All First Chapter Samples

“Are we there yet?” The laughter in Kevin’s eyes said he was teasing—and that he knew he was starting to get on my nerves.

I should’ve never made that offhand comment about him getting a spanking if he didn’t behave on the trip. So far he’d asked “Are we there yet?” a dozen times and asked me to pull over at every rest stop we’d seen.

I was starting to see why there were so many memes about road trips and children.

“If you don’t stop driving me crazy, I’m going to pull over at the next rest stop and get that plug out of my suitcase.” Kevin stilled at my threat, not sure how to respond.

He’d needed to be so good on trips when we were little that it was his first time getting to act out on a car ride. He was having the time of his life. Driving me nuts seemed to be the goal, but I thought he’d have fun being a pain in the ass about it even if I hadn’t reacted so entertainingly.

If I didn’t love Jeremy so much, I would have walked away and completely denied knowing him. Trailing after him as we wandered through the big bedding and bath store, I couldn’t help but shake my head. I might look like a puppy following his master, but Jeremy just seemed nuts.

The list was perfectly reasonable, especially for a planner like him. The fact that it was like two pages long was understandable considering we were starting college with almost nothing. Googling thread counts and debating different kinds of cotton was not.

It had to have something to do with how stressed Jeremy was and how much we still had to organize, but his obsession with sheets was starting to draw attention. I just wanted stupid brown sheets to go with the comforter I’d picked out. I didn’t care what they were made of or how long they’d last—I had high hopes that we’d wear them out quickly.

I’m not sure Jeremy cared either, but this seemed to be what he was focused on, so I tried not to roll my eyes as he asked me for like the thousandth time how I thought the higher thread count would wash.

“When we first met, did you ever picture we’d be sitting here like this?” I tore my focus away from Kevin and Bryan in the living room and glanced over to Maddox to see his reaction.

He was shaking his head and grinning. “The only thing I was thinking when I first met you was that I was hoping you hadn’t given Bryan a heart attack and that you guys seemed insane.”

I fought to keep my laughter quiet so I didn’t disturb the Scooby-Doo fest in the living room. Bryan and Kevin were both completely worn out from their first week back at classes and Maddox and I’d both decided they needed a night in to be little and just relax.

That usually meant cartoons and subtly stealing cookies.

“I can’t believe in a couple more days we’ll be ninth graders.” The excitement was clear in Gavin’s voice, but I just shook my head. Gavin couldn’t believe lots of things. Ten minutes ago, he couldn’t believe summer was almost here, and five minutes ago, he couldn’t believe Sara Maddison might like him.

“I’m not sure it really counts until the end of the summer.” I knew it didn’t count because that’s what Jeremy had said this morning.

Jeremy thought it was stupid and that you couldn’t claim the next grade until summer was actually over. So no matter what Gavin said, I knew it didn’t count. Unlike most big brothers who were lame and obnoxious, Jeremy knew everything.

Well, almost everything. There were a few things I was hoping Jeremy didn’t know. At least, not yet. Not until I was ready to tell Mom and Dad….Or until I knew what to tell them. I was afraid he’d already guessed, but he wasn’t the kind of brother who would go running to our parents.

“It’s not my fault!” Kevin’s screeching tone said he honestly believed what he was saying, but the way Bryan seemed to be chasing him through the house said he might be deluding himself.

They sounded like thunder and Kevin’s shriek as Bryan might’ve gotten close enough to grab him said chaos was quickly incoming.

“Do you know what he did?” Kevin had done something. He might’ve thought otherwise but that didn’t make it true.

Maddox was barely holding back laughter as he shrugged, but he managed to look like a serious Dom as the troublemakers ran into my office. Kevin nearly crashed into my desk as he made a last-minute strategic shift and aimed for Maddox. “Master Maddox, I didn’t do it.”

Oh, interesting.

“It’s a peanut butter sandwich. Honest. I just toasted it.” Kevin looked too earnest. He sincerely believed he could claim it as a sandwich.

“That’s two slices of chocolate cake with chocolate peanut butter between them.” There was no way in hell I’d let him claim that insanity as a sandwich.

He huffed then walked over to the doorway of the kitchen and called out. “Maddox, what’s the definition of a peanut butter sandwich?”

Laughter floated through the house, but the bastard gave Kevin exactly what he wanted.

“A traditional sandwich means two slices of a bread-type substance and a peanut-based filling. With or without a jelly-ish or sweet substance like honey or a banana.” Maddox’s voice carried through the house as he got closer.