Without Claire: The Hastings Brothers Series Read online

  Copyright

  Copyright by Mallory Funk 2017

  This book may not be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form (electronically, mechanically, by photocopying, or recording), without written permission from the author.

  This book is fiction, and created using the ideas of the author. Any names or places that are used are from the author’s imagination. This book is for your enjoyment only.

  Edited by, Amber Gaida

  Cover by Kennedy Kelly @ K Creative Design, Cover Crush Creations

  Chapter One

  Claire

  Oh my god. What am I doing here? What was I thinking when I agreed to come along with total strangers to a house that I am unfamiliar with? The girls seemed genuinely nice at the grocery store. I looked at them only seeing kindness, and when they looked at me with those puppy dog eyes, I couldn’t say no. I had no idea what I would be walking into.

  There are so many people here. I thought that it would only be the women I met, and maybe the boyfriend that the one was talking to on the phone, not this many people! There are eight men outside! Eight! I counted! How do these women know so many good-looking men? I don’t know if they can tell how freaked out I am, but I am trying to play it cool. I hope that no one can see me shaking.

  Do you ever get that feeling like you have known someone your whole life? How about the feeling that you get when you become friends, and it feels like they have already been your friend for years? That’s what these women feel like to me. Their easy-going attitude calms me. I don’t get the feeling that they are mean, or trying to play a joke on me. Spending my life on the sidelines, I tend to read people well. It helps that I am a writer. I started writing because it was easier to write than to leave my house. I would get lost in my own world. I had no idea that one day I would become a best-selling author.

  Other than shopping for food or necessities, I haven’t been around this many people in a long time. I have spent so many years alone. Ever since I lost my parents and sister in a car accident, I haven’t really been spending very much time with other people. What would happen if I let myself get close to someone, and end up losing them too? I didn’t want to risk it.

  Sometimes I feel alone. This feeling of loneliness has increased lately, and I often find myself wishing that I had someone to talk to, or even to spend time with. I had left all my friends behind, and took off to this town where nobody knew me. I rarely leave my apartment. The only person that I let get close to me in years was my doorman, Thomas. He’s a sweet guy who always makes sure that I have everything I need. He always tells me how he hates to see me so sad. I always shrug it off, and tell him that I’m fine.

  There was something about these women. They were close, and I don’t think I have ever felt that close with anyone except my sister. By the way that they talked to each other, they seemed more like siblings than friends.

  This was the sixth birthday that I had spent alone. I’m twenty-six, and before you ask; yes, I am still a virgin. I know that instead of expecting Mr. Right to come knocking on my door to sweep me off my feet, I should actually go out and socialize. That is, unless I wanted to take a chance on the way-too-young-for-me pizza delivery boy which is definitely not happening.

  When I had looked out the window to the backyard, and had seen all those men standing outside talking and laughing with each other; I will admit, I got scared. I mean, all these guys look like they should be in a magazine that I would totally buy without any shame. I felt so out of place. I’m not exactly ugly, but I have never felt sexy. I have curves, and I am proud to admit that. I like food, so what? At a size eighteen, I have made myself believe that there is no way that one of those guys outside would give me the time of day. Right now, I am wearing jean shorts and a red top that has one shoulder showing. It’s nothing sexy or revealing. I didn’t leave my house today with the intention of meeting people who I hoped would be my new friends, and I especially didn’t dress for the part of meeting a slew of chiselled men.

  The girls finally drag me outside, and I learn the names of all the men. Wow, there are a lot. They all say “hi” except for one. He stares at me without saying a word. He has light brown hair, light brown eyes, and a strong jaw with some scruff that works well on him. He also has a big build. I can tell that he works out a lot. The muscles this guy is packing is seriously making me drool. Anyone want to fetch me a bucket for the drool? No joke, he is that hot. He is tall, too. I would say about six feet, four inches which is tall compared to me as I am only five feet, six inches. I think that this guy will definitely become a regular in my fantasies. I didn’t know what was going on with the way he was staring at me. I couldn’t tell if he wanted me here or not. The look in his eyes was intense.

  The women pull me over to one of the patio sets and sit me down. There are two sets right up against each other in a long line. Wow, I guess they did need both tables for all the people that they have here. The next thing I know, a strawberry daiquiri is in front of me. I look up at the person who gave it to me, and it is Sam, the guy with the intense gaze. He gives me a nod, and walks over to the grill to talk to the guys standing over there. I guess he doesn’t say much. I still can’t help the blush that comes over my face. I hope no one notices that he made me blush without looking at me. That would be embarrassing.

  “So, Claire, how old are you turning anyway?” Courtney asks.

  “Oh, I am twenty-six today,” I tell them as I take a sip of my drink. Wow, this drink is good, and it doesn’t have too much alcohol in it.

  “Well I hope that this birthday will be one to remember,” Tara says to me as they raise their glasses in the air to give me cheers. I smile at the friendliness that I feel coming off these women.

  “Hey, what are we toasting to?” one of the guys comes up to us asking. I think his name is Kyle?

  “Claire here. It’s her birthday today,” Paige says.

