Showing results by author "Nicole Dykes" in All Categories

There are several principles of landscaping, but my favorite has always been simplicity. I'm a go-with-the-flow and keep-it-simple kind of guy. Always have been. Always will be. It's how I do my job and how I live my life. Of course, as luck would have it, it only takes one job and one indescribably hot stranger to change everything for me. Because one thing Dutton Collins is not... simple.

Spark of Hope: A bi-weekly trauma support group. This is my nightmare. When I think of a support group, I think of sad people sitting around talking about their feelings and nothing changing. And yet, when my brother and his best friend, who happens to be a therapist, presented the idea of holding the meetings at my gym, I caved. Because I, Benjamin Price, have always tried to rescue the people in my life. But I can’t. I’ve usually failed them.

I like to party; to have a good time. Life’s too short not to. I learned that when I lost my grandpa. He told me to have fun while I can, and I intend to. Though sometimes when you’re having a good time, you forget others may see you as irresponsible. And sometimes you screw up. I’ve definitely screwed up a time or two, but I’m still determined to have fun. I’m hoping I’ll convince my best friend, Camden, to do the same along the way. He’s too serious. Too focused. Too busy taking care of everyone to just relax. And that’s where I come in.

Big Bend is my home. I love it here. I love everything about it. It's my senior year, and I'm determined to have the best one yet. Of course, that's when life gets confusing. I think I may have a little bit of a crush on my nemesis. Something I never saw coming. I just hope I can find a way to make him give me a chance because being together would make not only this year great but this life of ours—absolutely epic.

Reed Ellis is absolutely gorgeous but a total newbie to camming, a virtual nobody in my world. I should have just deleted his message request for a steamy on-camera collaboration. Not everyone is cut out to be a camboy. But there's just something about him I couldn't resist. He's timid and inexperienced, quiet and closed off, but his fumbling first times play out scorching hot for the cameras, and our videos together are an instant success. I know I should just ride this out, sit back and watch the money roll in, and then move on.

I know most would probably describe me as a little uptight, unwilling to change, set in my ways… The truth is, I just like my life the way it is—simple and predictable. I have everything I need—good friends, family close by, and the automotive business I've built from the ground up. I'm proud of the life I've made in this quiet, small town. Nothing needs to change. At least, that's what I believed up until the day Damon Deveraux, a lively and bold little whirlwind of a man in lip gloss and short shorts, saunters into my life and changes everything.

Welcome to Big Bend—my nightmare and my home, all in one. I don't fit in here. I don't fit in anywhere. I've made so many mistakes. Over and over. Two of those mistakes haunt me. One, being responsible for a friend losing his job and reputation in this town. And two, well, that one is even worse. I ruined so many lives with one stupid decision I barely even remember. And now, I'm going to pay for it.

I have a secret. We all have secrets. I’m nothing special. It just so happens, however, that my sworn enemy also knows my secret. He’s the absolute worst person to know this, and there’s nothing I can do about it. What he does with this information is totally out of my hands and completely in his. This is why I’ve never let anyone in. I don’t trust easily. I keep to myself. I’m closed off, angry—guarded.

Life has been easy for me. Top of my class. Star quarterback of the football team. Every guy wants to be my friend, and every girl wants to date me. Yeah, life is pretty sweet. Except it’s not. It’s all fake. School comes too easy for me, and I’m bored. Football isn’t fun anymore. The guys I hang out with aren’t really my friends. And the girls? I don’t want to date them. The only one I want to date... He’s a little bit...hostile.

I’m a total nerd, but I look like a jock. I had a perfect GPA in high school, and my GPA in college is perfect too. I smile when I’m supposed to smile. I have two loving parents and a brother and sister who are always by my side. I’m the perfect all-American guy. But the only thing that actually defines me is the before. The things I keep hidden deep inside because I’m too afraid of losing what I have now. The past lives deep inside me as I force the plastic smile on my face. And no one sees through it because I’m just that good.

I cannot stand Bennet Montgomery. His rugged hotness knows no bounds, and his unwavering cheery disposition is maddening. How can someone be that happy all the time? His smile infuriates me. I need to keep my distance from this man and all his Midwest charm. I have my camboy career to focus on, and I can't afford to get attached or bogged down with his nonsense. When Bennet receives devastating news about his mother, his grief consumes him. I don't know what to make of this new sad side of Bennet.

I probably shouldn't be in the office of someone I don't know, filming content for my site, but I quite like the view it affords me, and I really like that leather chair. I like it even more when the owner of the office turns out to be my grumpy, buttoned-up boss, and he catches me in the act. Literally. He's not happy about it, but he doesn't leave, and I don't stop. Suddenly, he's around all the time. Watching me. Taunting me. Teasing me. It soon becomes a game. A game only we play.

The emo kid, the loner, the cynical wallflower with an attitude. It's no secret that I've never quite fit in. But it's glaringly obvious now that I've moved to this Podunk small town that seems to run entirely on sugar, friendliness, and cheer. (And cows, an ungodly number of cows.) I hate it—this place where everyone knows everyone, and I'm still the outsider. Who wants to fit in anyway? I've never really tried, never even thought I wanted to…until I met him. Jimbob is living his best life out here, farming the fields of Kansas, well and truly happy. And I just don't get it.

Best-selling novelist Karen Witemeyer joins award-winning authors Regina Jennings, Amanda Dykes, and Nicole Deese for this Texas-sized romance novella collection. Each of the authors' unique voices is on display in stories where courting couples leave a permanent mark of their love by carving their initials into the same oak's bark.

He’s an influencer—whatever that means. He’s also stunningly beautiful with a feisty attitude, and I can’t deny that it intrigues me. But more importantly, he’s in trouble. I’m not like my brother. Except for being a cop, I don’t strive to save the entire world. However, I find myself compelled to save him. If he’ll calm down and just let me.

I’m a teacher who has only one thing missing from his life: a healthy relationship. I have a plan in place. This should be easy. No more toxic men. No more casual hookups. I want something real. A love that’s equal, not lopsided. I’m a fixer at heart, but I’m done with the hopeless and the selfish.

Grady: A preacher’s son. I’ve done everything I can to defy his rules. Reckless, destructive, immoral. But after all this, there’s only one thing I haven’t allowed myself to indulge in...him. Ryan: A welder's son. I’ve done everything I can to make him proud. Hardworking, loyal, strong. I’ve accomplished all his dreams while denying my own. But there was only one thing I’ve ever wanted...him.

My favorite principle in landscaping and in life is balance. In any situation, that's my goal—to find that perfect balance. And I'm good at it too. That is until I met Cane. Now, nothing makes sense, and everything is off balance. I'm not sure what to make of this and how to make it work. I've never felt like this before, and I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing. All I know is I want to find a way.

I'm the rebel, the bad one. I follow no rules on the track or anywhere else. I'm the obnoxious bad boy the fans secretly root for. I don't mind playing my role. I'm good at it, and it pays to be the dark to his light. Until the good boy starts to get to me. I'm confused and unsure of what I want, when it was all so clear before. They say good always wins, but is that truly the case? In the race between the far-too-pretty good boy and the angry bad boy, who will actually win?

I had everything; I was going to college, having a blast, enjoying myself, and not taking much seriously. But then, two years ago, everything changed. A car wreck destroyed my life. It sent me into a total tailspin. I walked away, even when everyone said I wouldn’t be able to. But I haven’t recovered from it. The only thing I have left is my best friend, but I’m sure he’ll give up on me soon. Even so, I can’t fight the truth: I’m irrevocably ruined.