Lessons From a One-Night Stand
by Piper Rayne
Self-Published
Book 1 in The Baileys series
If you're a guy like me, and you find yourself having banged your sexy new boss —the school principal — in the back of your Jeep one drunken night, here's a few takeaways based on my experience...
Lesson One: always get her FULL name.
Lesson Two: consider asking what she does for a living.
Lesson Three: find out why she's moved to town. Get details. Details are crucial.
Lesson Four: don't alter her bio in front of an auditorium of high school students unless you know she has a sense of humor for that sort of thing.
Lesson Five: if you ignore Lesson Four, apologize instead of flirt when you're sent to the principal's office.
Lesson Six: NEVER sleep with her again.
Lesson Seven: pay attention to this one, it's the most important of them all.
Don't fall for your one-night stand.
Class dismissed.
Genre:
You know that saying 'Don't judge a book by it's cover.'?
It implies for this book.
Actually, it implies for the whole series.
The covers are terrible.
I'm not even a fan of the titles in this series.
But the story, I love. Which is all that matters.
So again - don't judge a book by its cover. Because if I didn't already read The Problem With Second Chances - which is a spin off from this series - and love it as much as I did, I would have passed on these books because of the cover. Lesson learned.
Lessons From A One-Night Stand is adorable.
Seriously. Freaking. Adorable.
The characters are entertaining. Austin and Holly are great, but the side characters are as well. I mean, they have to be, because the series follows the whole family finding love, but ugh! I can't describe how great all these characters are! Their backstories, and what drives them, are so different from one another, but they all share that family connection and pain that links them all together in a way where you can feel the love these fictional characters have for one another.
But back to Austin and Holly. Their romance. It's cute! I love their steamy meet cute. I loved Austin pursuing Holly, and helping her. I loved their chemistry. I loved Austin coming to terms with the direction his life took, and making a choice for himself.
It was just fun!
Lessons From A One-Night Stand has a little bit of everything. If you like reading romances that involve self-sacrificing heroes, meddling grandmothers in a super small town (Alaska! Love it!), and falling in love after a one night stand, you will love this book. It's sweet, and funny. A definite mood picker-upper.
Today started like every other day. I woke up, got ready, prepared breakfast for my ungrateful twin sisters, Phoenix and Sedona, then we all hopped into my Jeep to head to school.
Of course, Phoenix didn’t eat the pancakes. Her exact words, if I remember correctly were, “They taste like cardboard. Can’t you just follow the recipe?”
Sedona ate the pancakes, but as soon as we pulled into the parking lot of Lake Starlight High School, where they’re seniors, her appreciation for me ended. “Park in the back, I don’t want to be seen stepping out of this monstrosity.”
I’ve learned that there’s no pleasing a teenager, especially a female one—no offense, ladies, but her comment still irks me. How is my Jeep embarrassing? It has a snorkel so when I off-road, I don’t have to spend my money on a new engine and can instead afford to buy her whatever new outfit she wants. She should be grateful, thanking me. But she’s seventeen. Pleasing her is impossible.
I purposely park in the first row and honk my horn to announce our arrival, because pissing off Sedona is one of my top five favorite things to do. I’ll miss that come next year.
Phoenix’s stomach rumbles as she exits the car. Sedona has already raced off to the nearest entrance as if that creepy IT clown is following her. Elijah: “Coach, I need some advice.”
He runs his fingers through his long hair.
Austin: “How to cut your hair? Come see me. I’ve got clippers in my office.” Austin: “Don’t go listening to your friends. They usually give shit advice, and honestly, you usually get a lot more experience with a girlfriend than by flipping around with multiple girls. Teenage boys have shit for brains. Don’t listen to them.” I’m not scared of public speaking. I’ve got two teenage girls at home. You don’t know a hostile environment until you’re trying to break up a fight between those two. See the auburn-haired woman walking right toward me? The one who looks as pissed off as Sedona did when I honked my horn in the parking lot this morning?
Yeah, that’s my new boss.
The new principal of Lake Starlight High School.
I don’t believe in kissing and telling, but I’ll tell you—this is the first and only principal I’ve ever given an orgasm to in the backseat of my Jeep. Savannah: “What’s with the new look?”
Savannah asks, because Brooklyn’s makeup looks mismatched.
Brooklyn: “Oh.”
She covers her mouth.
Brooklyn: “I was trying on what makeup I want for the wedding, so Aubrey did one half of my face with a nighttime glamor look and the other with the innocent girl-next-door.”
Savannah examines both sides.
Savannah: “Nighttime,”
Savannah says at the same time I say,
Austin: “Girl next door.”
