Keeping the Beat: An Adrenaline Novel Read Free

1
    Kenzie
                  “This is some kind of a joke right? You’re joking.” My brother Declan began to pace restlessly up and down the living room. His fiancé Reece sat next to me on the couch at the Cooper’s house as I tried to call on some patience. Stopping before me Declan placed a hand on his hip, his other pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers. A clear sign he was growing agitated. “I don’t like it.”
                  “You don’t have to like it, Declan,” I groaned and blew my unruly hair out of my face. “I’m going to be twenty three years old. I need to try living on my own.” After thinking it over endlessly and weighing all the pros and cons, I had come up with a plan to get me out of the rut my life had fallen into. Step one was moving off the Cooper’s ranch. “When the construction is finished on your house next week, I’ll be moving into Reece’s place in town.”
                  Reece placed a comforting hand on my arm as my brother and I stared each other down. I felt an overwhelming surge of gratitude that Reece had come into our lives. My brother had found his perfect match and I had gotten a best friend. Reece was one of the few people who knew why I was so desperate to get off of the farm. Having her support was what gave me the courage to finally set my plan in motion.
                  Declan sat down hard across from us on the coffee table. He laced his fingers together and he rested his elbows on his knees letting his hands dangle between them. The hurt expression on his face made my chest feel heavy with guilt.
    “I don’t understand why you want to leave your family. This place is your home, Kenzie. What could possibly make you want to move away?” My brother narrowed his eyes on me making me want to shrink back into my seat. “Does Mrs. Cooper know about this?”
                  “Yes. Actually it was her idea.”
                  Initially I had been surprised when Mrs. Cooper had brought up the idea of me moving out. Once the idea had taken root, I had grabbed onto it with both hands. “This is something I need to do, Declan,” I spoke firmly willing him to understand.
                  “I don’t believe you, Kenzie.” Expression going from concerned to thunderous in seconds, Declan glanced around as if to make sure we were the only ones in the room. Satisfied he focused his burning blue eyes back on me. “Why are you really doing this?”
                  “I’m doing this for me,” I answered truthfully. While the ranch had been the only true home I had ever known, being there with everyone was too painful. I needed space though it killed me to think of leaving. I loved everything about this place and all the people who lived here.
                  Which was why I needed to leave.
                  “Declan,” Reece shifted next to me catching my brother’s attention. “Kenzie is a grown woman. She’s going to be fifteen minutes away. If it doesn't work out, she can always move back home.” Thankful for her intervention I held my breath and waited for my brother’s reaction.
                  “What if something happens?” Declan complained, ignoring me as I slapped a palm to my forehead. My brother had been my protector my whole life. Sometimes I wondered if he would ever give himself a break from worrying about me when I was more than capable of worrying about myself. 
                  “Jared lives right down the block. Lane and Jon are five minutes from there. Hell, Emma is even closer than that. We have family all over this town. Kenzie will be fine, Declan.” I could see my brother was relenting as Reece reached out to grasp his hand, her knuckles whitening as she gripped it hard. “This is happening and you need to support your sister.”
                  Declan held his fiancé's