Nowhere to Hide (Masked Men Novellas)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Riley

My family hosts Thanksgiving at my parents’ lakeside cabin every year. The remote location is a great place for my brother to hide out for a few days. Braidy Jacobs is a household name, a teen heartthrob. He dropped out of college after landing a lead role in a young-adult romance movie, and I had expected our parents to throw a fit, given how education has always been important to them. But apparently that only counts when you’re me, Riley Jacobs, the family fuck up.

The lectures I receive over dropping out are still something I hear regularly from my parentals. Like my job as the social media manager for one of the most famous movie stars in the world—plus my handful of other clients—is not good enough. I’m not the perfect little girl they wanted. According to them, my nose piercing was a sign of rebellion. Against what, I don’t know. The tiny sparrow tattoo behind my ear was the influence of my troubled friend, Tillie. While she really is a mess, she owns it. Plus, Mom would never say that out loud since Tillie is her best friend’s daughter, and my brother’s best friend Archer’s baby sister.

This year I’m headed up to the cabin early, to spend some time with nature and reset. This time of year is pretty quiet work-wise. Celebrities don’t want anyone to know where they are over the holidays, and I have already scheduled their posts to go out. Braidy’s socials have been going crazy over speculation that he is dating Sienna Vale, which he is, and it’s been a nightmare to keep quiet for the last eight months. She is a country singer with her own team, and they plan to announce after the holidays. I am not looking forward to the mess announcing it will create, and the mass of messages Braidy will get—or rather me, because he doesn’t touch his fan accounts—from the heartbroken women of the world who believed they had a chance with him, their teenage dreams now crushed.

As I pull into the driveway, my phone buzzes in the holder, and I press to answer on my Bluetooth earphones.

“This better be good, Braidy, I swear to god...”

My brother’s laughter echoes through my ears. “It’s not work related, I promise.”

“Good, because I’m off the clock unless there is an emergency. There better be no women who claim to be carrying your child or another leaked sex tape—I swear if I have to see your dick again, I will bleach my own eyeballs.”

“It was one time, and you could barely see anything.”

I scoff as I put my car in park. “I saw enough, and more than a sister ever should. Is there a point to this call? Isn’t seeing me next week good enough?”

“There is, actually. The guys are getting in early—they finished up work. I wanted to give you a heads up.”

“Are you serious? I look like a washed-up sea urchin.”

“Why does it matter what you look like? They don’t care, unless you still have a crush on them?”

“I don’t,” I snap. “And of course I care. You would understand if you drove two hours and had the driving sweats.”

Braidy laughs. “I plan to next week—and don’t worry, they witnessed you growing into your face.”

I screech, which makes him laugh harder. “I hate you. Do you know that?”

“Love you too, sis. See you next week.”

With that, he ends the call. I swear if I didn’t value my job, I would leak his sex tape again for fun. Asshole.

Grabbing my suitcase from the passenger seat, I drag it up to the front door and put the code into the digital lock. As I step inside, I can’t help my smile; this place is my home away from home. So many holidays have been spent here since I was born. A lot of those memories include my brother’s three best friends: Kennedy, Archer, and Tai. I have always been obsessed with them, embarrassingly so. They are a few years older than me, and I was the annoying little sister. I haven’t seen them in almost four years; our lives got in the way. Braidy was always busy when they were free, and vice versa.

Not that they would have ever noticed me, even if you removed the fact that I’m Braidy’s kid sister or younger than them. I was overweight, though Mom says I wasn’t—I owned a mirror and knew the truth. It wasn’t until I went to college that the weight came off. The stress was too much for me, hence dropping out.

Thankfully, my brother saved the day when he offered me a job as his social media guru, and here I am now, successful at almost twenty-one. I’m healthy and I’m happy with how I look. Mom thinks I need to find a man and settle down, but after the last douche, I have sworn off dating. Who cares if I have a roll when I sit, or if my thighs touch? I worked so hard to get to a point where I liked myself and the dickhead ruined my self- esteem in the three months we dated. In his words, I wasn’t hot, but I had a pretty face.

