Dating My Best Friend's Sister: Book 1

By Violet Paige

Kaitlyn spent her awkward years pining for her older brother's best friend, Cole. Now, long gone are the days when Cole thought of Kaitlyn as the little sister in braces. Especially when Kaitlyn shows up at his beachside resort with a new body and a passion she didn’t possess before. A secret heated romance begins - and Kaitlyn and Cole discover that secrets and lies means happily ever after is a bumpy road.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Radish
• Release date: Nov 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781956969115

Violet Paige

USA Today Bestselling author, Violet Paige, lives in North Carolina and would rather be by the water than anywhere else, maybe it’s because she’s from OBX, yes that OBX. Writing full-time, mom’ing full time and taking any stray dog that walks by the porch keep her inspired, busy and mostly exhausted, let’s be honest. She writes hot, edgy and angsty romances with strong heroines and fierce loves.

Book preview

Chapter One

Kaitlyn

Miss, you need to turn off all of your electronic devices. The flight attendant smiled while she shoved a tightly packed bag into the compartment over my head.

I nodded. All right.

The bin snapped shut as she walked past and on to the next row.

I powered down my phone, and tucked it in the pocket of my bag before pushing it under the seat with my feet. The man next to me edged me off the armrest with his elbow. His knees had already staked more than enough territory in front of me. I hated manspreading. I sighed, realizing the three-hour flight to Houston from Raleigh was going to suck.

This was not how I pictured the start of my vacation. I blamed Branch. The asshole, was how I referred to him now and forever.

I ran my fingers through my hair. It was shorter now. Shorter than I had worn it the entire time I was in college. I felt unrecognizable. Free and a little wild.

Ok, I admit it was a little rash to chop my hair into shaggy shoulder-length strands. Maybe I didn’t think through my options as carefully as I should have, but I knew Branch loved my long hair. He would tangle his fingers through it, and beg me to pull it down every time I twisted it in a ponytail. I lashed out at him with something I knew he would notice. Something that would make a statement. I wasn’t going to cry over him. Or beg.

I tugged on the ends now, forcing myself not to regret it. It would grow.

The flight attendants wrapped up the safety warnings and buckled in as we taxied to the end of the runway for takeoff.

The plane lifted off and I thought about the break up. I didn’t want to replay it, but it wasn’t as if I could stop myself. The image was as clear in my mind as if it were happening on the plane.

My suitcase had been on the bed. I needed to pull some things together for our trip. I hadn’t packed a single thing, and we were supposed to leave in three days. Between finals, the goodbye parties, and figuring out what to do for the summer, packing had fallen way down on my list of things to do.

I think we’ve grown apart. We’re not the same people we were when we first started dating, Branch stated, pressing his lips firmly.

I turned, trying to find the sunscreen I had bought. It was in a plastic bag somewhere in my room.

Kaitlyn?

Do you see that sunscreen anywhere? I have to have the kind that doesn’t make my face break out. I don’t want to spend the entire trip with red splotches on my face.

Sunscreen? I don’t know. Branch sighed. He continued, speaking plainly. Can you stop and listen to me for a second?

I looked under my bed and in the closet.

I thought it was the right thing to do. You know, tell you now instead of trying to make it through a trip together. It’s time for us to end this. You get it, right?

What?

Have you heard anything I’ve said? I’m saying it’s over, Kaitlyn. We’re over.

Is there someone else? It was the only question I thought of asking. My brain tried to wade through the muck of Branch’s words. I hurried back and forth tossing in a bikini and flip flops.

Not exactly. You know, I just want to keep my options open.

Options open? I almost laughed in his face.

For who? I scowled.

He leaned over and patted me on the back as if I was one of his fraternity brothers. You’ll get over this, Kaitlyn. You know we’ve run our course. It couldn’t last forever. Nothing lasts forever, babe. He shrugged his shoulders. I’ve gotta go. I’m meeting some of the guys back at the house. You good here?

That’s it? I blinked.

Yeah. That’s it. His hands slid into the pockets of his khaki shorts. Branch was always dressed impeccably. He spent more time getting ready than I did sometimes. He wasn’t one of those guys in college who wore wrinkled T-shirts and shorts with pizza stains. The light blue polo he wore today had been ironed. I could tell by the sharp creases in the collar.

He hesitated for a second. I wondered what it was that made him pause. Did he have a twinge of regret? Did he want me to throw myself on him? Was he thinking about how we met? Our first date? Our last date? I could never read his expressions.

I could have tried to stop him. I could have put up a fight. I could have given him a good reason to stay together. But I couldn’t think of one. Not a single reason the two of us should be together, much less stay together. The vacation we had planned for months didn’t even seem like enough to hold us. How had this happened?

