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Chapter 76: Just Pretend
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2022-11-24 14:14:52Related chapters
Portwood Brothers Chapter 77: You Can't Come Home Until You Leave
When he opened his eyes, Jackson saw the light and realized it was morning. It had come way too soon. He wasn't one who usually got worked up about leaving or heading out, but it was different this time. He had something to lose if he didn't come home. He had thought he'd been in love with Payton before he left last time, but he knew now that he wasn't. What he felt for her and what he felt for Emma were two totally different things. He still loved Payton, but it was the same way he loved Addison. He'd do anything for either of his brother's wives. Emma was totally different, though. She would be the reason he'd put one foot in front of the other and soldier on."You awake too?" Emma quietly asked."Yeah."He pulled her closer and felt her small arms pulling him close. He turned to his side so he could get her flush against him. He could look at her eyes forever and ever get tired of them. Jackson leaned in and gave her a kiss before she tucked her head against his chest.Emma let out
Last Updated : 2022-11-24Portwood Brothers Chapter 78: I Can't Do This Anymore
Addison sat on the sofa looking around the living room. She had been so excited when they'd closed on their house last month, and she'd worked hard to make it feel like the home they'd dreamed of. When her eyes landed on her suitcase by the door in the kitchen, she started to cry... again. Today had been a really crappy day. She'd been worried about her brother-in-law leaving for another deployment, and when she tried to call, he didn't answer. She realized she'd totally missed calling him. Thankfully she got off a text in time for him to see it and respond. She called Emma who had broken down and cried like she'd never heard anyone cry before. She didn't know how to help her, but she knew that there had to be something.Grabbing her phone, she activated the screen and made the call she'd been dreading all day."Adams, McMann, and Webster, this is Rebecca. How may I help you?""Hi Rebecca, it's Addison.""Oh, hi. How are things?""Fine. Listen, is Dad still in?" she asked knowing the
Last Updated : 2022-11-24Portwood Brothers Chapter 79: He Has A Name
VOLUME THREE: PLAYING FOR THE WIN"Rise and shine."Addison groaned and rolled over ignoring her father's booming voice. She knew that both her parents would be up, dressed, and going full speed like nothing was going on. Addison, on the other hand, was still trying to figure out what she wanted to do with her marriage. There would be no concern on their faces; they didn't like Bryce and were probably glad that he'd messed up enough that she'd tucked tail and ran.Knowing she needed to get this over with she sat up and looked at her dad sitting on the coffee table looking at her. "Now pumpkin, we're glad to have you home, and we're going to do what we can to get you settled, but tonight at dinner we need to sit down and talk about living and work arrangements." "Work?""Yes, work," her mother stated in her no-nonsense tone. "The sooner you get established and move on, the easier things will be. We've talked about this a hundred times. You've got to keep yourself healthy. You don't wan
Last Updated : 2022-11-24Portwood Brothers Chapter 80: Did You Sleep With Her?
No one should ever have to wake up the way Bryce had. He hadn't actually gotten much sleep, but he had managed dozed off from time to time. When the doorbell rang, it caused him to bolt out of bed and down the stairs. He flung the door open and when he saw the look on Kathy's face, he realized that maybe he should have taken a couple extra seconds to at least pull on some shorts."Uh, sorry about that," he muttered as he covered himself with the door. "Give me a second. Come in.""No, that's okay. I'm on my way to work actually. I just wanted to drop off the keys before I got too busy and forgot."Bryce wasn't sure he was following his neighbor. She didn't have keys for anything, "Keys?""Yeah, Addison came over yesterday and asked me if I could pick up her car. She said you were busy last night and wanted to know if I would pick it up and bring it back. I offered to drive her so there wouldn't be all this nonsense, but she was pretty adamant that she wanted to drive. Either way, it wa
Last Updated : 2022-11-24Portwood Brothers Chapter 81: You Can't Fix It
Addison sat outside her dad's law office and just looked at the building. Being a lawyer was what she'd wanted for as long as she could remember. At least it's what she'd always told herself. She really wanted to be a lawyer because she felt she owed it to her parents. She felt like she did a lot of things for them because she owed them. She didn't hate her life, but she wondered how much she did for them and not herself. Still, she couldn't deny that her dad had done great things. He had started a small, family office in Colorado after he left a big firm that had defied the odds having a majority of women partners. When he moved to Nebraska, he had joined a small office, and he always loved his work. Addison had her sights set on a being a partner in a big law firm. She liked the idea that with more people and power, she could do more to help.She applied to a few law schools, but when she got her acceptance letter for Phoenix she'd jumped at the chance and hadn't looked back. The sch
Last Updated : 2022-11-24Portwood Brothers Chapter 82: Girl's Weekend
