The Harder You Fall Read Online Free PDF Page B

evil. “That’ll make our win today a thousand times sweeter.”
    â€œExactly. Show no mercy.” West adjusted the air vents, ensuring blasts of heat reached the backseat. “After we wipe the field with their faces, they’ll be knocked out of this year’s play-offs.”
    â€œTrash talk already.” Jase nodded his approval. “I raised you boys right.” A beep from his phone. He checked the screen and cursed.
    â€œWhat?” West and Beck demanded in unison.
    Jase rubbed the back of his neck. “Brook Lynn will be late to the game.”
    Such an extreme reaction over so little? As if the guy couldn’t go half a day without seeing his girl?
    If West ever dated Jessie Kay—
    Are you kidding me? Could he not go one day, one hour, without thinking about her? Without hating her and craving her, practically foaming-at-the-mouth eager to get his hands on her. To shake her and learn her... And anything else that came to mind.
    â€œJase, my man, I love you. I really do.” West turned on his blinker before changing lanes. “But codependency is an ugly bitch.”
    Beck reached out to pat Jase on the shoulder. “What he said is true, but it doesn’t matter. Bitches adore us.”
    Very true. Young, old, single or married, females simply couldn’t get enough, bad boys like Beck and Jase their kryptonite. West attracted his fair share of attention, but never in droves. The multitude must suspect he wasn’t just a bad boy; he was damaged beyond repair.
    When he reached the arena, he parked in back, grabbed his duffel and beat feet inside, the frigid air like needles against his skin, smelling of car exhaust and burning wood rather than wild strawberries, a scent that somehow pervaded Strawberry Valley even in winter. A scent that had somehow come to represent home.
    When Jase had voiced a desire for a fresh start in a small town with wide-open spaces and the sense of community he’d never gotten in foster care, West had panicked. Leave his penthouse apartment? His routine? Never! Except at the behest of his friends. Then he’d do both in an instant. He owed Jase and Beck his life, and by all that was holy, he would pay his debt.
    Always better to be the lender rather than the borrower.
    At first, he’d hated Strawberry Valley. Residents considered his personal life a reasonable topic of conversation, and his bank balance open to public scrutiny. And yet, those same residents had had Jase’s back at a time when anyone else would have chased him off with pitchforks and torches.
    Now there was nowhere else West would rather live.
    A few feet past the door, he drew up short, feeling as if he’d just been punched in the chest.
    No. Please, no.
    Jessie Kay was here.
    She and Harlow stood in line at the concession stand, completely unaware of the crowd of drooling men staring at them, some of those men basically pawing at the ground like bulls about to charge.
    Little wonder. Harlow had hair so black it gleamed blue and eyes the color of a morning sky. She was a Disney princess come to life. And considering her love of romance novels, the description couldn’t have been more perfect. Meanwhile, Jessie Kay was the villain of the tale. The merciless evil queen so beautiful, so utterly flawless, her every movement and word so touched with black magic, she entranced everyone around her.
    It wasn’t just the skin that looked as soft as silk, or the waterfall of pale hair that begged for a man’s hands, or the eyes so deep and blue you drowned a thousand times with only a glance. It wasn’t even the lush, red lips made for sucking—and being sucked. It was the essence of her: pure, luscious seduction.
    Her hands danced through the air as she spoke to Harlow, her chest heaving. A succulent chest covered by a too-tight T-shirt that read “Goal Scout Deliveries Free Today Only.” Her jeans appeared painted on, and the cowgirl