So, I’ll see you?

Right. I stared at him, feeling the emotion drain from my cheeks and down my neck. A sudden numbness filled me.

I let him walk out of my room. It was clear there wasn’t anything left to fight for. I marched straight to my bathroom and picked up the scissors.

The handle was cool in my hand. The locks fell around my feet in loosely spun swirls. I kicked strands to the side before gathering the thickest handful in my fist. I looked at my reflection, and ran the dulled blades between my forehead and the length of hair I was holding away from my face. The metal edges across, making a squeaking noise with each cut.

There.

I ruffled my newly shorn bangs through my fingertips. It was drastic, but so was starting over.

I threw the chunk of hair in the trash before turning off the light in the bathroom.

That was it. My big rebellion. My in-your-face-I’m-over-youstatement. I had seen it in a movie somewhere, or maybe it was in a song—I couldn’t remember. I only wished the girl who had cut off her hair in protest and styled new bangs told me what I was supposed to do now.

You from Texas? the armrest hog asked.

Uh. No. Visiting. I shook the breakup from my mind. I wanted to be finished with that memory.

What part? He was leaning closer, which I didn’t think was possible with the proximity of our seats. I wished I had paid for an upgrade.

South Padre. I wanted to retrieve my phone and pretend I was busy.

He chuckled. Yep, it’s that time of year. Let me guess… post-graduation vacation?

I didn’t like that he had guessed it. Yeah. I’m meeting lots of friends there. I paused. And my boyfriend. I had to force the last word from my mouth. There were no friends on the other end of this trip and certainly no boyfriend, but he didn’t need to know I was suddenly single, or alone.

I remember mine. It’s a rite of passage. Glad that tradition is still going strong. He chuckled, and I knew he was remembering something from his graduation vacation.

Oh. I could spy my earbuds jutting from the corner of my bag. They were a lifeline of salvation. I unbuckled my seat and leaned forward. As soon as I put them in my ears, I saw the look on the man’s face.

He reached for the in-flight magazine and flipped through the pages. Well, have a good time. It’s a trip you’ll never forget. He stopped on an article and his attention shifted away from me.

I didn’t know what I expected from this trip. I’d never taken a vacation by myself. I never wanted to. I’d never considered it. But I wasn’t going to let Branch and his wishy-washy, keep-his-options-open plan stop me from having this vacation. I deserved it. I had earned it. I was a successful graduate; with grades I was proud of. I had worked my ass off the past four years. I had reason to celebrate, and I had let Branch take the reins for way too long.

Maybe that was the reason I needed to do this alone. Figure out why I had let someone take over. It had happened slowly and before I had even noticed how complacent I had become. It was as if I had sleep walking through the last semester. I was on auto-pilot focused on graduation, while my life spun on around me. What in the hell had happened to me? How had I wasted that kind of time?

I made a vow right then and there. No matter what, I’d never settle. No more compromises. No more boring sex. No more passionless relationships. I’d never let a man make my life anything less than spectacular. No one would make me feel ordinary again.

Chapter Two

Cole

Sometimes I wished I could burn this hellhole down. The whole thing. I pictured it going up in flames. I could see the glass breaking as the fire engulfed the windows and doors. There’d be nothing left but piles of smoldering ash. The frame and some charred pink tiles would be the only recognizable parts of this piece of shit. Was that a fantasy or a nightmare? I could finally fucking walk. I could turn my back on it.

But that’s not the kind of man I was. It wasn’t the kind of man Pops raised me to be. It wasn’t how Marines were trained and taught to act. Loyalty and family above all else.

I grabbed a cold beer and twisted off the cap. I slammed the office door behind me, and cringed when I heard the door handle rattle. I groaned, walking past the pool that was still battling a green tint. I’d thrown every chemical in the water, and nothing made a difference.

It was like that with everything I touched here. I didn’t have enough pipes to stop the leaks. Not enough paint to cover the stains. Not enough screws to hold the walls up. It was a money pit when I needed it to be a goldmine.

I chugged the beer.

I climbed the steps that led to the boardwalk. The ocean crashed in front of me. There was enough wind to make me forget how hot I had been all day.

Daddy!

I turned just in time to see Grayson running toward me. His chubby hands outstretched. His smile wide and his eyes bright.

Hey. I reached down, scooping him up in a hug. What are you doing here, little man? This is a big surprise. For a second I wondered if I had fucked up my schedule.

He pointed at a seagull overhead. Bird.

Yeah. That’s a seagull. I looked around. And then I saw her walking toward us. Amber. I tried to hide the bitterness in my voice in front of Grayson. The woman was his mother. No matter what I thought about her I wasn’t going to tarnish what he thought. It was obvious when they were together he adored her.

