Page 1 of Finding Romance
CHAPTER ONE
Kasen
“Where the hell have you been?” Hutch asks as I’m surrounded by my neighbors. I feel like I’ve been gone for eons. In reality, it’s been less than twelve weeks. A very long twelve weeks.
Al, the owner of our apartment building, hands me my favorite whiskey and I raise it toward him in a cheers motion.
“Welcome home, Kase,” he says with his patented grandfatherly smile.
“My grandmother was ill, and just as I was ready to leave on my next assignment, her friend called to say she had fallen. So, I went to stay with her until she was all better,” I explained. I don’t explain how my boss was cool about it and how I had to hand two projects off to fellow colleagues. I hated doing it and I feel like shit because I wasn’t there, being a team player.
“And you couldn’t like, I don’t know, text us back?” Hutch says with a raised eyebrow.
I grimace because I feel like a jerk. Out of all my neighbors, I’m closest to Hutch and I should have texted him. I left in such a hurry, I didn’t grab my UK SIM card. I barely had time to grab my UK passport. And while I could have gone in search of another SIM card a few weeks ago, I decided against it. I had already spent over two months on the remote island where Gran lives without good cell service and Wi-Fi. By the end of it, I felt like I had stepped back in time two hundred years. And I’ll be honest, I think I needed it. I needed to slow down, but now I’m back and ready to immerse myself in work and life again.
“Sorry, mate. The cell service and Wi-Fi were awful, and I did finally get your texts a few weeks ago, but I knew I would be back and figured I’d just tell you everything in person,” I explain, feeling like a total asshole. If I was being honest, I’d tell him how having no contact with the outside world for weeks was therapeutic. For the first time in a long time, the world shrunk down to the person I’ve cared about the most. I hadn’t spent that long with a family member since I was a kid, and it felt good. But I knew it would be a short-lived experience and I have to get my head back in the game.
“Damn, where does she live, an outpost in Siberia?” he asks. A few of my neighbors chuckle.
“Hutch, do you ever listen to anything? She lives in Scotland,” Brayden says. There are five of us younger guys in the building. Brayden, Grayson, Hutch, Drew, and me. And we have become thick as thieves, in addition to Cam and Carly, and Carly’s daughter, Ava, who has taken up residence on my lap. I’ve missed this kid. She’s the coolest.
In addition to the young people, we have Jessa and Troy, our building’s parental figures who take care of all things electric and plumbing-related. Margie and Cornelia are like our grandmothers or crazy great-aunts and Al, well, he’s the reason we are all here. He’s like the godfather of one-eleven Hearts Lane.
Hutch slaps his forehead. “Damn, sorry, I forgot. So, you took your UK passport. This all makes so much more sense. God, I’m an idiot. I can’t believe I didn’t remember that.”
I see our new tenant give him a look. I also see Gray squeezing her shoulder. Clearly, I have lots to catch up on.
She rolls her eyes and extends her hand. “I’m Roxy, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you. I take it you are the owner of the bookshop downstairs?” I say as I put two and two together. I’d seen the bookstore as I came back into the building and I know that when I left and told Al I’d be gone a few weeks, he reminded me that the new tenant was moving in while I was away. I guess I should have told Al more about what I was doing because everyone seems a little freaked out by my long absence. Good to know my friends care that much.
She nods and gives me a warm smile and I immediately like her. “Guilty. Hope you like romance novels.”
I press my lips together to keep my answer from escaping my mouth because I most definitely am not a fan of them.
She laughs. “I’m teasing. I already guessed it wasn’t your genre, but if you change your mind, the boys here are all reading a billionaire romance that Cam recommended.”
I nearly spit out my whiskey. “I’m sorry, what?” I look around at my friends.
“For research purposes,” Gray clarifies.
“Research?” I ask, my brows furrowing. What in the hell has happened here since I left? Never in my wildest dreams would I have envisioned my friends reading romance novels for research.
Hutch claps me on the back. “Bro, you have missed a shit ton. Have a seat and fill us in on your life and then we’ll catch you up to speed.”
I hand Ava a colored pencil that’s rolled across the bar top. “There’s not much to catch you all up on. Gran was sick and fell and hurt her foot. I stepped in to help. And that’s basically all I’ve been doing. I had some colleagues step in and help with my projects since I could not do anything. Now, you tell me what has been going on here.” I feel bad not telling them more, but it really was as simple as what I said. Did I have a near panic attack about Gran? Yes. Did I worry about leaving her? Yes. Did she have to practically boot me off the island? Yes. I’m still worried about her. I hate that she’s out there alone. I know she has friends and neighbors, but it’s not the same as when I’m there.
Drew clears his throat, and I turn to look at him. “The summary version is that Roxy finally moved in downstairs. She opened the romance bookstore down there. Gray scored a major motion picture and there was a little fib told to the producer who thought he had a girlfriend. Al talked Roxy into going on a blind date to help a friend out, which turned out to be Gray and it also turned out to be at the film’s post-production party. So, the two fake dated and then that turned into a real dating situation and, well, the rest is history. Oh, and Cam might try to buy the bakery soon. And Hutch is still trying to figure out who leaves the flowers on the bench at the park every day. And I think that sums up everything.”
“Wow. Well, I suppose I have been gone for three months. That’s a lot. Cheers to the new happy couple,” I say as I hold my glass up to Roxy and Gray. A twinge of jealousy coats me but I squash it down with a smile.
Everyone yells “cheers.” And just like that, I’m back where I belong.
CHAPTER TWO
Piper
“When’s the surgery?” I ask as I hang up a dress in my closet.