The ringing phone woke Addison from the nap she'd been in the middle of. She wasn't usually much of a nap taker, but after her mom took out all the junk food and made her feel bad about being in the living room when she'd got home the past week, Addison had taken to shutting herself in her room. Besides her Kindle, the boxes of romance novels in her closet, which she had no desire to read, and her laptop, she'd started to nap more. If she were going to stick around much longer, she'd have to find something to do so she wouldn't die of boredom. She thought about looking for some kind of work, but that made it feel like she was planning on staying around permanently. She wasn't ready to make that kind of decision yet.Addison smiled for the first time in a week when she saw who was calling. She loved Emma, and no one was better for her brother-in-law than the nutty redhead he'd found. "Hey you.""So I need you to do me a favor," Emma said without a greeting. "I'm looking at this dress on
Last Updated : 2022-11-24Portwood Brothers Chapter 83: Our Reality
Bryce was moody, restless, and damn miserable. He didn't wish this on anyone, but he wondered if his wife felt anything like he did. He missed the hell out of her, and the place just wasn't the same without her. He missed seeing her shoes by the door, her blanket over the chair in the living room, her rumpled pillow. Damn if he didn't sound like a fucking girl, and he didn't give two shits. At the beginning of the week, the guys at work had tried to cheer him up even though they had no idea what was going on. By the end of the week, they were giving him a wide berth because he was in just such a foul mood. He'd respected Addison's wishes to give her space. It hadn't been easy, but he hadn't called her or texted her like he wanted to. His wife didn't ask for much, and if she was hurting this bad, maybe giving her some time was what she needed. Hell, he was no woman expert maybe he already fucked up, and he should have run off and drug her home. This was all new to him, and he was just
Last Updated : 2022-11-24Portwood Brothers Chapter 84: Baby Master
"Let's get this party started!" Emma yelled from the door of the guest room making Addison groan."What the crap! Didn't you have the same amount of wine? How can you be up and cheerful at this godforsaken hour?""One, it's almost noon, and two, I'm excited. I haven't had you and Payton together in forever. I just sent the love of my life away for nine months. You wouldn't begrudge my happiness, would you, Addison?" "Are you guilt tripping me?" Addison asked from under her pillow."You betcha. I hope it's working," Emma admitted. "Like a charm. Do I at least get a shower in those plans of yours?""If you hurry. We're having lunch over with Josh and Payton and then leaving from there. You have fifteen minutes."Addison sat upright, stiff as a board, "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?""Honestly? I just got up about an hour ago, and Payton just called."Addison took the world's quickest shower, well the fastest shower she'd ever taken and she thought, given the circumstances, she
Last Updated : 2022-11-24
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Portwood Brothers Chapter 164: You Had Me At Ben And Jerry's
NINE MONTHS LATERWes looked up at Hailey in awe. She had overcome her fears and had rocked the shit out of her time on the stand. When she had decided to stay in DC, it was to support her friend who was pressing charges against the two guys sitting not far from Wes, guys he'd like to take outside and punch a few times. They both thought the process would be over somewhat soon, but the whole thing seemed to take time, a lot of time.During that time, they'd grown closer. They'd spent many nights talking on FaceTime and the phone. They'd only been able to see each other in person one other time, and that was in April. Wes had flown to DC to see Hailey again. He'd brought Cali with him that time, and he'd spent a week with her. While he was with her, she took him to see some of the sites. They were down at the National Mall, and as they walked by the Tidal Basin with the trees full of Cherry Blossoms, he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. They'd gone home, and sh
Portwood Brothers Chapter 163: I Gave Up Everything For You
"You did what?"This conversation wasn't going like she planned. She had envisioned telling Wes she'd turned down the amazing opportunity, and he'd say how much he loved her and appreciated that, and they'd ride off into the sunset together. Instead, it sounded like he was... mad? How was that possible?"I thought you'd be happy.""You gave up a great opportunity on a whim? Yeah, that's something to be excited about.""I don't get you, Wes!" She yelled into the phone. "First, I don't move in with you after college, and you break up with me. Now I give up my job, and you're mad. What's a girl supposed to do?""That's just it. You didn't even bother to ask. You just made the decision on your own. It's the same as last time.""But... but I gave everything up for you."Hailey heard Wes sigh over the phone, "I don't want you to give it all up. I want us to be a team. Isn't that what you want?""I just thought that I was doing this for us.""Maybe if we'd have talked about it, we
Portwood Brothers Chapter 162: I'm Quitting My Job
Wes waited around like a kid waiting for his crush to call. He wanted to pick up his phone the second he knew Hailey got off work, but he didn't want to overwhelm her. So, he'd held off and was waiting for her to call. Only he was losing it because it had been hours since she should have gotten off work, but he hadn't heard anything at all, not even a text.When it came time for him to crawl in bed, he took Cali out, looked at his phone one more time, and finally gave up on the idea that he'd be hearing from Hailey. He hated that he still felt like she didn't include him in her life, but that would come, he hoped.Just as he was about to fall asleep, his phone rang. Grabbing it from his nightstand, he looked at the screen and was surprised to see Hailey's name there. She was a total night owl, but with her having an hour on him, he figured she'd have been in bed a long time ago."Hey," he answered."You're mad." It wasn't a question."Not mad. I'm more hurt."He heard Hailey le
Portwood Brothers Chapter 161: Stop Thinking So Hard