I take my bags to my room, and quickly shower—I don’t need to smell when my childhood crushes turn up. I love celebrating Thanksgiving in Cedar Valley; the weather is always nice. The only downside is the two-hour drive from the airport. I dress in my bikini, a sun hat, and flip-flops, then grab my towel as I head back downstairs. There is nothing like topping up my tan before going back home and facing the cold.

I’m halfway down the stairs when the front door opens, and my breath catches in the back of my throat. They can’t see me straight away, so maybe I should turn around and run. They are hotter than I remember and yet weirdly they’re still the same. My heart thumps wildly against my chest as I take them in.

Archer Quinn now fills out his suit nicely. He was always the serious one of the three, and the most well put together. His dark-brown hair is perfectly styled, partly hiding his gaze. His light-brown eyes shift between hazel and a deeper brown, depending on the intensity of his mood.

Tai Elliot was the fun-loving one, and still looks like a chaotic mess. His brown hair almost matches my memories, and I can picture it falling over his eyes, their color an ice blue so light I could stare into them for hours—if it wasn’t weird, that is.

Last but not least, I run my gaze over Kennedy Carter, the boy who broke my heart the day he muttered “ eww” when my brother asked if he was staring at me for the wrong reasons. He has always been the asshole of the trio, the one with a resting bitch face, even if it is beautiful. His freckles have always made him seem dreamy, and I yearned for the day I could run my fingers across them to join them together. HIs eyes are the most special thing about him, though. Not blue, nor green—somewhere in between.

Tai looks up and his smile stretches from ear to ear.

He always made me happy; his flirty personality was fun to be around. But the lip ring which sits in the center of his plump bottom lip is new and wetness pools between my thighs at the thought of pulling it between my teeth.

“Riley Bear, is that you?”

At my nickname, Kennedy and Archer look up.

I inhale deeply and rest my hand on the banister to stop myself from falling down the stairs, then plaster a smile on my face.

“Sure is,” I say while internally reminding myself to walk. I take each stair one at a time because this wouldn’t be the first time they’d see me eat shit after a fall.

Tai drops his bag and meets me at the bottom of the stairs, taking me in his arms and squeezing. “It’s been so long.”

“Four years,” I say as he pulls back.

“Please tell me there is food here. I might die if we don’t eat soon,” Kennedy complains. Kennedy was always the most muscular of the guys and nothing has changed.

“Nice to see you too,” I retort.

Archer’s intense glare roams my body, and it’s all I can do not to squirm. I normally cover myself up a little more, and while I want to love my curves, sometimes a woman’s confidence wanes under the scrutiny of others.

“You look good,” Archer says with a nod, shifting his grip on the handle of his suitcase. “I’m going to freshen up. Tai, please feed Kennedy before he withers away into nothing.”

I snort at Archer’s words. In no world would Kennedy wither away into nothing in a few hours. His muscles have defined a lot more in the last four years.

“Kennedy is a grown-ass man and can feed himself,” Tai whines. “I want to go swim with Riley Bear.”

Kennedy grunts. “Go swim then. I don’t need you whining over something I can do myself.”

Tai fist bumps the air and Kennedy grabs him by the arm, pulling him in closer to his body. I always wondered if something was going on between those two. The closeness, the little touches, the shared secrets. Kennedy whispers into Tai’s ear and a smile lights up his face before he shakes off Kennedy’s grasp and looks at me.

“Ready to race me, Riley Bear? I wonder if you could actually beat me this time. I’m a champ in the water.”

“Oh Tai, you silly, silly boy. Didn’t you know I have spent the last four years training for this exact moment? Swimming race champ for four years running.”

Tai laughs as he gets closer and leans into me enough so his arm brushes mine. “Riley Bear, I’m not a boy anymore and I am going to kick your ass,” he whispers.

I’m momentarily stunned by his proximity, but as he pulls away, I use both my hands to add to his momentum.

“Challenge accepted. I’m also not the little girl who has stars in her eyes for you idiots.” Tai’s mouth falls open, and I smirk. “Don’t pretend you didn’t know I had a crush on you all. I’m not that girl anymore—I moved on to bigger and better things.”

“I doubt bigger,” Kennedy mumbles as he walks out of the room, and Archer disappears up the stairs.

“Come on, I have a race to win,” Tai says, linking his arm with mine, once again immobilizing me with just one touch.