My Sister's Flirty Friend
by Piper Rayne
Self-Published
Book 4 in The Greene Family Series
I broke the cardinal rule and slept with my sister’s best friend.
Granted, I’d just found out that I was now a single father to a three-year-old little girl and was low on willpower.
It should also be noted that there’s been sexual tension between us for years. There’s no way it would be a surprise if anyone in our small town found out. That is if we were telling people, which we’re not.
We’re in agreement to keep our affair a secret, especially since neither one of us do relationships.
You’ve probably figured it out already, but things didn’t go as planned.
Genre:
My Sister's Flirty Friend surprised me!
I wasn't sure I was going to like Jed's book.
Not because I don't like Jed. I love his sense of humor in the other books.
I think it was a combination of not really vibing with the last book, and not really feeling the chemistry between Molly and him in the other books.
I get it. The other books weren't about them, so of course I didn't feel the chemistry. But I feel the chemistry for Chevelle and Cam, and I don't think their book is until the very end of the series.
Anyway.
The Greene Summer Bash novella actually takes place smack in the middle of Jed's story, where we find out that Jed is now the single father of a three year old little girl he had no idea existed. My Sister's Flirty Friend goes back a few weeks to how Jed finds out, and reacts.
Jed isn't perfect.
Piper Rayne wrote, what I think, is the most realistic reaction to this news I could think of.
A single man, who doesn't plan on ever having a wife or kids, finds out he has a daughter he never knew about. OF COURSE HE ISN'T HAPPY! OF COURSE HE STRUGGLES!
If you have ever been around a man who is struggling to come to terms that he will be/is responsible for another human being, you know it takes time.
Take my husband for instance. We were dating for 6 months - 6 months! - when I got pregnant.
You know the possible consequences of sex is pregnancy, but until you see those two pink lines, it doesn't truly hit you.
I struggled. He struggled. He struggled a long time.
We were young - I was 18, and him 21 - and it took time.
So I was able to look past Jed's struggles with coming to terms to being a father, because I understood it wasn't a quick and done thing.
And it's not just accepting that you are a father - but bonding with a child you never knew.
My husband and me had an entire pregnancy to come to terms with our responsibilities. To bond with our babies.
Jed didn't have that. So yes, while it didn't paint Jed in the best light, but it was such a real reaction.
And it makes it all the more special at the end, when he figures his shit out, and works to build a relationship with his daughter.
As for the romance, I was pleasantly surprised. The chemistry was perfect between Molly and Jed, and their entire arc - from flirty friends, to friends with benefits, to more - worked.
I think one of the things I love most about this series - and The Bailey's - is that all the characters act like real people. It doesn't matter if it doesn't make the character always look good. It makes these books weirdly relatable. And hey, the romance is pretty good too!
Molly: “How are you holding up?”
Nikki looks blankly at her.
Nikki: “How does it look? If people thought I was a bitch before, they’re going to think I’m Cruella de Vil before this baby pops out.” After she’s finished serving them, they tip her. With her back to them, Molly tucks the twenty-dollar bill in her bra.
Jed: “What happened to the community pot?”
I jiggle the tip jar behind the counter.
Molly: “Once you’ve got a pair of tits that bring in a crisp twenty, I’ll be more than happy to split the tips.”
She smiles and moves over to my family’s table. I don’t want a relationship. Marriage isn’t for me. And I do want to stop wanting Jed Greene. Maybe I’ll be lucky and he’s a shitty lay.
Jed: “Deal,”
he says softly, his lips gently moving against my neck when he speaks.
Jed: “So I have permission to touch you?”
I shake my head and suck in a breath.
Molly: “Just fuck me, Jed.”
Jed: “With fervor.”
He bends and moves his shoulder into my stomach, carrying me upstairs fireman style. Yeah, I knew it was unlikely he’d be a shitty lay. I sit up and grab my clothes, quickly pulling up my leggings. My arms get tangled in my sports bra and my head goes into the armhole.
Molly: “Fuck.”
Jed: “Well, this is a switch. A woman running out on me,”
Jed says from somewhere behind me.
Molly: “Just help me with this,”
I say, trying to free myself of the damn bra, only to get more entwined.
Jed: “I don’t know, I could have my way with you like this.”
He flicks my nipple with his finger.
Jed: “Are you into BDSM?”
Molly: “Jed!” She jogged to catch up to me.
Nikki: “Wait. Listen. My brother is a douche. He uses people. Come back in, have pizza.”
Molly: “I don’t want him to see me,”
She smiled.
Nikki: “The best thing you can do is act as though it meant nothing to you. Plus, now that we’re friends, you’re forbidden from him anyway. Best torture ever.”
Molly: “We’re friends?”
She slid her arm through mine.
Nikki: “Yep, and I’m not taking no for an answer. My brother’s loss is my gain.” I glance at the Cadillac and see Midge asleep with her mouth open in the back seat.
Molly: “Um… what about Midge?”
They turn to look as if they forgot her.
Dori: “She’ll be fine. We cracked the windows.”
Dori smiles.
Molly: “She’s not a dog. It’s dark and—”
Ethel: “This is Lake Starlight.”
Ethel shrugs.
Molly: “Even so, it’s tourist season.”
I look at Midge again. She looks very comfortable leaned against the window, and the windows are indeed cracked open. Dori pulls out her phone.
Dori: “I’ll call Sheriff Miller and have him do some drive-bys. Does that appease you?”
Molly: “Sure…” Fisher: “I thought you were done thinking only about yourself. But as soon as the perfect life you thought you had gets messy, you’re back to being the boy you once were and not the man you’d become.” Midge: "I was coming back from Earl’s.”
Ethel eyes her.
Ethel: “I can see that. Straighten out your blouse. I hope you’re using condoms.”
