Read Feels Like Home: A Southerland Family Contemporary Romance Book 1 for Free Online

killed himself and his little brother in that
crash out on Route forty?”
    Jude nodded, still a little shocked. He
couldn’t imagine losing any of his brothers or sisters like that.
Let alone two at one time. It must have devastated her.
    “ Family sounds like bad
news.” Blake set the bag of chips on the table, picked up the cards
and started to shuffle. “Colin was a prick in school.”
    The angry sullen man with the girlfriend in
the miniskirt and hooker heels from the funeral didn’t seem to have
much in common with the pretty charming young woman he’d met in
Andrew’s office. She had even less in common with the reckless kid
he barely remembered from senior year.
    “ Maybe, but Autumn is
something special.” Andrew took a sip of scotch and leaned back in
his chair. “She’s sweet, funny and gorgeous. She has the bluest
eyes and dark, sexy curls perfect for sinking your fingers
into.”
    Jude hated listening to his friend reduce
Autumn to a list a characteristics, yet he couldn’t help but nod in
agreement. Those blue eyes had shown up in his dreams on more than
one occasion in the past few weeks.
    “ God, and that body. Lush
curves and eminently fuckable.”
    Blake and Adam murmured
their appreciation at Andrew’s description and Jude wondered who he
should pound first, his brothers or his best friend. Everything
inside him screamed Mine , which made no sense at all. She
probably remembered him because of the car thing, but he didn’t
have any reason to think she liked him let alone liked him like
that.
    “ Yep.” Andrew nodded. “I’m
going to take her out for dinner and anything else she’s up
for.”
    “ No.” He didn’t shout, but
the word held enough force to have the three other men turning to
look at Jude, eyebrows raised.
    “ Something I should know?”
Andrew stared at him, waiting.
    Jude stammered, trying to find something to
say that would take the focus off of his reaction. “I just meant
she’s not planning on staying in town, is she? Her whole life is
back in the city.”
    “ I don’t know about that.
She didn’t seem in a hurry to get back to whatever she left.”
Andrew looked at him, still puzzled. “And I wasn’t talking about
marriage, just having a little fun. She looks like she’d be a lot
of fun.”
    Jude’s hands clenched and his jaw tightened.
There was no way Andrew was going to be “having a little fun” with
Autumn. Not if he had anything to say about it.
    “ Aren’t you tired of using
women for sex?”
    The twins choked in tandem on their
beers.
    “ Why on God’s green earth
would he be tired of that?” asked Blake while Adam coughed and
nodded.
    Both the twins and Andrew dated their fair
share of women. Hell, he had, too. They were honest about their
intentions, and hurt feelings – if there were any – rarely went
beyond minor disappointments. But the idea of Autumn being
someone’s good time was more than he could stand. He flexed his
fists and gritted his teeth.
    “ You like her.” Andrew
looked at him, appraising. “I didn’t think you even knew
her.”
    “ I don’t. I just met
her.”
    “ Doesn’t matter,” said
Andrew, shaking his head. “You like her. Fine, if you want her, I
won‘t ask her out, but you better hurry. I’m not going to wait
forever.”
    Jude wasn’t sure how he’d let himself get
roped into asking out Autumn Maddox, but if it kept Andrew from
sniffing around her, he’d take it.
    “ I gotta get out of here.
Busy day tomorrow.” Jude tossed back the last of his scotch in a
hurry to get away from his friend’s too perceptive gaze. He stood,
steadying his chair when it wobbled. He wasn’t drunk – not exactly
– but that last drink went down quick. Good thing he walked to
Andrew’s. Otherwise he’d have to wait until he sobered up, or even
worse, hitch a ride with one of his brothers. “Later,” he said,
making his way to the door before anyone could say anything else
about Autumn.
     
    He didn’t mean to