Wes: You're ignoring me. Stop it.Hailey looked at the text the next morning and realized that she needed to call Wes. Picking up her phone, she dialed his number. It didn't even ring twice before he picked up."Glad you decided to call. I was giving it until tomorrow, and then I was looking at plane tickets.""Wes, get serious. And here I was worried I'd be waking you up.""Oh, I've been up for a while. I haven't been able to sleep right since I got back. And I am serious. Cici has been all over my ass since I came back to work. She said the only people who can stand me are the animals. Most of them can't stand being around me either. Thankfully Cali doesn't seem to mind my mood.""She must be a good dog." "She is.""You didn't tell me much about her. When did you get a dog?" she asked."A few months ago. I went to Kentucky for Sexy Kenny's bachelor trip. We went away hoping to be doing nothing but drinking and relaxing in the woods and ended up rescuing a mom and her p
Portwood Brothers Chapter 160: Bring On The Pain
There's no two ways about it, Wes was miserable. He missed Hailey, it was colder than crap out, and things just seemed to be going downhill since he got home. On the way home, Wes' flight had been delayed overnight due to weather, so he'd got stuck in Chicago. When he got home, he found out that not only had his pilot light gone out on his furnace, but his pipes had frozen too because it'd been so cold. Thankfully they hadn't burst. Because of all that, he'd been staying at a hotel. His landlord told him that with the weather warming up next week, it should fix the issue, but there was no guarantee. The icing on the whole craptastic cake, Hailey had been distant, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. Even Cali had been standoffish sensing his foul mood.A knock at his office door had him barking out a, "What?""Geeze boss, I thought you'd have come home in a better mood," Cici said as she wondered in. "One of us was alone with a member of the opposite sex, and th
Portwood Brothers Chapter 159: Where Do We Go From Here?
Christmas music filled the space, and Wes wondered what time it was. Ever since he'd got to DC, she'd been up early, most of the time beating him up. It looked like she beat him up again. Throwing his legs over the side of the bed, he found his sweats and slid them on before heading out to see what she was up to. He hoped she wasn't going to any trouble. A flurry of activity was going on in the kitchen, and Hailey was moving around in a whirl. Pulling out a pan from the oven, she set it on the counter, and then looked up and spotted him."Hi," she said with a small smile."Hey.""I made breakfast."Smelling the rich aroma made his stomach growl, "It smells amazing.""It's just omelet muffins. It should hold us over until I can get lunch made.""I'll help with lunch," he told her as he reached over and grabbed one of the muffins burning himself in the process."You don't have to.""I want to."The pair ate breakfast together but didn't really talk about what had happened or what
Portwood Brothers Chapter 158: You Need A Plan
The pounding on the door started again, and Hailey curled up tighter. She just wanted it all to go away."Hailey, you in there?""Wes?" she asked knowing he couldn't hear her.Slowly she stood, trying to get her bearings. Her legs didn't want to work, and she was worried they might give out on her. When the loud knocking started again, it scared her so bad she jumped and held her chest hoping it would slow her heart. Checking the peephole just to make sure, she confirmed that Wes was there, hopefully alone, and opened the door."What's going on?" he asked looking angry at first and then when he took her in, his face softened. "What happened?"Reaching around Wes, Hailey looked out the door just to make sure no one was there, and then closed the door and locked it again. It wasn't until she'd done this that she could breathe again. When Wes' hand landed on her shoulder, she yelped and jumped."What the hell happened while I was gone, Hailey?""It... it was nothing.""Bullshit. Y
Portwood Brothers Chapter 157: Is It Me?
"Is that bacon?" Wes asked half asleep as he made his way into the kitchen the next morning."There's something else that smells like heaven in a pan?"Snatching a piece from a plate sitting on the counter, Wes took a bite and groaned. "If I didn't love you before, I'd totally love you now."A small noise escaped her and Wes wondered if he'd pushed it a bit too far. He'd already told her he loved her, and when she hadn't said the same, he wondered if she just needed more time. He didn't doubt that she did love him. She wouldn't let him touch her much less bring her pleasure if she didn't. He just knew she wasn't ready to jump off that bridge yet. "How'd you sleep?" she asked as she worked over the stove."Would have been better if I were sleeping next to you, but not too bad. You?""Like the dead... well after," she didn't have to finish for Wes to know what she meant. "I've had nightmares almost every night since that happened. I feel like I actually got some good sleep in."
Portwood Brothers Chapter 156: I Need You
"Get off me!" Hailey yelled even though it didn't matter. No matter how what she did, she couldn't stop the man from getting what he wanted."You can fight all you want, princess. We both know deep down you want it.""NO!""Hailey.""I said get off me." She kicked her legs and felt a sense of satisfaction when her hand connected with his face."Shit! Damn, I'm bleeding. Wake up, Hailey. Don't make me bleed on your bed."That didn't sound right. Why would Michael care about that? It was then that she realized she wasn't being held down at all, and the voice; it wasn't the one from her nightmare. The realization woke her like a bucket of ice water being thrown on her. "Wes?" Opening her eyes, she saw him sitting on the edge of her bed covering his nose. "Oh crap! I'm so sorry. I'll go get something for it. How bad?"Still holding a hand over his nose, she saw him try to smile, "It's just a flesh wound. I'll go take care of this if you're okay.""I'm awake." She wouldn't
