Filed To Story: Secret Shifters Next Door Series PDF Free
Knight.
My stomach seemed to drop out from under me.
There was something about that kid that was familiar. I held a hand out. “Can I see that roster?”
He handed it to me, and I glanced down at the list of names until I found him. Short stop, Aiden Knight. A quivery feeling hit me in the guts, but I handed the clipboard back and told the coach to go ahead and get a couple of innings of practice game started.
I watched the kids play, keeping a keen eye on the Knight kid. He was only nine years old, like most of the kids, but he was talented as all hell. Looked like me at that age, diving for grounders, good swing, great arm. We’d have another damned good season if the practice was any indication.
After practice was over, I stood near the dugout as the parents came up to collect their kids. Greeting the parents at the end of practice was my little ritual. It made it easier to coach a kid if you knew who was in the stands watching them. The next ten minutes were spent shaking hands, laughing, and discussing the season with parents. Then, out of the corner of my eye, Aiden bolted toward the parking lot. Glancing over, I saw who he was running to, and my heart nearly stopped.
The boy jumped up into the arms of a beautiful woman. She was the woman who had been my entire world. Once upon a
time, anyway. I glanced from her smiling face to Aiden, and back to her again. The math did itself in my mind and came up with an answer that made me dizzy. I might have been sick right then, but I had to keep up appearances.
Her name was April. She’d been the love of my life. I’d lost her a long time ago. Roughly nine years ago to be exact. The timing was right. If I allowed myself to dwell on the fact, it became much more possible. Could it be? Dear God, could it actually be?
Continue reading for Steff and April’s story in
Bear Ex Next Door
BEAR EX NEXT DOOR
STEFF AND APRIL
My new neighbor is irresistible, but he’s already broken my heart once…
Being a fashion model had its perks until stalkers and a nasty tabloid scandal forced me to return to my hometown of Lily Valley. When I thought things couldn’t get any worse, I meet my new neighbor—my old high school sweetheart.
Steff used to be my brother’s best friend before he shattered my heart into a million pieces. He’s just as stubborn and sexy as I remember. Unfortunately, he’s also responsible for my personal security while I’m living here.
With my stalkers closing in, Steff and my brothers are determined to protect me. That doesn’t mean it gives Steff the right to warn me off dating Ryland, the new guy in town.Steff
says Ryland isn’t what he seems. But I’m starting to suspect there’s another side to Steff as well, and it’s possible I never really knew him at all. I could be wrong, but I have a bad feeling that I’m cursed to lose my heart to him a second time…
PROLOGUE
APRIL
I couldn’t look away from the picture that was quickly burning itself into my mind. There I was, on the cover of the tabloid I’d bought at the corner market below my high-rise apartment. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been so pissed. Luca was such a piece of shit. How could he do this?
The cover of the tabloid showed me dancing on a table, topless. I could still remember that night. I’d been drunk as hell and out of my mind on molly. When Luca took the picture, it was supposed to be all in good fun. We’d all laughed, joking about what would happen if it ended up on the internet. Luca had laughed about it.
Then he went out and sold it.
It didn’t matter that my tits were blurred out—my face was easily visible. No way anyone wouldn’t recognize me. With fame, you had to take the good with the bad. The good? Money, travel, meeting celebrities and star athletes. The bad? Never having privacy, not being able to trust anyone, being recognized everywhere. It was a double-edged sword.
I leaned back against my leather sofa and ignored the ringing of my phone. I didn’t even have to glance at my phone to know it was my manager, Larry. He’d called me seven times already,
but I needed time before I spoke to him. No doubt, he had a plan to try to spin the whole thing. I didn’t see how he could, though. Everything Luca had sold was true. How do you spin the truth?
I’d broken things off with Luca a few days ago, and it had been coming for a while. Several weeks before I broke up with him, I found out he’d been stealing from me. We were both models, but I was
much more successful. It made my skin crawl to say it, but I was a household name. Luca? He was a pretty face who had been in three ads for hemorrhoid medication and one fashion show put on by one of those crazy eccentric designers. Luca had walked twice—once completely naked, then with a hat on… and nothing else. According to the designer, the clothing was
up to the imagination of the crowd. Needless to say, I was much better off financially.
Luca had forged my signature to grant him access to my bank account. By the time I realized what he’d done, over forty thousand dollars had gone missing. My accountant had figured everything out, and once I knew, I’d kicked Luca’s ass to the curb. That should have been the end of it. Instead, he pulled this shit. Two years together, and this was how he thanked me for not having his ass arrested.
The story that accompanied the pictures was just as bad. All the dirt that a famous supermodel could possibly have was in there, and everything was true. If anything really made me feel dirty, it was that. The sex, the drugs—all of it. Luca had gone full scorched earth. I was so fucking angry at him, but if I was being honest, I was angry at myself, too. Luca and I had gotten together right when I was spiraling. In my darkest time, he’d been the one to push me over the edge, filling me with drugs and negative thoughts. Larry had warned me to break up with him sooner, but I hadn’t listened.
As though he’d heard me think about him, my phone rang again. Tired of the incessant ringing, I answered the phone. “Hello, Larry.”
“This motherfucker. I swear to God I’ll have his balls hanging on my Christmas tree this year. I’ve got our lawyers working on getting the story pulled, full retraction, and we’ll sue Luca till he’s living in a fucking cardboard box down on Skid Row.” Larry’s voice was so loud it hurt my ear.
I couldn’t see suing him being very successful. You couldn’t sue someone for telling the truth. It was an invasion of privacy and shitty, but the biggest punishment he’d end up with would likely be probation or something. If that were the case, he’d laugh all the way to the bank. The tabloid had probably paid him a million-plus for the story and pictures.
Instead of arguing with Larry, I said, “Sounds great. Get his ass. Let me know how it goes.”