Savannah: “Don’t listen to Austin. He doesn’t respect a girl enough to give her a proper bed.”
Savannah winks. Dori: “Tell me about this principal lady. She’s very pretty.”
We reach the small lake hidden on our property and sit down on the bench my parents placed there for Grandma Dori when she started getting older. The water is still half frozen, but it’s thawing around the edges where the water is shallow.
Austin: “There’s nothing to tell.”
I shrug. She smacks my shoulder.
Austin: “What was that for?”
Dori: “I raised you better. Your mama and your dad raised you better than to do that. I was embarrassed when my friends at the center were talking about it.”
Austin: “They read it?”
She nods.
Dori: “We’re old, what else do we have to do? Lucky for you Viv’s daughter rear-ended Father McAlister. Did you read that yesterday? It’s made them forget my grandson is wooing women in his Jeep.”
Austin: “Sorry,”
I mumble, unbelieving that I’m having this conversation with my grandma. She hits my shoulder with hers.
Dori: “But the picture of the handprint on the fogged window was hot.”
I shake my head, unable to stop from smiling. It might’ve been the hottest night of my life, but I’m not telling her that.
Austin: “Can we talk about something else?” Dori: “And don’t worry, your grandpa always loved the thrill of a tryst in the most unlikely of places. You probably got your love of adventure from him.”
She smiles, looking up at the sky as though my grandpa is staring down at her. To quote Phoenix—eww! Austin: “Sorry to ruin your day, Sullivan, but my face isn’t going through the hole.”
I tug at his arm. He looks at me with an expression that clearly says no.
Holly: “I thought you were fun?”
I ask and poke his stomach. Actually, his set of rock-hard abs. A half-smile tilts his lips.
Austin: “You were mistaken.”
I raise up on my tiptoes and whisper in his ear,
Holly: “Really? Because I think the guy who picked me up that night was a lot of fun.”
I drop down to my regular height.
Austin: “Nope.”
He rocks back on his heels. I narrow my eyes, my smile unable to stop growing.
Holly: “What if I let you clean me up after?”
Savannah laughs. He raises a brow.
Austin: “What do you mean by clean up?” “Play and find out.”
I shrug in a coy way, and his gaze falls down over my body.
Austin: “Fine.”
He stomps over to the cut-out.
Austin: “One hour, Savannah, then find another duo of suckers.”
Savannah releases a long breath.
Savannah: “Thank you.”
Austin: “Not much of a choice,”
Austin deadpans. She touches my arm but steps closer, enveloping me in a hug. Her expensive-smelling perfume surrounds us.
Savannah: “You’re the best. Sure you don’t want to be my sister-in-law?”
She laughs it off before I can respond.
Holly: “I better go before Cranky makes a run for it,”
I say with a chuckle.
Savannah: “Great, and I’ll find someone for the next hour. I just have to think of whose face I’d want to throw a pie at.”
I laugh, heading back behind the cut-out, and smack Austin’s ass when I pass him.
Austin: “Watch it, sweetheart, otherwise I’m taking a can of whipped cream back to your place with us.”
Holly: “I don’t recall asking you over?”
Austin: “You said I get to clean you up. As much as I enjoyed our time in the Jeep, this time I want more time to explore.”
I shake my head.
Holly: “Dirty mind you have there, Coach Bailey.”
Austin: “Only when it comes to you, Principal Radcliffe.” Austin: “I really want to kiss you,”
I mumble, sliding my hand between us and running my finger over her thigh.
Holly: “Austin.”
She picks up my hand and places it in my lap. I move my hand back.
Austin: “No one can see us.”
She laughs.
Holly: “I have a feeling you’re going to have a hard time adhering to the secrecy thing.”
Austin: “Me? I’m great at taking direction. Or don’t you remember?” Rome: “So.”
He slides onto the stool across from me. I’m working on skinning the potatoes for yet another salad. I loathe Sunday dinners at this point. I’m in the kitchen the whole fucking day. But Mom would be proud that we’ve kept up the tradition.
Austin: “So?”
I ask when he says nothing further.
Rome: “I heard you and the principal are…”
He makes a circle with his finger and puts his other finger through it.
Austin: “What are you, ten?”
He laughs.
Savannah: “What did you do?”
Savannah asks. Rome swivels his stool to show Savannah, who laughs. Dori: “I read the Buzz Wheel. Did you?”
Her eyes sparkle. I say nothing, crossing my arms and leaning back in the chair.
Dori: “I loved the way she teared up with Phoenix, and then you staring down at her as the float passed by? So romantic.”
