Rodro's men were pushing past, were blundering with reeking weapons into the room to kill and take the princess away. Lai half stretched up from the princess's restraining arms. The room was empty of other life apart from Sir Fezius and the two knights now lifting their swords, ready to cut down Lai. A popping noise sounded like a drum bursting. A man appeared in the middle of the room. One moment he was not there; the next he stood there, holding a bulky stick in his arm, peering about with a white face. He said something that sounded like "Skeet." The next instant the room resounded with an avalanche roar and a hellfire blast of scorching flame.

GRIFFINI always felt I wasn't wired like my peers, but when my brother, Kellan, gave me three terms-ace, aromantic, and demi-I had possible names for it. Those three words have been on my mind ever since, as has my brother's best friend, Josh Westbrook. It's been cool getting to know him and spending time together, just us. He makes me feel something I never thought I'd be able to feel. When we end up alone in a cabin with only one bed, all my crossed wires finally connect and point toward being demi and wanting him.JOSHGriff and I were never supposed to be more than friends, but I like him more and more. I like being the reason he smiles, and...yeah, I enjoy making him writhe with pleasure too. But Griff doesn't hook up casually, and I swore off love a long time ago. Still, we keep finding ourselves drawn together, a shared loneliness and a deep want guiding us. Kellan's afraid I'll hurt Griff. Frankly, I am too. My past is still an open wound that keeps me from getting too close.One thing is becoming clear, though-my Grumpy Griff is making me break my own rules. He says he's never known his place in the world, but I do. It's with me. The only way for us to move forward is for me to stop looking back...before I lose sight of him for good.

KELLANI wasn't supposed to fall for my older brother's best friend. Unfortunately, that ship sailed when I was a teenager, even though Chase Hawthorne always treated me like nothing more than a younger sibling. Things were worse after my parents died. Chase was sweet and supportive, which only strengthened my feelings for him. But then he'd act like I couldn't take care of myself, and that part didn't go over well with me. Yeah, I had a habit of screwing up. I'd always been the weird boy in our small town, but just like my big brother, he took overprotective to a new level. Until one night when I was eighteen and Chase and I hooked up. It was a ding to the ego that he left town right afterward. Ridiculously, I'm still not over him.CHASEI betrayed my best friend, Griffin, the night I messed around with Kellan. So I ran-first to the Marines, then into law enforcement. Ten years later, I'm back home, this time as a patrol officer rather than a troublemaker's son. Oh, and unable to keep my hands off Kellan Caine. There's always been something about him...the way he stands strong in who he is, even when he's standing alone. I'm trapped between someone I want more than anything and Griff, the guy who's like family to me. Yet the more time I spend with Kellan, the harder it becomes to deny there's something real between us.With my dad stirring up trouble, and me going behind my best friend's back, everything's a mess. The more tangled the web gets, the more I realize I need Kellan. And that there might be something in the Hawthorne family history that'll make me lose both Kellan and Griffin for good.