Stand-In Saturday

Chapter 1

Dear reader, 

This is the second book in the Love For Days series (Man Crush Monday being book 1). It is a standalone romcom.  Please note this is a sample of the published book, not the full book. If you would like to read the full thing, you can grab a copy on any site that sells ebooks, or buy the paperback from Amazon or The Book Depository or ask your local library to order you a copy in! 

Love and hugs 

Kirsty 

Copyright Kirsty Moseley 2020. All rights reserved.

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Chapter 1

THEO

You know that super-awkward bit in Love Actually where you find out Rick Grimes is in love with his best mate's girl? Well, this is kind of like that, but worse because it's not my best mate's girl; it's my twin brother's fiancée.

Amy Clarke—object of my affection, girl of my dreams, and unfortunately for me, my brother's fiancée—plops down beside me on the sofa and steals the TV remote from my hand, instantly starting to channel surf through the Saturday night so-called prime-time TV.

"So, what have you been bingeing lately? Anything I need to add to my watch list?" she asks, eyeing me quizzically.

I shrug and take a swig of my beer. "Nothing noteworthy. I've been working a lot the last couple of days. I'm behind on my deadline."

"Oh, Theo, again? Do you just like to leave it to the last minute or what?"

"I do my best work at the eleventh hour."

As she's sitting so close, the sweet smell of her perfume wafts over me and the heat of her body presses into my side. I swallow and scowl at the TV, trying not to admit to myself that I love being this close to her. I know feeling like this about my brother's fiancée makes me a scumbag, but I can't help myself. You see, she should've been mine. I bloody well saw her first. Admittedly, I should have called dibs ... but I was too chicken to ask her out. Now, look, two years later, she's marrying my twin brother, and I'm left sitting on their plush sofa in their classy and elegant apartment, wishing things were different and pretending like I'm not cut up about it and jealous as hell. Tragic really.

Amy shifts and tucks her legs up under her bum, and I turn my head slightly, so I can see her properly. Pale candyfloss-pink hair falls in loose waves around her cute face, her full lips are slick with nude gloss, and her sea-in-paradise-blue eyes are lined with a perfect cat-like flick of black eyeliner at each corner. Amy is that adorable, eccentric type of quirky girl that doesn't know how amazing she is. She also has no idea I'm crazy about her.

Sighing dramatically, she tosses the remote back into my lap after not finding anything decent to watch while we wait for everyone else to arrive for our big night out.

"Jared and I have been watching The Witcher this week. Trouble is, he keeps working late, so we only get time to watch one per night. Not skipping ahead without him is torture!"

I silently wonder if I'll ever meet a girl I like enough that I'd be willing to wait patiently to watch Netflix episodes with. My guess, no.

Maybe if I'd been brave enough to just ask Amy out at the start ...

I frown down at my beer bottle, absentmindedly picking the corner of the label with my thumbnail. "What do you think would have happened if I'd got my shit together and asked you out at the start when we first met on that train?" The question bursts from my lips before I can stop it. Probably due to the fact that this is already my third alcoholic beverage, and it's barely seven o'clock. My brain-to-mouth filter is a little more lenient than it should be. The question is something that keeps me awake at nights.