Pierce: Alpha Company Renegades, #7

By Kali Hart

Breea

I've been in love with my best friend's brother since I was eight.
But Pierce has never seen me as more than a kid.
I've tried to find someone else, but no one compares.
Pierce has been overseas for a year, and I've never missed him more than ever.
So when my bestie asks me to help plan his welcome home party, I decide I'm going for it.
I'm going to put my heart on the line and confess everything.

Pierce

After a year in the desert, I'm ready to be home.
If I had it my way, I'd spend a couple weeks alone in my cabin.
But my sister would never forgive me if I skipped out on my party.
I have to admit, it's great to see familiar faces.
Until I lay eyes on Breea.
The kid I remember is all woman now.
I know she wants me, too.
Too bad my sister would murder me in my sleep if I laid a finger on her best friend.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jackie M. Wallick
• Release date: Apr 29, 2020
• ISBN: 9798223134787

Book preview

1

BREEA

I fell in love with my best friend’s brother, one summer day, when he let me have his orange popsicle. I was eight. He was eighteen.

I decided that very day I’d marry him. But Pierce has never seen me as anything more than his kid sister’s friend.

Standing inside a giant military hangar, I start fiddling with my watch and almost slap my own hand away. Stop it. I’m twenty-four now, not eight, and by some miracle he’s still single. There’s not going to be a better time to put my plan into action.

They should be here any minute, honey, my best friend Libby says to her eager daughter, Alison. We’re waiting with over two hundred other civilians for busloads of soldiers, our soldiers, to march in. Libby’s eyes are already bright with tears. It’s been a long year, and Afghanistan is so far away. You’ll get to see your uncle soon. She smiles through it, hugging Alison to her side.

I never told Libby about my maddening crush on her brother. I tried once, back when we were sixteen. But it got awkward in about two seconds flat, and I aborted the confession. It’s been the hardest secret I’ve ever kept, because the two of us are an open book to each other.

"We’ve been here forever," Alison whines, dragging out her last word with extra dramatics. Libby closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, no doubt counting to ten. At least her youngest is dozing off in her arms.

Alison, I say to the girl, hoping to give her mom a break, What do you want to do with your uncle at the pumpkin patch?

Go to the haunted house!

Are you sure? That’s so scary.

I’m not a scaredy cat! Uncle Pierce will protect me.

If I didn’t have a complete aversion to haunted houses, I’d go with them. Because I’d certainly like some of that protection for myself. Any reason to rush into the safety of those muscular arms … But I can’t even watch a spoofy horror flick without being forced to sleep with the lights on.

I still can’t believe we’re doing a welcome home party at a pumpkin patch, Libby says with a shake of her head. Her original idea involved renting out a party room in a restaurant and ordering enough balloons to fill it. I hope you know what you’re doing.

Pierce hates balloons. Sometimes I think I know her brother more than Libby does. His favorite season is fall. He loves the smell and crisp crunch of fallen leaves. Carving pumpkins and roasting hotdogs over a fire will be the perfect way to ease him back. Trust me, Libby. I know what I’m doing.

Aunty Breea, I like your boots, says Alison.

Thanks, honey. I avoid Libby’s quirked eyebrow. She suspects I have a crush on someone in Pierce’s unit. But she doesn’t know it’s her brother. It’s fall, I say to Libby in defense of my outfit. People wear boots, skinny jeans, and sweaters this time of year.

"And that much makeup?"

Is it a crime to want to look nice for a party?

Maybe now would be a good time to fess up about my feelings for Pierce. Because later tonight, I plan to