Midge waves her off.
Midge: “Don’t worry about me.”
Ethel: “You’re not too old to get an STD!”
she yells after Midge before ushering me toward her apartment. A knock on the front window drags me out of my thoughts. When I look up, Nikki’s at the glass, scowling and obviously annoyed. Great. This should be fun. After walking through the brewery, I unlock and open the front door. She barrels through without even a hello.
Nikki: “What is wrong with you?”
I lock the door behind her.
Jed: “Well, hello to you too. How is the pregnancy going? Let me grab a case of beer for poor Logan.” Molly: “This isn’t going to be behind closed doors. Anything I suggest needs to be incorporated by everyone who watches her—Marla, Fisher, you, and whoever else. It’s not just a me and Emilia thing.”
Jed: “I’ll do anything to help her. Name it.”
She inhales and I do too, our eyes locked.
Molly: “And whatever happened between us stays in the past. This is strictly me helping you and Emilia. No after-hours lessons for Daddy.” Molly: “You’re not your dad, Jed,”
I meet her gaze.
Jed: “And you’re not your mom, Molly.” Molly: “You know nothing about Jed, so you have no right to speak about him like that. Especially since he did me a huge solid by being at this dinner so I didn’t have to endure it by myself. And if you want to throw stones, I have boulders of bad shit I can start rolling down the hill. What do you think it was like going to school and having someone come up to me to accuse you of ruining their family because you slept with their father? Or having a classmate joke that they’d slept with you and me never really being sure whether it was true or not?”
I snatch my napkin from my lap and toss it on the table before I stand.
Molly: “Keep his name out of your mouth.”
I finish off my wine with a dramatic flair and slam the glass down.
Molly: “Congratulations, you two. Try to do better with this one, Mom.” Molly: “Well, Jed Greene, how does it feel to be a father?”
I hold my phone to his mouth like a microphone. He chuckles and shakes his head.
Jed: “Damn good.”
He leans back on the wall with me.
Jed: “I never thought it’d feel like this… I can’t even describe the feeling. It’s like pride that she’s mine, a protectiveness over her safety and emotions. How is it that I can’t wait until she wakes up in the morning to see what the next day will bring?”
He stares at me, looking dumbfounded. That’s all it takes for the deal to be sealed. Jed Greene has ruined me for any other man. As stupid as it is, and it is stupid, I’ve fallen in love with him. Jed: “This is Olive and her husband, Bert. Olive doesn’t like beer, so I told her to try the seltzer, and Bert wants a beer.”
We each pour a sample for them.
Molly: “Nice to meet you. How long have you been married?”
Bert shrugs.
Bert: “Too long.”
He laughs as if it’s a joke, and Olive pins her eyes on him as though she wants to strangle him.
Olive: “Fifty-seven years,”
she says with a sharp nod.
Olive: “This fool took forever to propose. All my friends were having babies and this guy waited until I almost accepted a proposal from someone else.”
Bert: “I saw you give Isaac more than one.”
Bert nudges his cup toward Jed, ignoring his wife. Jed fills it. I roll my eyes at Jed, then turn back to the woman.
Molly: “Well, fifty-seven years is a long time. Congratulations.”
Olive sips the seltzer and cringes.
Olive: “Too bubbly.”
She sets it down.
Bert: “Don’t be rude, Olive,”
Bert says and downs her drink while holding his now empty cup out to Jed, who refills it again.
Molly: “Jed,”
I say, exasperated.
Bert: “See!”
Bert points an accusatory finger at me.
Bert: “Always nagging. Listen to me.”
He leans over the table, eyeing his wife who is now at the table for the bakery beside us.
Bert: “Don’t ever marry. The regular sex is great, but the nagging and complaining all the time.”
He shakes his head.
Bert: “Don’t do it to yourself.”
Dori: “Get out of here, Bert!”
Dori shouts from behind him, then nudges him to get moving.
Dori: “Do not tell other people your opinion because you’re a grumpy old man.” Fisher: “You know who you need to talk to first, right?”
he asks as I wait for him to finish his game. I groan.
Jed: “Nikki.”
Fisher: “Yep.”
Jed: “Do you have a jock I can borrow?”
He chuckles and glances at me for a moment.
Fisher: “Shit, you might need my Kevlar vest.”
Jed: “No shit.” Jed: “Not judging. I know nothing about what it’s like to carry a baby.”
She stops and rubs her belly.
Nikki: “It’s a blessing.”
She smiles, but it doesn’t come close to reaching her eyes.
Nikki: “But it’s hard to give up your body for nine months, and if I breastfeed, that’ll extend it. And then I have to think about the fact that if I do breastfeed, my breasts and my nipples won’t ever be the same and what if Logan doesn’t like them anymore? And I’m highly sensitive—”
I cover my ears.
Jed: “Oh my god, please stop.” Jed: “I love her, okay? And it scares me shitless. But I do. And sure, I love how she is with Emilia, and Emilia wants her to be her mom, which I’m sure Molly isn’t close to ready for. But that’s something we can figure out later on. I have to convince her to date me first. To trust me after I’ve hurt her and convince her that she’s loveable.”
A smile overtakes Nikki’s mouth and her eyes fill.
Nikki: “I’ve been waiting for you to come to me.”
Jed: “What are you, the Godfather?”
She’s acting like I should kiss her ring.
Nikki: “I wanted you to fight me for her. To show me you were worthy.” Nikki: “Now, let’s come up with a plan for you to win over my best friend.”
I smile.
Jed: “I have some ideas.”
She waves me off.
Nikki: “My ideas will be better.” Jed: “She’s clearly with child,”
Nikki: “With child? Did you just escape from Northern Lights?” I hand the bouquet of balloons back to Fisher.
Jed: “Looks like these are for you after all.”
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