Thrive (ADDICTED SERIES, Band 6) - Softcover

Buch 6 von 10: Addicted Series

Ritchie, Krista; Ritchie, Becca

 
9780593639603: Thrive (ADDICTED SERIES, Band 6)
Softcover
ISBN 10: 059363960X ISBN 13: 9780593639603
Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group, 2023

Inhaltsangabe

The TikTok sensation Addicted series continues with Thrive, now in a print edition with special bonus material!

Two years will change them forever.
 
When fake rumors spread like wildfire—like having three-ways with her boyfriend's rock climbing brother—Lily Calloway retreats to a dark place: her bedroom. Loren Hale is more determined than ever to keep their sex life private, even from their friends, and he helps Lily in the only way he knows how. But how much love is too much?
 
Their lives are filmed, watched, and criticized. And through it all, Lily and Loren have to face enemies they never thought they'd see, demons they don't know if they should bury, and setbacks they didn't think they'd meet. Not this soon.
 
And one rumor could be too much for them to handle. It will test their greatest limitations, and if they don't hold onto each other, someone is going to drown.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

​​Krista and Becca Ritchie are New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors and identical twins—one a science nerd, the other a comic book geek—but with their shared passion for writing, they combined their mental powers as kids and have never stopped telling stories. They love superheroes, flawed characters, and soul mate love.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

One

0 years: 00 months

August

Lily Calloway

Whenever I envisioned my twenty-first birthday, it included lots of booze, maybe some drugs, and a giant pack of male strippers. A giant pack. Possibly even the kind of strippers that give you a little something special at the end. That imagination belonged to a different Lily. From a different time. Possibly a different cosmic universe. At least that's what it feels like.

My twenty-first birthday, in actuality, is far less toxic. And the only men I'm celebrating with happen to be my boyfriend and his brother-as far from male strippers as I can get.

In fact, I had proposed a nice birthday in front of the television, but Lo dragged me out of the house, seducing me with my favorite place in Philly: Lucky's Diner. I previously told my sisters that I would not be having a party, and this impromptu event resulted after Lo found out. Now I kinda wish I had invited Rose or Daisy or even my eldest sister, Poppy.

A long wave of awkward silence passes between Ryke and me, and I silently beg Lo to return to the table. But he stands by the hostess podium, still talking to the manager about closing the blinds.

Ten cameramen are stationed outside of the diner, some heftier cameras perched on their shoulders, the lenses pressed to the glass window. A week ago, we learned that Ryke's mom leaked my sex addiction to the press, the reason I am now on the front page of tabloids and discussed across social media.

Ryke keeps blaming himself, even when we tell him not to. If anything, this is all my fault. I'm the one who went down this path. If it wasn't true, it'd be a different story, right? But I'm a sex addict. Everyone knows it. And now we have to figure out how to deal with this spotlight.

The quiet grates on me, and I instantly break it without thinking. "You know what's funny, I always thought today would consist of a pack of male strippers," I blurt out. Why, Lily, why? I look anywhere but his face, already feeling my cheeks heat.

"A pack?" Ryke says in disbelief. "Men are fucking people too, Lily. Can you not talk about them like you're ordering a case of beer? And . . . what the fuck?"

I think he should have started with what the fuck. But I let that go.

He adds, "Don't tell me you used to look at men and only saw another dick to ride."

I flush but manage to reply despite my embarrassment. "Used to. Key word. Past tense," I say quickly. "Now I see all the other anatomy." I wave my hands toward him and then realize what I'm doing. "Not that I ever thought about you as just a dick. I mean, I thought you were a dick, but the metaphorical kind. Not the kind I would ride." Holy shit. I just need to shut up.

"You have some serious fucking issues, Calloway," Ryke snaps.

"So says you and the rest of the world," I mutter and tear open a packet of sugar. I try hard to avoid the cameras that click click click behind the giant glass window.

His eyes soften, and he shakes his head before letting out a gnarled groan. "Look," he says, "it's your birthday. I didn't get you anything-"

"I didn't expect you to."

"Let me fucking finish."

I roast again.

He shakes his head. "You have to stop, Lily. Everything I say isn't sexual."

"Sorry," I mumble.