I’m laughing on the inside. Grandma wouldn’t think what we did after those pictures were taken was so romantic.
Dori: “Then the whipped cream, where you’re wiping it off her face so tenderly.”
She looks at me.
Dori: “You remind me of your grandpa.”
The heat pooling in my pants from remembering my night with Holly dissipates. Eww.
Dori: “Smooth move on the Ferris wheel. Waiting until you were up on top.”
Austin: “Thanks, Grandma. Good to know I’m making you proud.” Sedona: “I don’t remember that much, but from what everyone tells me, she loved writing and seeing the world. Hence our names.”
I scrunch up my forehead.
Holly: “What do you mean?”
Sedona seems like a sweet kid, but she still gives me the teenage “are you serious?” look.
Sedona: “Haven’t you noticed our names?”
When I sit there with a blank expression, she carries on.
Sedona: “We’re all named after the cities we were… you know… conceived in.”
Her cheeks turn pink, and I feel heat in my own.
Holly: “Oh, no, I didn’t notice actually.”
Now that I think about it, I wonder how I possibly missed it.
Holly: “What about you and Phoenix? And the other set of twins?”
Sedona: “Layovers.”
She shrugs. Holly: “Well, I will touch on the subject of your wishes at my meeting with Austin, but I’m sure your brother is not going to be okay with it just because it comes out of my mouth.”
She smiles and grabs her bag off the floor, thinking our chat is over.
Sedona: “Yeah, he will. You’re her.”
Holly: “I’m sorry, what? I’m who?”
The pen drops from my hand onto the desk.
Sedona: “My sister Juno—did you meet her yet?”
She waves me off before I answer.
Sedona: “She’s the matchmaker. It’s been passed down to one family member or another since our great-great-grandmother. Well, Juno has the gift, and she said one look at you, and she knew. You’re the woman who will open Austin’s eyes to love.”
I huff, my lungs constricting.
Holly: “I can assure you, I’m not.” He sits up and gestures to the corner of the room.
Rome: “Condoms are in my suitcase, front pocket.”
I chuckle. Little asshole knew the whole time.
Rome: “So, you’re heading to the principal’s office, huh?”
I get up off the chair and walk over to the suitcase that lays open in the corner of the room.
Austin: “Don’t say anything, okay? It’s nothing serious, and I don’t want to have to deal with everyone’s questions when it’ll be over soon anyway.”
He shakes his head.
Rome: “Your secret is safe with me, but you know you’re playing with fire, right? I just want to make sure you can see how this will go terribly wrong.”
I throw my hands in the air.
Austin: “Fucking hell. Why does everyone think they can predict the future?”
He tilts his head and gives me a duh look.
Rome: “Because it’s you, and I’m pretty sure she’s not like the girls I pick up.”
Austin: “What’re you talking about?”
He lies back down on his bed, lacing his hands behind his head.
Rome: “The girls I pick up aren’t the serious types. They’re not looking for a future husband. I’m selective with the people I sleep with.”
Austin: “Really?”
I raise a brow. With the number of women he’s slept with, I find that hard to believe. He holds up his hand.
Rome: “Not to mention half the time I’m Denver Bailey.”
He laughs.
Rome: “Best thing about being a twin.”
I toss a condom from his box onto his chest.
Austin: “Do me a favor and make sure you’re using one of these, every single time.”
He sits up, sliding the condom around in his fingers.
Rome: “Don’t worry, you gave a good birds-and-bees lecture back in the day.”
He laughs again, and I leave his room, flipping him off. Austin: “I can be your friend.”
She shrugs.
Austin: “I promise not to get attached.”
I make a cross over my heart with my finger, spurring another giggle from her.
Holly: “It’s not you I’m worried about,”
she says, and I ignore the way her words make my heart beat faster.
Austin: “How about this? After I listen to whatever is bothering you, I’ll treat you like shit.”
She knocks her shoulder with mine, and I laugh.
Austin: “What? I’m not sure there’s another solution here. I’m not going to leave you looking the way you are, so should I settle in for a long night of sanding?”
She glances at me from the corner of her eye.
Holly: “Fine, but do not be all sweet afterward. No touching.” Holly: “You’re right. We got this.”
I smile over the dresser at him before turning on my music but choose something that isn’t romantic. He grins back.
Austin: “Definitely.”
And if you believe that, you’re as stupid as Austin and I are in this moment. I think there’s a reason why people say you chase your dreams. Dreams don’t knock on your door one day and announce that they’re ready for you.” Holly: “Go to hell. Maybe I should enlighten everyone about you? How you abandoned your newborn daughter and could never spare one minute to call, one weekend to visit? How birthday after birthday, she sat there, and her only wish was for her dad to come visit?”
