Van

I spent my whole life being whatever everyone else needed me to be. Then she showed me how to want something for myself.

Van

I grew up witnessing my parents’ bad decisions: eviction notices, arguments, and a suitcase I never bothered to unpack. Laurel Springs was supposed to be my fresh start. A badge, a house that’s mine, and a partner in Darren Kepler who taught me what it means to have someone at my back.

So falling for his little sister is the stupidest thing I could do.

Ella Kepler is the wild card of the most well-known family in town. She’s twenty-one, fearless, and the first woman who’s ever made me want to stay past sunrise. When she looks me in the eye at the Lean To and tells me exactly what she wants, I should walk away.

I take her home instead. She asks me to keep us a secret until she figures out how to tell her brother. I’d do anything she asks. Even lie to the one man who’s never lied to me.

But Ella grew up loving men who might not come home at the end of their shift, and she swore she’d never do it again.
I can’t give up the job. It’s the first thing I ever chose for myself.

But she’s the second. And I’m not letting go of either one.