This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
No part of this work may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.
Published by Kindle Press, Seattle, 2018
Amazon, the Amazon logo, Kindle Scout, and Kindle Press are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.
Contents
Start Reading
Chapter One – Gunner
Chapter Two – Gunner
Chapter Three – Jeff
Chapter Four – Gunner
Chapter Five – Josh
Chapter Six – Gunner
Chapter Seven – Gunner
Chapter Eight – Jeff
Chapter Nine – Gunner
Chapter Ten – Jeff
Chapter Eleven – Gunner
Chapter Twelve – Jeff
Chapter Thirteen – Josh
Chapter Fourteen – Gunner
Chapter Fifteen – Gunner
Chapter Sixteen – Jeff
Chapter Seventeen – Gunner
Chapter Eighteen – Gunner
Chapter Nineteen – Gunner
Chapter Twenty – Jeff
Chapter Twenty-One – Jeff
Chapter Twenty-Two – Gunner
Chapter Twenty-Three – Jeff
Chapter Twenty-Four – Gunner
Chapter Twenty-Five – Jeff
Chapter Twenty-Six – Jeff
Chapter Twenty-Seven – Gunner
Chapter Twenty-Eight – Jeff
Chapter Twenty-Nine – Jeff
Chapter Thirty – Josh
For those of...
Dear readers,
This book is a new addition to the Wanted series. It is not a stand-alone book and you must read at least Wanted for the end of the book to make any sense! If you don’t you may feel like the story is a bit “unfinished.”
I wrote this book to give the Wanted series fans a sneak peek into the world of the Wanted guys before they fell in love. It’s simply a fun addition to the series and one I hope you enjoy!
If you choose not to read Wanted first, please know that there will be spoilers in this book from book one of the series . . . just giving you a heads-up!
Happy reading, and welcome to Gunner, Jeff, and Josh’s world before Ellie, Ari, and Heather.
Chapter One – Gunner
“Do you see his eyes?”
“Do you see his body? I don’t think he realizes how hot he actually is.”
Glancing up, I took in the two moms standing there on the sidelines of their sons’ Little League baseball practice. The one waved her fingers at me, and I forced a smile back and said, “Ma’am, y’all do realize I can hear everything you’re saying. If I can hear, the boys can hear it.”
Their faces turned as red as their kids’ T-shirts. Both turned and walked over to the bleachers and sat.
With a sigh, I focused back on the kids. Practice was almost over, and I’d be meeting Jeff and Josh right after.
Thank fuck. I was ready for this day to end.
“Mathews! Round them up!” Coach Adams called out.
I clapped my hands and called for the team to huddle up. “Come on, y’all . . . huddle up time.”
We got in a huddle, and Coach Adams leaned in. “Wednesday is game day. What are we going to do?”
They all yelled, “Have fun! Play hard!”
“Yes! In that order,” Coach said.
Coach leaned in more. “What are we going to do when the parents start yelling from the stands?”
I had to force myself not to laugh. Coach Adams couldn’t stand it when the parents screamed and yelled for him to do things a certain way. It was Little League baseball, and he wanted the boys to enjoy the game first off and winning the game secondly.
“Listen to Coach only!” they all yelled out together.
“Coach Mathews, will you be there?”
Damn. My heart melted as little Robbie looked up at me. “Of course I’ll be there.”
They all cheered. As much as I would have loved to volunteer for Pop Warner coaching, it didn’t work with my own football schedule at the University of Texas, so I did Little League baseball. I enjoyed volunteer work, and our own football coach insisted we do it, so it wasn’t that big a deal for me to work it into my schedule.
I glanced over my shoulder and saw a small group of moms standing there watching. I was pretty positive they were staring at my ass. When one of them walked up and slapped my ass last week, I nearly choked on my own damn tongue.
The one mom waved again.
Focusing back on the team, I listened to Coach telling the boys they did a great job today and to go home and eat a good healthy meal.
“All hands in!” he shouted as we piled our hands on each other.
“Go, Vipers!” was shouted out as we lifted our hands and clapped. The boys all scurried off as Coach and I started to get things picked up.
“You ever get tired of them women falling all over you, Mathews?”
I took a chance to peek back out toward the moms.
“All the time, sir. Some don’t even care that their husbands are standing next to them when they do it.”
He laughed, pulled me to a stop, and looked at me. “I’m pretty positive that if you wanted to, you’d be having a different girl every day. Hell, twice a day . . . but don’t be that guy.”
I nodded my head. “I’m not, Coach.”
“Good. Because someday there is going to be a woman who makes you stop in your tracks and has your breath trying to find its way out, and all those women you slept with will disappear in the blink of an eye. Part-time pleasure ain’t worth a long-time love.”
I laughed. “Part-time pleasure?”
“Sure. You get to have them in your bed for a little bit, but how do you feel when they’re gone?”
“The same as before they were in my bed.”
“Exactly. Don’t let your dick run your life, and for fuck’s sake, wrap it all the time. You’ve got a promising future ahead of you, Gunner. Don’t mess it up by getting some one-night stand pregnant.”
