August's Bad Boy Garner

Read the first pages

From Chapter 1

Garner is finishing a tattoo when his best friend bursts in. She needs to talk.

I’d just started placing the plastic wrap over his new ink when the door to my room flew open.

“Garner, there you are! I’ve been looking all over for you.” Olivia stood in the doorway, her chest heaving like she’d just run a fucking marathon.

I jumped off my stool and rushed over to her. “Hey, baby girl. Everything okay?”

She bit down on her lip and nodded. “We need to talk.”

“Can you give me five, or do you need me now?” Either way, I’d be there for her. There were few people in my life I’d drop everything for, but Olivia Vale was at the top of the list. We’d grown up right next door to each other in Silver Springs. When I moved to Mustang Mountain to start working in Priest’s tattoo shop, I’d convinced her to come with me. We’d even shared a tiny apartment together for the first few months until she got a job as a clerk at town hall. Fuck, those were the best months of my life.

“Go ahead and finish.” She lifted her hand in an awkward wave. “Hi, Cullen. Sorry to interrupt.”

“No worries. Did you see what your man Garner did?” Cullen glanced down at his fresh ink.

My gut twisted at the words “your man.” As far as everyone knew, Olivia and I were just friends. Even though we did everything together—well, almost everything—we’d never crossed the line from friendship to more. And it wasn’t because I didn’t want to.

Olivia stepped into the room and looked over my shoulder. “That’s awesome. Garner does absolutely amazing work, doesn’t he?”

I thought it was pretty dope, but hearing the pride in her voice made my chest puff out.

“He sure as hell does. The guys on the crew are going to be knocking down your door once they see it,” Cullen said.

“They know where to find me.” I finished applying the wrap to his chest while I tried to ignore how it felt to have Olivia standing directly behind me. She was close enough I caught a whiff of her new perfume… the one that smelled like smoked sandalwood and sun-kissed skin. Even a trace of it drove me wild.

Find out what happens next tonight.