BooksBarbecue
Back Battle of the Bookstores Save as PDF
Chapters (52)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise for
  3. Berkley Titles by Ali Brady
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. BOOKFRIENDS
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. BOOKFRIENDS
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. BOOKFRIENDS
  16. 8
  17. 9
  18. 10
  19. BOOKFRIENDS
  20. 11
  21. BOOKFRIENDS
  22. 12
  23. 13
  24. 14
  25. 15
  26. 16
  27. 17
  28. 18
  29. BOOKFRIENDS
  30. 19
  31. 20
  32. 21
  33. 22
  34. BOOKFRIENDS
  35. 23
  36. 24
  37. 25
  38. 26
  39. BOOKFRIENDS
  40. 27
  41. 28
  42. 29
  43. 30
  44. 31
  45. Ryan
  46. Acknowledgments
  47. Readers Guide
  48. Discussion Questions
  49. Excerpt from Until Next Summer
  50. Jessie
  51. About the Author
  52. What’s next onyour reading list?

June 4, 9:54 PM

BookshopGirl: I’m finally home and need to get my mind off some work stuff. Are you up for Bookish Never Have I Ever?

RJ.Reads: Sure!

BookshopGirl: Perfect! I’ll share a commonly used expression, and if you’ve ever experienced that in real life, you have to drink.

BookshopGirl: Example: “Never have I ever let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding.” If you HAVE let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding, you drink. Got it?

RJ.Reads: Got it, and I have a drink poured and ready.

BookshopGirl: Okay here goes: Never have I ever…bit my lip until I tasted blood.

RJ.Reads: Nope, haven’t done that either. Sounds violent. My turn: Never have I ever felt wetness on my cheeks and wiped it away, only to realize I was crying.

BookshopGirl: Wine emoji

RJ.Reads: Really? How did you not realize your crying?

RJ.Reads: *you’re

BookshopGirl: It’s called emotional repression, RJ. You clearly had a healthier childhood than I did.

BookshopGirl: My turn: Never have I ever clenched my fists until my nails left marks on my palms.

RJ.Reads: Wine emoji

RJ.Reads: YOU clearly never wanted to punch your older brother in the face but restrained yourself because you knew he’d clobber you.

BookshopGirl: Nope, no big brothers. Just one sweet little sister.

RJ.Reads: LUCKY. Never have I ever heard screaming and then realized it was me.

BookshopGirl: Never have I ever padded softly across a room.

RJ.Reads: Never have I ever gripped the steering wheel so tightly my nuckles turned white.

RJ.Reads: (*knuckles, obviously)

BookshopGirl: Wine emoji You must not live in a place that has black ice.

RJ.Reads: Or I know gripping the steering wheel that tightly isn’t going to help?

RJ.Reads: Never have I ever watched a muscle in a man’s jaw tic or watched an Adam’s apple bob slowly as he swallows.

BookshopGirl: Wine emoji Wine emoji

RJ.Reads: Really? Jaw muscles? Adam’s apples? That’s what does it for you?

BookshopGirl: Oh yeah.

RJ.Reads: Interesting.

8

Ryan

I woke up this morning with a hard-on and the remnants of a dream. The details were sparse, but the memory was more than enough to get me off before I had to get up for work.

In the dream, I was in the back room at the bookstore, only I was a werewolf, and I had Josie pressed against the shelves.

Her skirt was up around her waist—so unsophisticated—and her legs were wrapped around my hips. Dream Josie was warm and as tight as that perfect little bun on top of her head. I had an animalistic urge to devour her, to control her and make her mine. To show her who was the boss.