𝓡𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬ᴮᵉᵃᵘ ᴹᵃˣʷᵉˡˡ
I'LL NEVER MOVE ONE FROM YOU
Emerson Graham has one rule when it comes to her brother Garrett's friends: don't get involved. Especially not with Beau Maxwell - Briar's star football player, Dean's ride-or-die, and the walking definition of trouble in a tight t-shirt.
One reckless night after a party changes everything.
What starts as a single, mind-blowing hookup in Beau's room is supposed to stay exactly that - one time. But when the chemistry is this addictive and the sneaking around is this easy, they do the logical thing: they make it an arrangement.
Rules are simple. And non-negotiable.
No sleeping over.
No kissing on the mouth.
No dates.
No jealousy.
No one in the friend group can ever find out (especially Garrett).
Beau agrees immediately. Emerson does too. They're both adults. They can handle casual.
Except Beau Maxwell has never been good at casual when it comes to something he actually wants.
The first rule to break is sleeping over. Then the kissing. Then the part where he's not supposed to care who Emerson talks to at parties or why she's suddenly wearing his hoodie under her jacket. Every time he tells himself it's still just sex, and the lie gets harder to believe.
She keeps trying to enforce the rules. He keeps breaking them - in the backseat of his truck after games, in the locker room when everyone else has left, in her dorm at 2 a.m. when he "just needs to see her."
The more they try to keep it strictly casual, the more possessive Beau becomes. The more jealous. The more obvious it gets that this was never going to stay simple.
Because somewhere between the rules they made and the ones they shattered, Beau Maxwell stopped pretending Emerson Graham was just a benefit.
And Emerson? She's starting to realize she never really wanted casual either.