Alexis is apparently over—and head to the storeroom behind the bar. At one point, I’d hoped our casual hookups would turn into more. But if I’m being honest, I’ve known fora while that Alexis wasn’t the girl for me. We’re too much alike on a fundamental level. Even though the sex was good, I always thought it would be better if one of us would just yield to the other. Since we both have dominant personalities, that was never going to happen.

When I step out behind the bar a few minutes later, I swear I’m seeing double. Standing next to Alexis is a girl who looks like her twin and her exact opposite at the same time. When Alexis told me about her little sister, I always pictured her as a kid. Not the youngwomanI’m seeing now.

She has the same dark hair and fair skin as Alexis, and their facial features are almost identical. She’s leaner than Alexis, but she still has curves in all the right places. Instead of the Thorngrove University Bears’ dark blue or the Tennessee Tornados’ maroon that Alexis is always sporting, she’s wearing a light pink sweater that softens her features, making her appear young and innocent while showcasing those curves with the way it clings to them. Instead of the scowl, I’m used to seeing on her sister’s face, she has a smile so bright that it makes the neon lights in the bar seem dim.

Is it wrong that I find myself insanely attracted to the sister of a girl that I was casually fucking until a few months ago? Probably. Do I care? Nope.

“Well, hey there,pretty girl.” I give her a smirk and bask in the way she blushes as she drops her eyes to the bar top. “What can I get ya?”

“Nothing.” I glance toward Alexis when she speaks to see her usual scowl turn into an outright glare. “She just turned eighteen. So…too young to drink.” Her raised brow sends a clear message my way.Too young for you.

But if she’s eighteen, she’s not too young. Too pretty? Possibly. Too sweet? Probably. Too innocent? Definitely. But not too young.

“That’s okay,” I say, ignoring Alexis’s attitude as I turn my attention back to her sister. “I make a mean Shirley Temple. Do you like cherries?”

She raises her head and gives me an innocent smile with just a hint of devilry. “Yes, please. I love cherries.”

Me, too,I think as I turn to make her mocktail.

Livvy

I pull my eyes away from the ass of the sexy as sin bartender to look at my sister when she bumps my shoulder.

When Alexis shakes her head at me with a scornful expression, I just shrug and grin. My sister has always been overprotective and apparently, that’s not changing just because I turned eighteen. To her, I’ll always be the little sister she needs to look out for, but that’s not who Iwantto be. I want to experience life and love and…sex. Although, that will be nearly impossible with her constant hovering.

I was over the moon when I received my acceptance letter to Thorngrove University in the mail last month…on my birthday of all days. I’ll be a freshman next year, and since Alexis has already been here for a couple of years, she agreed to show me around early. I’ve been so excited to see all the places and meet all the people she’s told me about.

I was hesitant to start my tour at Ball Busters since it’s a sports bar and I’m not a sports fan like Alexis. But I was late getting into town and there was no way she was missing the Tennessee Tornados in the playoff game for the Super Bowl. Now that I’m here, I have to admit…the view is amazing.

“No, Olivia. Don’t even think about it,” Alexis says, pulling my eyes to her again since they had drifted back to the man making my drink.

Before I can respond, a glass slides across the bar in front of me. “There you go, pretty girl. I added extra cherries just for you.”

The sexy wink he offers could very well be the downfall of my innocence…until my sister growls from beside me, pulling both of our gazes to her.

“What’ll it be tonight, Alexis?” he asks her with barely concealed impatience. “Long Island or IPA?”

“IPA,” she responds with her signature eye roll. “Whichever one is on draft.”

“Comin’ right up.” He walks to the other end of the bar and starts filling a frosted mug with a dark brew from the tap.

When the familiarity—with an edge of animosity—between them registers in my brain, I realize that he must be the guy she’s told me about. The one she was sort of seeing before she met her boyfriend, Maddox.

The fact that he’s my sister’s ex makes him off limits.Why does that make me want him even more?

“That’s Cory. Isn’t it?” I ask, trying to hide the almost guilt I feel as I turn toward her.

---