  “What! It’s your birthday? What are you doing with a bunch of strangers?” another guy asks. Wow, too many names to remember.

  “Liam!!” Courtney exclaims glaring at the guy. I hear an “Oomph,” so I’m guessing that someone has elbowed him in the stomach.

  Thinking that I might as well get this out of the way, I blow out a breath, and then say, “I am here because these lovely women have invited me after finding out that I have no one. No boyfriend, husband, friends, or family. When these girls saw me in the grocery store buying every kind of flavour of cake for my birthday, they seemed to decide that there was no way that I was spending my birthday alone. Now that it’s out of the way, can we not discuss anything sad about my life right now? It is my birthday after all.” I slap my hand over my mouth in shock. Wow, I can’t believe I did that. Being upfront is something that the old me would have done when someone was being nosy. I would just give it to them straight. Usually out of annoyance or frustration, I tended to blurt out what I was thinking. I haven’t done that in a while, but I also haven’t been around this many people for a very long time.

  I look up at everyone, and the guys have their mouths open in shock. The girls are smiling at me nodding their heads in approval.

  “I think she is going to fit right in with us,” Tara tells everyone.

  “You girls are just looking for more warriors for your side,” the guy who I think is Cole, because he looks like the Liam dude only with different colored eyes, says.

  I look at them in confusion, but I don’t say anything.

  Paige looks at me, and states, “we don’t need warriors, but it does help.”

  “I’m afraid to ask. Warriors for what?” I look over at every one. The gir
ls have a look of amusement on their faces, and the guys are glaring back at them.

  Courtney clears her throat, so I look at her for the explanation. “Well, it’s like this,” she starts. “We women have taken it upon ourselves to mess with these guys from time to time. They had finally retaliated against us a couple months ago, so you must be warned if you spend any more time here. You will be automatically on team girl.”

  “Okay… So what did you do to the guys so far?” I ask. This sounds a little bit weird, but also interesting. It shows me that they like to have fun.

  They tell me everything that has happened between all of them over the months. They all laugh at it, so I know that it is all just in good fun. I know that I could think of a few things that I would do if I were them. Hey, you never know, maybe I will be.

  Chapter Two

  Sam

  I was outside with my brothers and the Johnson brothers when Trevor had got a text from Paige saying that they had someone else joining them. They also said something about daiquiris, but I never paid much attention.

  The moment that she walked into my line of site, I noticed her. She’s got curves in all the right places. I had looked inside when I heard the girls, and I had seen them pushing Claire towards the back yard. She looked scared when she had noticed all of us guys standing outside. I could tell that she was shaking from here. She was curvy. I always loved the curves of a woman. I love grabbing onto a curvy girl’s hips when I am taking her from behind, and observe the fullness of her breasts when they are bouncing in my face. The softness of a curvy woman is something that I have always been attracted to.

  I look at Claire, and she is fucking stunning. I swear, I instantly got hard just from looking at her. The blush on her cheeks when I handed her a drink was almost too much for me. I would love to see how far that blush goes. She’s sitting here talking and laughing with my family like she has known them for a long time, like she has always been there. Tara is right, she fits. I don’t know if that makes me happy or scared.

  Trevor and Derek have both said that when the right woman comes along, you no longer want, or can think about anyone else but her. We all laughed at them, but I think maybe they might have been right. The instant that I saw her, I knew that I didn’t want anyone else, only her. Trevor felt that way when he had first been with Paige. You could see how far gone he was just from one look at her.

  “Hey brother, you might want to quit the staring before you freak her out.” Liam says and nudges me with his elbow. I glare at him.

  “I’m not staring,” I say. Okay I am, but I will not admit that.

  “You kind of are,” Trevor says with an amused smile. I know what he’s thinking. Asshole.

  “Maybe I was looking at Paige.” I smirk at him. He narrows his eyes at me, and Liam starts laughing gaining more attention.

  “Maybe we should all stare at Paige?” I say loudly.

  Liam, Cole, Derek and I all look at Paige to piss off Trevor. He gets pretty protective of her which makes us want to bug him more for it.

  I see Court nudge her and point to us, and Paige looks at us with, no doubt, creepy leers since she sees us all as brothers.

  “Would you guys quit trying to piss him off?” she says as she rolls her eyes. I see the smile on her face, so I know that she isn’t really mad or creeped out. Paige walks up to him, and he automatically puts an arm around her shoulder like he has to tell us that he belongs to her. We all laugh at him. He knows that we wouldn’t bother doing anything, or trying anything with her.

  Don’t get me wrong, Paige is curvy, and I like curvy women. Paige wasn’t as curvy as Claire though. I look at Claire, and I can see the innocence that comes off of her. I would guess that she hasn’t been touched in a long time, if ever. I can’t help feeling like a dick because that makes me want her more. She has either had little experience or none, and I hope that she hasn’t had any because I would love to be the guy to teach her everything; to be the only guy to know what she looks like when she finally lets go.

  I am looking at her now without any shame because I no longer care who catches me doing it. She looks over at me, probably feeling someone’s eyes on her, and blushes. Fuck, I am so fucked.