All eyes in the restaurant turn to us.
Clint: “Sit down. You’ve been in this town for two minutes. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Holly: “I know that the Baileys are good people and you’re not. You’re a loser who tries to steal what other people build.” JP: “What can I say about Coach Bailey? I’ve called him just about every name in the book since freshman year.”
The crowd laughs.
JP: “He’s a ball buster.”
His eyes shoot to his mom.
JP: “Sorry. But it’s true. He also made me what I am today.”
Guy: “That’s not a good thing!”
someone from the student body yells.
JP: “Yeah, yeah, I can be an ass—jerk at times.”
Everyone laughs.
JP: “Before you go off to college and work with perfect guys like Elijah.”
He winks at him, and Elijah shakes his head with a laugh.
JP: “I think it’s important for you to know these last nine years with us weren’t wasted. Because you’ve gotten me and hundreds of other guys who couldn’t handle their emotions”
—he moves his head side to side—
JP: “or hormones maybe, ready for adulthood. You taught us that we can handle whatever comes our way and gave us the skills on and off the field to deal with the ups and down of life.”
He clears his throat, and a knot forms in the middle of mine.
JP: “We all know that day nine years ago was the worst day of your life. Not only did you lose your parents, but you had to come here and teach a bunch of ungrateful kids. And though I wish your parents were in the stands right now, I’m happy you came here to teach, because I wouldn’t be walking out of this school believing in the man I am and the man I know I can be.”
JP sucks back a tear. Francie is sniffling next to me. Brooklyn’s a mess in the stands. Savannah’s lip is quivering. Even Grandma Dori is asking for a tissue. I rise from the chair and head to the podium, using every ounce of willpower in my body to keep from breaking down and crying.
JP: “So.”
JP clears his throat again.
JP: “This ball is for you, signed by each player from this year. We might not become professional ball players, so it won’t be worth millions of dollars someday, but who knows… we might be able to become you one day, and that would be an even greater achievement.” Fay: "Who will eat my butterscotch candies if the Baileys aren’t here?”
I sit on the edge of my desk, feeling as though I’m witnessing a private moment I probably shouldn’t.
Austin: “Holly will steal one a day.”
Austin looks over his shoulder at me.
Holly: “Yep. Maybe two some days.” Fay: “Your parents would be proud.”
Austin: “Would they? I’ve had my doubts these last weeks,”
She shakes her head.
Fay: “All they ever wanted was for all of you to be happy. They never cared whether you lived in Lake Starlight or Timbuktu. As long as you’re happy.”
Austin: “Yeah?”
She nods.
Fay: “The day you were born, I went to the hospital and your mom handed you to me. Your parents were the first of our friends to have kids, and I jokingly asked how bad childbirth was.”
Austin and I wait with bated breath.
Fay: “She said it hurt like a bitch, like squeezing a bowling ball through a straw.”
Austin looks at me behind him, laughing. She squeezes his hands.
Fay: “Then she told me that she never really knew where she fit. With her traveling so much for work, she worried about giving that up for a family and whether she’d be able to juggle the two. But she said one look at you, and she knew.”
Austin: “Knew what?”
Fay: “She knew where she fit. That her most important role was motherhood.” Fay: “You’ll find out one day that life has a way of changing what’s most important to you. That’s the great thing about life—nothing is ever really set in stone.” I look at her, and she turns her attention to Grandma Dori.
Savannah: “Grandma, can you pass the bread?”
Dori: “I thought you didn’t eat bread?”
Grandma Dori asks her, winking my way.
Savannah: “Today’s a special day.”
She snatches the basket out of Grandma Dori’s hands before she can fully hand it to her.
Dori: “Do you have your period?”
Grandma Dori asks, which gets the guys all cringing and groaning. Austin: “We don’t know what my future would have been if they hadn’t passed away,”
Savannah: “That’s the thing, right? We’re always chasing what we think it was supposed to have been like. I wonder if I’d stayed on course, would I really want to run Bailey Timber Corp? What if none of us had wanted to take over the company from Dad? Would a sleazeball like Clint Edison have bought it? There’re so many unanswered questions we’ll never know the answers to. They died and you came back, and I took over the company. I think it’s time we forget the what-ifs and live for the what-can-bes.” Dana: “So, hunker down and don’t pull up Buzz Wheel. And no watching romance movies.”
I click on my Netflix, looking up romantic movies that make you cry.
Holly: “Okay.”
