Southern Comfort: Compass Brothers, Book 2 Read Online Free

damn, mother fucking, piece of arrogant shit asshole.”
    “I take it you ran into Seth.” Paul’s sarcasm drifted to her from the dining room and she glanced in that direction and caught her best friend leaning against the doorframe.
    She nodded, too furious to reply.
    “Took the news of our engagement well, did he?”
    She closed her eyes and mentally counted to ten. Seth Compton had some nerve attempting to lecture her about anything. Anything! He’d brushed her affections aside for over a decade and the minute she’d moved on and managed to say fuck him, he decided to act like he gave a shit. “He took it like the clueless caveman he is.”
    “Tried to talk you out of marrying me?”
    “As if he has the right to tell me what I can and can’t do. I offered him the position of boyfriend loads of times, and he rejected me. Now he can just take a giant leap and eat his fucking heart out.”
    Paul laughed. “I love your locker room language. So colorful.” He took several steps toward her, stopping when he reached her. His hand drifted up to her cheek, and he brushed a stray hair away from her face. “I thought you said you were over him.”
    “I am.”
    Paul gave her a grin that said he wasn’t fooled by her too-quick reply. “Jody, you can’t kid a kidder.”
    She sighed. “I want to be over him.”
    “You realize that’s not the same thing, right?”
    She shrugged and turned away. “It’s enough for me, for now.”
    “We don’t have to go through with this. I can find someone else to—”
    “No,” she interjected. “I’m doing it. I want to marry you. Honest.”
    “But if Seth—”
    She raised her hands, trying to halt his words. “He’s a typical male. He wants what he can’t have. If I’d shown up here available, acting the fool as always, following him around with my stupid heart on my sleeve, he’d still be dismissing me, offering up all those reasons why we can’t be together. I’m sick of the game, Paul. I’m not playing it anymore.”
    “Fine. I get that. But that still doesn’t mean you have to marry me. I’m not happy about you sacrificing your immediate future just to help me inherit my trust fund.”
    She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “You’re my best friend, and you need me. I’m marrying you.”
    “Well, isn’t this sweet?” Seth’s insulting tone set her teeth on edge again. She scowled as he opened the screen door and entered the house. “Been awhile, Paul.”
    Paul smiled and offered his hand. “Good to see you again, Seth. How are you doing?”
    Jody resisted the urge to kick her best friend in the ass as he shook Seth’s hand.
    “Can’t complain,” Seth replied. “Besides sweating my ass off in this hellish heat, things are pretty much par for the course.”
    Paul laughed easily, the sound almost flirty, and Jody gritted her teeth as she watched her fiancé checking out Seth in his tight denim. Jesus. She took Paul’s hand in hers in an attempt to distract him.
    “Come on. I’ll show you around the place. There’ve been a few changes since the last time you were here. Plus we need to pick somewhere for the ceremony. Still not sure if I want to set it up in the back or front yard.” She started to yank Paul outside, but Seth stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. She sucked in a deep breath and tried to ignore the fact his touch made her so hot.
    “Hold on a minute. Let me wash up and I’ll join you.”
    She shrugged in an attempt to dislodge his hand. “Why?”
    He grinned and she closed her eyes, unwilling to let his handsome face dazzle her. Fucking dimples got her every time. A quick glance at Paul nearly had her groaning aloud. Apparently, her fiancé was a sucker for dimples too.
    “I thought it might be nice to get to know the guy you’re marrying a little better, Jody. I mean he is going to be a part of the family very soon, and we’ve never had more than a couple chances to chat.”
    He stressed the word family