Grayson wanted to say hi before we head out of town. She smiled. So I stopped. For him, she added.

Out of town? I placed him on the ground so he could chase the birds on the beach.

It’s my week with him, she snapped.

I know it’s your week, but where are you going?

I hated this shit. I hated how we argued. I hated that I shared custody of my two-year old son with my ex. I hated that she was unreliable and changed her mind every other damn second.

She had appeared on my doorstop so many times I had lost count. Grayson was in her arms and there was the diaper bag, hanging from her shoulder. She would shove the baby into my arms, turn, and run. Other times, she would show up unannounced in the middle of the night and beg me to wake him up so she could hold him.

She was usually late to pick him up. Three days was the longest she had gone before she rolled in as if she had missed pick up by five minutes. Trying to pin her down to a schedule was like trying to make the tide change. I’d put up with it for two years. Every time I pressed her she got that look in her eye. The one that said if I pushed too hard, she’d run. So I let it ride. I dealt with her shit and her inconsistency because I didn’t want to lose my son.

She shrugged. It’s getting hot. I thought we might go somewhere we could avoid the sun. I want to cool off.

This is Texas. That place doesn’t exist.

Who said I was staying in Texas?

I stared at her. Where then? Mexico? It’s not cooler in Mexico. This is crazy. You have to have a plan. You can’t just put my son in the car and drive until you feel like stopping.

Her eyes flared. He’s my son too and it’s my week. We’re leaving the island for the week.

I watched Grayson face plant on the sand. He hopped up and kept going, rubbing his eyes. I waited for him to cry when the sand burned, but he never did. He was tough and resilient even at two. I wondered how much the situation with his mother and me had made him stronger, and which part of it would make him guarded when he grew up. How much were we screwing up his life with our arrangement? Was I as much to blame as Amber was?

Amber rolled her eyes, brushing her auburn bangs to the side. I really don’t want to fight. I’ll text you. Ok?

Her nails were painted a light pink and her arms were slender like her legs. She could have been a model she was so beautiful. But I didn’t see her like that anymore. Other men were drawn to her because they didn’t know the secrets I did about her. She was beautiful but unreliable.

I shook my head. I don’t like not knowing where you’re going to be. It’s not safe.

I said I’ll let you know. I didn’t even have to bring Grayson by. You could try saying thank you instead of trying to constantly control me.

I gritted my teeth.

I’m not trying to control you. All I’m saying is— I shook my head. No. No. No.

I wasn’t taking her bait. I wasn’t going to get pulled in. She did this every time. She wanted me to fight and it wasn’t happening. It was what she did when she wanted to bring up the past. It was the only leverage she had over me, and she played the card every time she could.

Fine. I’m glad I could see him. Thank you.

She planted her hands on her hips. I’ll drop him off next week, unless you’re too busy here. She eyed the motel. Want me to keep him longer?

No. I’m never too busy for him. Never. I stared at her. I have it on my calendar. I had my days with Grayson blocked off months in advance.

Why won’t you sell it? She laughed. Why you spend all your time at this dump instead of doing something else is beyond me.

I glared. I inherited this property and it’s how I support my son. It’s a business. It’s my job. You know that. Can’t you appreciate any part of this? I looked around the crumbling buildings. Only minutes ago I had enjoyed the idea of it being torched, but now I was prepared to defend it.

Whatever. You choose to spend your time here. It’s useless. She walked past me, her hips swayed. Grayson, come on. Let’s go, she called. It’s time to get in the car. Stop chasing those ugly birds.

He made another circle in the sand and ran toward us. His hair clung to his forehead. Even with the sun going down, he was sweaty. I bent down, wrapping my arms around him. I inhaled all his sweetness and stickiness. Amber still used baby shampoo to wash his hair. It clung to him and for a second I remembered what it felt like the first time he was placed in my arms.

I was overwhelmed with the instinct to protect him. To give him the kind of life I never had. To shield him from the evil in this world. I remembered how he fell asleep on my chest. He made this cute noise I didn’t know babies could produce. He trusted me to keep every promise I made to him.

Have fun on your trip. I’ll see you next week.

He rubbed his nose over mine. I laughed. I hated letting him out of my arms. It never got easier.

I rose and faced Amber. Text me. As soon as you get where you’re going.

She sighed. I will. She reached her hand out to our son. Come on, let’s get you buckled in your car seat.

He ran next to her. She secured him in the car, spinning to face me.

Amber, we need to talk when you get back.

Yeah, there’s something I want to tell you, too.

My eyebrows arched. Should you tell me now before you head out with Grayson?

It didn’t sit well with me when she pulled this kind of shit.

No. It can wait. Stop worrying, Cole. She