  “And another one bites the dust,” Liam mutters so that only I can hear. I look at him and narrow my eyes.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I state. The asshole just smirks at me.

  “So, is there anything special that you want to do? It’s your birthday after all,” Paige asks her. Please say me. Please say me, I chant in my head.

  “We can play a game?” she asks. Everyone stiffens automatically. Fuck, the last time that we played a game with Paige, I think that we were afraid for Kyle’s life.

  “Anything except Pictionary!” Cole groans.

  Everyone snickers, and Paige glares at Cole. “What the fuck is wrong with Pictionary? I mean, the last game went great if you ask me,” she says innocently like she wasn’t ready to beat Kyle to death for not guessing a turtle when the thing looked like a rat the last time we played.

  “Are you competitive or something?” Claire asks innocently. I think the alcohol is making her talk since she has spent the last hour being quiet.

  “No, these fools just don’t know what they are talking about,” Paige says as she glares at everyone. We all laugh.

  Claire looks so confused. It’s cute.

  “How about a game of charades? Anyone have a problem with that game?” Claire asks.

  “No, we haven’t played that one together yet. Let’s give it a shot.” I tell everyone while looking at Claire the whole time. I’m probably starting to come off as creepy, but, fuck, I can’t take my eyes off her.

  “First, let’s eat. I’m starving. Then we will play the games because we all know that once Paige starts to get into the games, we won’t have another chance to eat!” Courtney states. Paige glares at her.

  “Alright, get up and cook my steak, bitches,” Cole says as he puts his hands behind his head, and has the nerve to look smug.

  “Fuck, you are lucky that you can’t cook worth shit, Cole!” I grumble at him.

  “Get on it. I’m starving,” Courtney says eyeing the grill with wide eyes, and moving her head in a weird way. It’s like she’s trying to get me to read her mind or something.

  Trevor, Noah, and I get up and grab the steaks to put on the grill. Liam, Derek, and Luke start making all the sides. Cole and Kyle are making drinks for the girls. The girls are sitting around the table outside with a cake in the middle, and they each have their own fork. They’re all talking and laughing. I mostly concentrate on Claire’s laugh. I could stand here all day and listen to her laugh. I am lost in thought when something comes across my mind.

  “Motherfucker,” I grumble. Noah and Trevor, who were in a conversation about I don’t know what because I really wasn’t listening, stop and turn to me raising their eye brows.

  “What’s gotten into you?” Trevor asks.

  I point to the girls. “They got all of us cooking or making them drinks like a bunch of pussies while they sit there, kick back, and eat fucking cake! How in the fuck did they do that?”

  They take a second and look at everyone. Once they notice how the girls aren’t doing anything, they look at me with wide eyes. All I do is nod in confirmation.

  “Hey, how come the men got stuck doing everything while you ladies kick back eating cake and drinking daiquiris?” Noah asks loud enough for everyone to stop what they are doing and look around.

  “Bec-” Courtney starts, but Paige quickly slaps a hand over her mouth. No doubt she was going to say something to offend us.

  “Because, big brother, we made a new friend, and we are just trying to get to know her. You guys, being the best men ever, took the opportunity to let us get to know her since she’s obviously shy around you guys,” Paige says batting her eyelashes while Tara smiles sweetly at us giving a little wave.

  Fuck, they are good. I decide to let it
slide since I want Claire to feel comfortable spending more time with us than just tonight. I can tell by how shy she is that it’s going to take more than one night to get close to her.

  Everyone seems content with that answer. I don’t think anyone wants to bring Claire out of her comfort zone. Well, not just yet anyway.

  We cook the food, and all take our places at the table. Paige and Trevor share a chair since we don’t have any room for Claire. Not that Paige was thinking of sitting anywhere but on Trevor’s lap anyway. Tara is always sitting on Derek’s lap, and Paige is always sitting on Trevor’s. A part of me has been envious of my brothers. They have these great women. Its obvious that Tara and Paige don’t see anyone else but them, and the same goes for my brothers. They have also accepted and embraced our close family. We just made it bigger by adding Paige’s family.

  Paige found out a few months ago that she had brothers. She had been kept a secret from them. Her parents treated her like a dirty little secret. While Paige got money and material possessions, her brothers got the love and family that Paige had always wanted. Thinking about it makes me so fucking angry. Paige is a wonderful person, and perfect for my brother in so many ways.

  The second that Trevor saw her, he was a goner. We could all see it in his eyes. Shit, it’s probably the same look that I have at this moment sitting here next to Claire. I’m fighting so hard to keep my hands to myself. I want to grab her, and pull her to my lap where she belongs.

  Derek also seemed to be a goner the second he had seen Tara. We had met Tara when we helped Paige move Tara into Paige’s house after her asshole of a boyfriend cheated on her. Who would cheat on a person as great as Tara? Sure, she rambles, but I think that’s part of her charm. That’s what made us instantly like her. Whenever she’s backed into a corner, or embarrassed, she goes on these rants. You never know what’s going to come out of her mouth. The only thing that you will know is that it will be the truth.