I chuckled again. “Yes, sir. I won’t.”
“What can I get ya to drink, handsome?”
“Hey, Patty, I’ll have the Harp Lager.”
“Your boys meeting you? Should I wait on your dinner order?”
I nodded. “Yes, please.” She winked and headed back toward the bar.
Patty was a pretty woman, with bright red hair that she always wore up in a bun on the top of her head. If I had to guess, she was in her midthirties. Happily married to her husband, John, for six years. She made that clear the first time Josh hit on her.
“What’s up, Mathews?” Josh said, slapping me on the back.
I sighed. “Not much. You?”
Josh signaled for Patty. She would already know he wanted a Guinness.
“Long damn day. I thought that after football season, things would slow down.”
Laughing, I shook my head. “You out late last night or something?”
“I wish! I can’t even blame this one on a hookup. Shit’s just insane right now.”
“Tell me about it,” I mumbled.
“What’s up, gentlemen?”
Josh and I both watched as Jeff sat down and let out a long sigh.
“Long day for you too?” I asked.
“Nah, just issues at home, that’s all.”
“Your hot sister you won’t let us near giving you hell?” Josh asked.<
br />
“Fuck you, Hayes. You ever come within three feet of my sister, Ellie, and I’ll crack your skull open and eat your brains.”
Josh and I both snarled our lips.
“Goddamn. You give new meaning to the words protective brother,” Josh finally said with a laugh.
I’d only ever seen Ellie from a distance. Jeff had put one picture of her out once when we’d first moved in together. I made one comment about how cute she was, and that was it. No more pictures of Ellie. No meeting Ellie, no being home when she stopped by the house. She was off-limits. Ellie did, however, glance up at me from the front porch of her mom’s house a few weeks back. The only thing I could remember were her eyes. Her blue eyes haunted me for a few days after that.
I shook my head to erase the memory and pulled out my phone. I sniffed the air and frowned. Taking in a few more sniffs, I asked, “What in the hell is that smell?”
Josh followed and jerked his head back. “Smells like dog shit.”
Jeff lifted one foot and then the other. “Ah, damn it. I must have stepped in it.”
He got up from the table and headed outside.
“Where’s he going? Leaving?” Patty asked as she set down our drinks.
“Stepped in dog shit again.”
She rolled her eyes. “He want his usual, ya think?”
“Yeah, I’m sure he does,” Josh answered.
Jeff’s beer was waiting for him when he walked back in. He must have walked to his truck and changed into his sneakers because the awful smell was gone.
“Dude, as long as you’ve been volunteering at the shelter, when will you learn not to step in shit?” I asked as Jeff sat.
Jeff had been volunteering at the Town Lake Animal Shelter for a while now. I hadn’t ever really known him to love dogs, and I had a feeling there was a girl behind it, but I never pushed it and asked.
“I took four dogs for a walk on the trail. Do you know how many women that attracts? I have a harder time trying to control them than I do the dogs!”
Josh and I both laughed.
“What is it with women lately? One lady actually grabbed my ass before she took off running again. One tried to give me her number to take her dog for a walk, and another asked me if I took care of pussies . . . as in pussycats!” Jeff frowned. “At least I think that’s what she was talking about. Hell, I’m not even sure anymore.”
We lost it laughing again.
Josh shook his head. “Trust me, dude. She wasn’t talking about her cat!”
Patty came back over to get our order. Once she walked away, I let out a sigh and said, “I’d rather have some hot jogger hit on me than a bunch of moms.”
“At it again, are they?” Jeff asked with a wide smile.
I shook my head. “They talk like I’m not within earshot. I don’t get it. One asked me if I would please start wearing baseball pants to practice . . . with her husband standing right there! Of course his nose was buried in his phone, and he didn’t hear a damn thing she said.”
“Are any of them good-looking?” Josh asked after taking a bite of his burger.
I half shrugged. “Yeah, some are pretty hot actually.”
“They’re lonely; clearly their husbands don’t give a shit about them . . . Flirt back with them, but don’t fuck ’em,” Josh stated.
Staring at him, I replied, “I would never fuck them. Christ, Josh.”
“Have a little fun with them. All they want is a little bit of attention, and if getting it from a young dude gets them hot and bothered, what’s the harm? They might actually jump their old man when he gets home from work. Could be good for their marriage.”
Jeff shot Josh a dirty look. “So let me get this straight. You’re married to a hot chick. She flirts with a younger guy and gets off on it and then fucks you when you get home, but you know she’s actually thinking about the young guy who she really wants to be screwing. You’re okay with that?”
With his brows pinched together, Josh pointed to Jeff. “First off, I’m not getting married. Second, if I was married, fuck no, I wouldn’t be okay with that. Besides, I know how to please a woman. My wife wouldn’t be flirting with Gunner. She’d only have eyes for me.”
Jeff and I both laughed.
“I don’t know what’s funnier, picturing you married and with one woman or your future wife flirting with Gunner,” Jeff said.