Dana: “I mean it. Do not put on any Nicholas Sparks movies!”
Holly: “Okay.”
I debate between The Notebook or Dear John. Ryan Gosling or Channing Tatum? Decisions. Decisions.
Dana: “You’re doing it, aren’t you?”
Holly: “Yes.”
She blows out an annoyed breath.
Dana: “Fine. Pick Dear John though. I can never get enough of Channing. Especially now that he’s single.” Rome: “You didn’t open your fortune.”
I crack the cookie open and pull out the white paper. It’s never too late to dream a new dream. I look up, but Rome’s gone. I place the paper on the table and eat my fortune cookie. Damn Li. Denver: “Be safe and don’t forget to call.”
He straightens the collar of my shirt, running his hands down my shoulders like a mom before her son jets off to college. He even imitates a mom voice.
Denver: “Remember those girls only want one thing.”
I laugh and shake my head.
Austin: “See you in a few months.” I’m only there for five minutes before I hear a voice I’d recognize anywhere.
Dori: “Excuse me. Yeah, I need to sit there.”
I look up to see the man next to me sliding over as Grandma Dori smiles at him, though he looks annoyed.
Dori: “Thanks. Your grandma would be proud,”
Guy: “She’s dead but thanks.”
The man is barely up before she sits down. My face must be twisted in confusion.
Austin: “Grandma?”
Dori: “Well, I have to say you’re a stubborn one. I can’t believe you’re here.”
She pats my knee.
Austin: “You knew I was flying out today.”
Dori: “Yes, but I always thought you were a bright boy. Maybe I’m mixing you up with Rome or another one of your brothers.” I run down the hallway, weaving through the throngs of people coming toward me. Once I’m past security, a golf cart pulls up beside me. It stops, as do I, and Grandma Dori steps off.
Dori: “See, I knew you weren’t stupid.”
A panting Savannah comes up behind her.
Savannah: “We really need to talk. If you want to be Thelma and Louise, you can’t leave me behind.”
Grandma Dori waves her off.
Dori: “Not now, Austin needs to get back to Lake Starlight. I told you he’d come to his senses if we waited around.” Holly: “Have you ever felt like everything in your life, all the pieces, finally fit? Like you’d found the last piece of the puzzle?”
Austin: “You were already complete,”
a deep voice says next to me. Austin: “How could I resent you? I mean, my dream was always something I couldn’t have, and somewhere along the line, I convinced myself that’s what I needed to be happy. But then you walked into this bar and sat on that stool.”
Holly: “It’s only been three months. I should tell you that I drool when I’m really tired, and I’m a bear to wake up in the morning. There’s so much you might find out that you don’t like about me.”
He takes my face in his hands.
Austin: “And I can’t wait to find out the things that annoy me, because there’ll be a million more things that I love. I want the good and the bad. The beautiful and the ugly. The only stipulation is that I experience them with you.” Austin: "You’ll give me so much more than a stupid coaching career. I want to watch you walk toward me in a white gown. I want to see you sign your name as Holly Bailey. If you’re willing to change your name.”
He smirks.
Austin: “I want to practice getting you pregnant over and over again and rub my hand across your growing belly.”
He tips his head down and brings his forehead to mine.
Austin: “I want to argue about what to name our kids. Hold your hand while a part of us, a part of our love is born into existence. Every moment of my future… I want you in it.”
Tears run down my face, and he pulls back and brushes them away with his thumbs.
Austin: “What do you say?”
Holly: “What’s the question?”
I laugh, trying to compose myself, because right now, I feel as if I could float away like a balloon from the sheer amount of joy bursting in my chest.
Austin: “Can I drive you home?”
I smile.
Dori: “This time you’d better take her home and not to your Jeep,” Myles jumps on the bed and onto my back. I push him off.
Austin: “Down, Myles.”
She giggles.
Austin: "I swear this dog is going to cockblock me again,”
I grumble. Myles jumps up again, and I hop off the bed. I point at the open door.
Austin: “Get out, Myles.”
Holly: “He looks so sad,”
Austin: “Believe me, I’m going to look sadder if he doesn’t leave.” IF THE JEEP IS ROCKIN’, DON’T COME KNOCKIN’ In other news, our favorite Coach and Principal were seen once again, steaming up the windows of a Jeep behind Lucky’s. If I didn’t know better, I’d say those two like to be in Buzz Wheel. (Picture included)
I turn off the tablet and toss it on my nightstand.
Holly: “Will our names ever not be in that thing?”
I hover over her, my lips millimeters from hers.
Austin: “Stick with me and we’ll always give people something to talk about.”
