Rome: A Marked Men Novel Read Free

Nash off.
    “I love you guys. He needs to pick on someone his own size.”
    My hair got ruffled as Nash made his way off of the deck to go check on his friend.
    “Like you?”
    “Is that a short joke?” I didn’t get an answer as he disappeared down the deck steps, but his deep
    laughter followed him. I made a face as Jet and Ayden, the two newlyweds I shared a house with along
    with Ayden’s wayward brother, caught my eye. They were snuggling and too cute to ignore.
    “See … like I always said, you two are just perfect. That’s what I want.”
    I knew I sounded wistful, but I couldn’t keep the longing for that kind of love, that type of connection,
    out of my voice. I thought I had had it once, and when I realized I didn’t, it nearly broke me.
    “I keep telling you that your expectations are too high.” Jet tried to sound lighthearted about it, but he
    didn’t know about my broken engagement or the fact that my ex-fiancé was planning on getting married at
    the end of the summer.
    “Love isn’t perfect. It’s hard work and sometimes it’s more effort to be in love than it is to just run
    away. If you keep looking for perfect, the real thing is going to pass right by you.”
    I waved a hand at him because I knew he was speaking from a place of experience. His road to Ayden
    hadn’t been without a pit stop or two in Stupidville, but they made it and I could only hope for such a
    beautiful outcome. I took my seat back by Asa and I could swear he was mentally taking notes on all of us.
    Those gears behind his gold eyes always seemed to be turning.
    “I’ll know it when I see it.”
    I said it to Jet, but really I was reaffirming to myself that I would know it this time when it came along.
    I wouldn’t be fooled by a pretty face and promises of devotion. I wouldn’t end up anyone’s joke or castoff
    ever again. The fact that so many of my friends were stumbling headfirst into their happily-ever-after gave
    my tired heart hope that I couldn’t be far behind.
    When the wedding invitation Jimmy had cruelly sent in the mail landed in my hands, it was a wake-up
    call. I had loved a guy who had cheated on me, lied to me, made me a laughingstock, with everything that I
    was. I wanted to spend my life with him, build a business with him, and have children with him. All of it.
    He, on the other hand, had wanted to have sex with his tattoo clients and lead me on for as long as possible.
    If I hadn’t had to go back to the shop one night because I forgot something and walked in on him with a
    girl who was barely out of her teens, there was a good chance I would be married to the rat bastard right
    now.
    Still, to this day what hurt the most was that everyone knew. The people I thought were my friends, the
    coworkers I thought of as my family, they all knew and no one had said a word. They let me play the fool,
    let Jimmy put me at risk, use me and humiliate me without so much as a peep. It was awful. If my dad’s old
    buddy Phil hadn’t come to town to visit him when all of it was falling to pieces, I don’t know where I
    would be now. The guys at the shop had saved me.
    “Ayd and Jet just snuck out through the side gate. Looks like you’re gonna have to get the gimp home.”
    I looked at Asa and then at the gate, which was indeed swinging shut. I made an offhand comment
    about being newlyweds but didn’t get much further because Shaw plopped down next to me on the patio
    furniture and wiped at her wet cheeks with the back of her hand. The rest of the guys followed, carrying the
    now-burned remains of the barbecue Rule had been working on.
    I reached out to pat my friend on the leg. Shaw was a beautiful girl. She had this ethereal, otherworldly
    beauty that took a minute to get used to. It made my heart twinge in sympathy to see her big green eyes look
    so sad. No one wanted to make Shaw cry, it was like kicking a fairy-tale princess when she was down.
    The guys all gathered around the food and popped the