Josh gave Jeff the finger. “Neither will ever happen, so this conversation has turned stupid.”
Josh’s phone buzzed. Pulling it out of his pocket, he smiled.
“You got a date you’re gonna blow us off for?” Jeff asked.
“Nah, it’s my little brother. He’s asking if we can go for pizza this weekend. Y’all feel like going to Dave and Buster’s with me this weekend? I think Dominic would love it there.”
“I don’t have any plans,” I said, looking over to Jeff. “You got plans?”
“Sunday afternoon. I need to help them at the animal shelter repair a couple of pens.”
Patty walked up and asked if we needed anything. We all smiled and replied with a no.
Josh smiled at me and Jeff. “Perfect. I’m sure Dom’s mom will be okay with Saturday, say around six.”
“Six works for me,” I said as I took a bite of food.
Jeff lifted his beer. “Then here is to spending a Saturday night with a ten-year-old kid.”
We all paused, laughed, then clinked our drinks together.
Chapter Two – Gunner
“Hey there, Gunner.”
I paused on the treadmill and forced a grin at Crysti. “Hey, Crysti, how’s it going?”
She licked her lips slowly while letting her eyes roam across my body.
“It’s going. I didn’t know you worked out here.”
I glanced around the workout center. “Well, I do go to school here, so . . .”
Her fake laugh almost caused me to roll my eyes.
“It’s Saturday, though. I didn’t think I’d see you on campus.”
I winked. “You caught me sneaking in a workout.”
She fake laughed again, and I internally groaned.
“Jemma’s been hinting around to a possible double date with you and Jeff.”
That caught my attention. What in the hell is Jeff up to? He’d been trying for a year to get into Jemma’s pants, and if he thought this would do it, he’d drag me into hell with him.
Lifting my brows, I asked, “Is that right? News to me.”
She jetted her lip out and pouted. “Oh, come on. Don’t be such a party pooper. I know we’d have . . . fun.”
I wanted nothing more than to tell Crysti her idea of fun was not the same as mine.
Hitting the speed, I started running faster, making it harder for Crysti to talk to me.
“Well, I’ll see you around!” she called out.
With a wave, I pushed my earbuds back in. Fucking hell. A campus the size of UT, and I have to keep running into this chick.
My phone buzzed, causing me to glance down at it.
Jeff.
Jeff: I need a favor.
Turning down the speed, I picked up my phone.
Me: Why does this feel like I’m about to be tortured with an evening of Crysti and Jemma?
Jeff: Dude, how did you know?
Me: Ran into Crysti. The answer is no.
Jeff: Gunner, dude, I need this girl to help me in a class. The only way she’ll help me is to go out with her.
Me: Wait. You don’t want to just fuck her?
Jeff: That hurts. That really hurts. This is Jeff, dickhead . . . not Josh.
I laughed and shook my head.
Me: Are you failing the class?
Jeff: Almost.
Me: Fine. But you will owe me. Big-time.
Jeff: I would bow down and kiss your damn shoes right now if I could.
Letting out a sigh, I sped up the treadmill again. I couldn’t help but notice Crysti across the way talking to another guy. I watched her as she p
ulled out her phone, read a message, and jumped for joy. She turned my way and flashed me a huge smile.
I did the only thing I could do: I smiled back.
“Oh, he is going to owe me so fucking big,” I mumbled under my breath.
Walking into the house, I slammed the door behind me.
“Before you say anything, it was torturous for me too,” Jeff said.
“Really?” I asked. “Because at one point, I swear to God, Jemma was jerking you off under the table.”
Jeff laughed. “That was me pushing her hand away from my junk every five seconds. Christ almighty, the girl had six hands.”
“Yeah, well, lucky you. I just kept getting a damn tongue shoved down my ear.” I shuddered. “At one point I was pretty sure she was going to offer me head under the table.”
Jeff grabbed a beer, walked back to the sofa, and dropped down on it.
“Damn. I’m tired of this game.”
Popping the lid off my beer, I asked, “And what game is that?”
“The women. I mean I’ve gone out with some nice girls, don’t get me wrong. Just no one I want to keep going out with.”
I lifted my beer.
“It’s too easy get them into bed, and those are the kind that I don’t want in my bed. At least not all the time.”
Shaking my head, I grinned.
“Is this what it’s going to be like from now on?”
With a shrug, I replied, “I don’t know. Is there anyone you’ve got your eye on that is keeping the interest down on all the others out there?”
Jeff paused for a second, almost as if he was thinking about how he wanted to answer me. When he gave me his answer, I knew he was lying through his teeth.
“Fuck no. There isn’t anyone I’m interested in.”
I thought about pressing him harder but stopped when my phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Gunner? Gunner Mathews?”
Sitting up straight, I replied, “Speaking.”
“Hi! This is Macey Williams. Bryce Williams is my son, and you help coach his Little League team.”
I rolled my eyes. How in the fuck did this lady get my number?
“Yes, ma’am, how can I help you?”