The incessant ringing of my phone woke me up way too early. The soft light of dawn shone through my partially open curtains.

Whoever was calling me at this hour was going to lose either a mammary or some twig.

I answered without looking at the caller ID. "Someone had better be dying."

"And good morning to you, you salty little butter stick."

Yep. That would be my best friend Ava. And yes, she always talked like that.

"Butter stick? Is that the best you could come up with?"

"Oooo, and she is ready with claws out! Good for you, my adorable crumpet. Let's get those lady balls pumped up." Then Ava proceeded to hum 'Eye of the Tiger' at me through the phone.

I rolled onto my back and closed my eyes. "And what might I need my lady balls pumped up for, exactly?"

"Okay, so...there's this smoking hot mechanic that works down at Pete's. I have claimed his dipstick for my own, so I need you to come over and try to fix Mrs. Bixby, effectively breaking the poor girl, so I can have a reason to take her to Pete's which, in turn, ends with me letting him change my oil in the storage closet."

… not even going to ask.

"But that requires me leaving this bed. Can't you work your way into his overalls by yourself?"

"Definitely not! I'm not just going to break my own vehicle, Harper! Relationships shouldn't start with lies. So when I tell Mr. Rimjob that I have no idea what happened, I want it to be the truth. And that can only happen if you get your annoyingly scrumptious behind over here and play with Mrs. Bixby inappropriately. Don't taco block me, Harper. My oil hasn't been changed in way too long, and this guy looks like an expert. I need him to change my oil!"

When Ava got screamy, I figured out that I really didn't have a choice. She would not back down.

"Fine. I'll play with Bixby. But if this all blows up in your face, and not in the good way, I'm claiming sexual coercion and telling Mr. Rimjob that you bleat like a goat while you orgasm. And I won't even care that he'll question how I know that."

"Deal! See you in twenty!" And she hung up.

I reluctantly got out of my nice, warm bed and hopped in the shower. After washing and rinsing the basics, I dried off and wrapped the towel around all the important bits. My eyes caught my reflection in the mirror. Slight discoloration of the bruise variety shadowed my cheekbone. Great.

I dressed quickly and threw my damp hair up in a ponytail before throwing some concealer and foundation on to cover the bruising. Not the first time I've had to whip out the makeup.

When I'm satisfied everything looks normal, I grab my purse and my keys, head to the car and make my way to Ava and her craziness.

I pulled into her driveway, and she was already outside leaning against her silver Jeep. Her crazy brunette curls were bouncing around her face as she waited impatiently. She was really pulling out all the stops with her adorable pastel blue sundress and her new white Manolo's. And she had the crazy eyes going on.

"About time! That was closer to thirty minutes than twenty." I rolled my eyes as my door closed, and I walked closer to her. "Now, let's make with the fixing."

Ava popped the hood, and I tweaked, pulled and otherwise disorganized her precious Mrs. Bixby for a full half an hour. Then I tried to start it, to no avail.

"There. I've done my part." I turned around, heading for my car.

"No no! You can't leave! You're my wing woman! Or, at the very least, the one who will watch my poor Bixby while I talk that hottie into giving me an estimate I'll never forget. You can't abandon me now!"

Ugh.

So Ava called to have her vehicle towed to Pete's, then we followed the tow truck in my car.

As Ava yanked me out of the car, I couldn't help but wonder how my life got to this point.

"Oh my gosh, there he is!" Her finger pointed to a mop of dark hair, his chiseled back to us.

"Well, go talk to him. That's what we're here for."

She moved toward him, sashaying her hips a little too much as she did so. Mr. Rimjob must have felt her presence, because he turned to face her before she got within ten feet.

I was not prepared for this.

Before I could even think it through, I dropped like a rock and army crawled to the back of my car.

No way.

Thane worked at Pete's?

And Ava was going to use him as her own personal stripper pole?

So completely not prepared.

I tried to stop the panic. It would be okay. He couldn't see me. And after I'd just tell Ava he's gay or something.

"Harper! What in the name of chocolate soda are you doing back here? Did you fall? Lose a tampon? Bra wire come out? Is there a plague that only misses you if you suck on a tailpipe? Does your-"

I was on my feet with my hand over her mouth before she could embarrass me further. Because, of course Thane had moved toward us and was looking right at me with a weird smirk on his face.

So I turned toward him. "Well, uh, good morning Thane. Fancy meeting you here."

The man before me cocked an eyebrow, looking confused for a moment before his eyes widened and another smirk covered his lips. His muscular arms crossed over his chest and he rested a hip on Ava's jeep.

"You must be THAT Harper. Sorry to disappoint, sugar, but I'm the better-looking one. Trey, at your service."

I was fairly sure my brain overloaded at that second, and all I could do was stare with my mouth hanging open.

Ava switched her attention from me to Trey and back again. But by the look on her face, that oil wasn't going to be changed today. Ava might be over-the-top, but she was as loyal as a Golden Retriever.

"Uh… yes. Brothers. Wait… are you the 'Wut u wearin' brother?"

Trey chuckled, the sound smooth and deep. He also had the same ocean blue eyes as Thane did. But there was an air of overconfidence that rolled off this man in waves. Where Thane was the equivalent of his blue paisley tie, interesting but understated, Trey reminded me of leather jackets and tattoos. Although I'd need to see him out of the blue overalls to see if he had ink.

That would be fun. Wait...stop it, Harper. One brother was enough to fantasize about.

"I was the one that typed it, Theo suggested it. It was a group effort. I don't think I've ever seen Thane turn that shade of purple before. I thought his head would explode." Trey ran a hand through his hair, looking very pleased with himself.

"Whoa, whoa, hold up the cray train!" Because apparently Ava was confused. "Are you telling me that Harper, THE Harper that is standing right here and doesn't even have a hang nail that she doesn't tell me about, has been talking to a spicy sausage platter and has not told her best friend in the entire universe?"

She looked right at me with the hazel puppy dog eyes. "Why you do me like this?"

I just closed my eyes as I heard Trey bust into laughter.

It was so worth it to get out of bed this morning.

I gave my best friend my best death glare. "I'm never doing any favors for you again."

Ava's jaw dropped. "Don't act like you're the victim here. Whatever happened to hoes before bros? How long has this been going on?"

"Since yesterday afternoon. Calm your tits, woman."

"THESE TITS CANNOT CALM, WOMAN! I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME!"

The amount of laughter coming from Trey was a tad bit excessive.

"I'm not going to feed your gossip monster right this very second, Ava, so you will put a leash on them tatas or I will dismember your favorite Manolo's."

The look on Ava's face was priceless. I think she even got a tad pale before shutting up completely.

I took a deep, cleansing breath before turning my attention back to Trey. Who was no longer laughing, but staring at me with furrowed brow. And he didn't seem very happy.

"Hey, Harper, can you come with me a sec?" His voice changed from smooth and flirty to deep and menacing so fast I might have verbal whiplash. He also started walking without looking to see if I'd follow, which I did. Only because I honestly felt like I was in trouble.