"I was going to say, I didn't get you anything yet. What would you like?"

What would I like? There are too many things I want, but most of them have to be acquired by supernatural forces.

"Are you a warlock?" I end up asking him.

"What?" His eyebrows knot.

"Never mind," I mumble quickly. The cameras suddenly flash in quick succession. I slouch farther in the booth, so low that I'm practically hiding underneath the table.

"Get a fucking grip." Ryke glares.

"You shouldn't even be here," I hiss. I don't know why I'm hissing. The diner isn't even half-full, but I'm sure it'll be packed within the hour now that we're here.

"I was invited," Ryke retorts.

"By Lo," I whisper, "who somehow forgot that the press thinks you and I are hooking up. We don't need to give them another reason."

"So because I'm having lunch with my brother and his fiancée, we're obviously fucking." He gives me a hard look. "Makes complete sense."

"Don't say the f-word," I reply. "It gives me hives."

He glowers. "You're getting married in less than a year. That isn't fucking changing, Lily. You're going to have to accept it."

"I accept nothing," I say lamely.

He rolls his eyes. "You've stopped making sense ten minutes ago."

I'm about to refute, but Lo walks back to our booth, his cheekbones sharpened in aggravation. Shit. As he slides in next to me, he swiftly grabs my arm to lift me from my slouched position, as if it was the most natural course of action for him, as though he's done this a thousand times with me.

Has he?

All I know for certain is that my hiding place is gone.

Damn.

"He won't close the blinds," Lo tells us. "He says that it's good publicity for the diner." At least they were honest and upfront about it.

"Maybe we should leave." I throw it out there. Just like that. Wow that feels better. I wait for one of them to catch it. I spring up from the table, already expecting them to agree.

"No," Lo says, his hand on my shoulder, forcing my butt back to the seat. Double damn. "Today's your birthday, and you haven't been out of the house in a week." His arm fits around my waist, and I take a deep breath and lean into his warm body. I would like to admit that all my thoughts are chaste in this moment, but a brief flicker of a naked Lo fills my mind.

Of his muscles, his lean body . . . Naked Lo has a nice ass and a very large-

"Again," Ryke says roughly, eyes on me, crushing my dirty thoughts. "What do you want for your birthday?"

Cock.

I have to close my eyes while I curse my brain from automatically jumping to that.

"She wants something that you can't give her," Lo answers for me.

"Like telekinesis and teleportation," I blurt out, just in case Lo was thinking about the other thing Ryke can't give me.

"I was referring to sex, but that too, yeah," Lo says. Today isn't going so well. Nope.

I hide my face in my hands, and I wait for the perfunctory click click click of the cameras. Any second now.

Click.

Click

Click

There it is.

I don't come out from my hand-fort.

"Lily . . ." Lo starts, concern in his voice.

"I don't want to talk about sex or cock," I blurt out.

A man clears his throat.

Shit.

I look over guiltily. The waiter stands at the end of the table with his notepad in hand. His gaze lands anywhere but on me. I might as well wear a walking road sign that says: Pervert and Sex Addict.

"What can I get you to drink?" he asks.

"Waters all around," Lo orders. The waiter leaves, and the diner door jingles as more young people enter: teenagers or college students. They gather in a nearby booth and whip out their cell phones, snapping photos.

Hibernating in our home sounds much more pleasant than this. Maybe the bears know something we don't.

Ryke unzips his leather jacket. "It's your twenty-first birthday; does that mean you're drinking tonight?" He sets the jacket aside, wearing a plain gray tee.

"No," I shake my head. "I'm going to forgo those traditions." My reasons extend beyond Lo being a recovering alcoholic. I want to remember tonight, especially if it involves sex.

"She lived vicariously through my twenty-first," Lo adds. I did. It wasn't pleasant.

Someone bangs on the window by my ear, and I jump so fast that I knock my water glass over. Ryke curses under his breath and mops up the spill with a napkin before I have the chance.

A...

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Verlag
Penguin Publishing Group
Erscheinungsdatum
2023
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
059363960X
ISBN 13 
9780593639603
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
512
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Penguin Random House Ireland
https://eu-contact.penguin.ie

Morrison Chambers, 32 Nassau Street
Dublin
D02 YH68
Irland

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