Jessa James - Hot as Hell

Hot As Hell: Copyright © 2020 by Jessa James

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electrical, digital or mechanical including but not limited to photocopying, recording, scanning or by any type of data storage and retrieval system without express, written permission from the author.

Published by Jessa James

James, Jessa

Hot As Hell

Cover design copyright 2020 by Jessa James, Author

Design credit: Cosmic Letterz

Publisher’s Note:

This book was written for an adult audience. The book may contain explicit sexual content. Sexual activities included in this book are strictly fantasies intended for adults and any activities or risks taken by fictional characters within the story are neither endorsed nor encouraged by the author or publisher. This book has been previously published.

Get A Free Book! Get A Free Book! Join my mailing list to be the first to know of new releases, free books, special prices and other author giveaways. http://freehotcontemporary.com

Prologue

1. Lily

2. Cade

3. Lily

4. Cade

5. Lily

6. Cade

7. Lily

8. Lily

9. Cade

10. Lily

11. Lily

12. Cade

13. Cade

14. Lily

15. Cade

16. Lily

17. Cade

18. Lily

19. Cade

20. Lily

21. Cade

22. Lily

23. Cade

24. Lily

25. Cade

26. Lily

27. Cade

28. Lily

29. Cade

30. Lily

31. Cade

32. Lily

Epilogue Cade

Epilogue Lily

Get A Free Book!

Also by Jessa James

About the Author

Join my mailing list to be the first to know of new releases, free books, special prices and other author giveaways.

http://freehotcontemporary.com

Cade -2002

Cade took pleasure in every leaf crunch beneath his beat-up Converse shoes, the faded Fall Out Boy lyrics etched across the toes in EJ’s slanted print. “Sorry, dude,” EJ said. “I can’t believe my dad’s making us babysit. For free, too.”

Lily shot him a look. “Don’t be mean,” she said. “Or I’ll tell Dad.” In her little eight-year-old hands, she clutched her Lizzie McGuire lunchbox that rattled with leftovers.

Aiden tagged along beside Cade to distance himself from Lily as much as possible. In his last year of elementary school, he was desperate to be seen as one of the middle school kids like Cade and EJ. “So,” Aiden said. “How are the girls at Walker? Hot?”

“What do you know about hot?” EJ asked his little brother. “But actually, Cade thinks there are some hotties,” EJ said as he elbowed Cade in the ribs. “Right?”

“Shut up,” Cade said. He kept his eyes on the ground, an explosion of gold and orange under his feet.

“What? I saw you staring at that redheaded girl in homeroom.” Cade could feel EJ’s eyes as they bored into him, but he refused to look up. “C’mon, we’ve been best friends since we were in diapers. You think I can’t tell?”

“Not in front of the kids,” Cade said in the most adult voice he could muster. Thankfully, this time it didn’t crack , he thought.

“I’m not a little kid!” Aiden piped up. “It’s my last year—”

“You’re still in elementary school,” EJ reminded him. “And need us to escort you home!”

“Whatever,” Aiden muttered under his breath.

“Well, if you’re not going to talk about your future wife, what about the field trip Mr. Stroh was talking about? You think you’re gonna go?”

Cade sighed. “I dunno. I’m not sure if my foster parents will sign off on it.”

“What? Why wouldn’t they?” EJ asked. “It’s gonna be awesome. Like, they let you feed bears! And since it’s a drive-through safari, rhinos could totally charge the bus—”

“You know how they are,” Cade said. He rolled his eyes. “They think they can turn every kid they take in into Jehovah’s Witnesses. I’ll probably be knocking door-to-door while you all are getting impaled by wild animals or something.”

“That sounds like child abuse, dude,” EJ said as he made a face. “You should call CPS on their ass.”

Cade shook his head. “The Parkers are alright, they’re just strict. After the Carters, I can’t complain.”

“Yeah, they were crazy,” EJ said. “I can’t believe they freaking locked you in the bedroom every night! Thinking you were going to steal their crappy china or whatever.”

“The getting locked in part wasn’t so bad. It was the totally forgetting to have any food in the morning for any of us part that sucked. Not that it happened all the time, but still …”

“I don’t know, dude, going door-to-door doesn’t sound much better. Hopefully you get a decent family soon.”

“I’d just be happy staying somewhere longer than a year, honestly. So, I gotta be on my best behavior. Make sure the Parkers think I’m a ‘good kid’ and all.”

EJ laughed. “Good luck with that.”

The group turned onto Fairgrounds Road and Lily squealed as the firehouse came into view. “Are we going to get to ride the truck?” she asked.

“Don’t be stupid,” EJ said. “You know what Dad says.”

“It’s not a toy,” Lily said with a sigh.

“Yeah. But guess what? Dad told me he has a surprise for all of us.” EJ shot Lily a smile Cade knew he thought nobody noticed. EJ always acted like his little sister annoyed him, but the love he had for her always snuck in.

“Really?”

“Yeah. But only if I tell him you both were good on the walk home.”

Cade watched the towering man appear from behind the glistening red truck. “Mr. Hammond,” he said with a nod. “Thanks for letting me come by, too.”

“Of course, Cade. You know you’re like another son to me.” Mr. Hammond pulled off a pair of gloves and shoved them into a cargo pocket. He ruffled Cade’s hair. Cade felt himself bristle unintentionally. It had taken him years to stop flinching every time Mr. Hammond did that.

“This your whole brood, Hammond?” one of the newer firefighters asked. “Been busy at home, huh?”

Mr. Hammond laughed. “Something like that.”

Cade nodded hello to the crew that had watched him grow up over the years. They were like a little family of their own, even though they weren’t related by blood. Maybe that’s how it’s supposed to feel in foster care, he thought. But so far that hadn’t been his experience.

“How’s third grade treating you, Flower?” Mr. Hammond asked as Lily hugged her dad’s leg tight.

“It’s exhausting ,” she said. “We’re supposed to memorize a new times table every week. Like, what’s the point? When are we going to use that?”

“What do you think, Aiden? You agree?” Mr. Hammond asked as he squeezed Aiden’s thin shoulders.

Aiden sniffed. “It’s not exhausting, it’s too easy. I shoulda skipped a grade.”

“Be careful what you wish for,” Mr. Hammond said. “Middle school’s no picnic. Right, EJ? No more recess, no playground—”

“Yeah, but the food’s a lot better. And there are vending machines.”

“Well, if there are vending machines …” Mr. Hammond laughed and gave EJ a hug.

Cade felt the familiar tug of jealousy as he watched his friend embrace his dad. Things are so easy for him, and he doesn’t even realize it, Cade thought. EJ has it all, the whole all-American family and everything.