The shoulder under my head shakes as Maddox laughs. “I know. I feel like every joint I have is going to crack as soon as I try to move.”

  “I can’t believe we actually slept here all night.” I stretch out my top leg, realizing neither of us moved an inch.

  Maddox lifts his watch hand. “A solid five hours.”

  A disgruntled sound comes out of me, causing him to chuckle.

  “I know, Babe. Not nearly enough time together.” He tightens his arm around me.

  I snort. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m going back to sleep as soon as we find our way out of here.”

  “Speaking of.” Maddox points his toes and stretches his legs. “We should probably dismantle our base camp before anyone finds us.”

  “Agreed. I have to be back here to work this afternoon, and I’d rather not have everyone talking about us.”

  Maddox groans, then he rolls away from me. All the way off the edge of the benches, thumping onto the floor.

  “Oh my god,” I laugh and scramble after him. “Are you okay?”

  Shaking his head, he climbs up to stand. “Meant to do that.”

  I press my lips together and nod. “It was real smooth.”

  He rolls his shoulders out with a wince. “I am impressive.”

  My eyes drop to the front of his jeans. He left them undone while we slept, and they’re doing nothing to hide his bulge.

  “Like I said.” He reaches down to zip up.

  I roll my eyes, but he’s right. He’s impressive everywhere.

  Maddox bends down and picks my bra up off the floor. Sleeping in jeans was bad enough, no way was I wearing an underwire to bed.

  “Want to go put this on while I put the furniture away?”

  I fight the urge to blush. Maddox holding my bra is hardly the most personal thing we did over the past twenty-four hours.

  “Yes, please.” I climb off our bench bed, bringing the hoodie with me.

  Before I can grab the bra, Maddox lifts it out of reach.

  My eyes follow the movement, my head tipping back, and he uses the angle to tip his face forward and kiss me.

  His lips are firm against mine.

  It’s just one kiss.

  A simple press.

  But it feels like so much more.

  He pulls back. “If we do that any longer, I’m going to want to put these benches to use again.”

  I dart my hand up and grab my bra. “Maybe we can use an actual bed next time.”

  Too late, I realize what I just said. But instead of looking smothered, Maddox looks smug.

  “Agreed.”

  Before I can get us both in trouble, I hurry to the bathroom.

  I return two minutes later, wearing my bra and his hoodie, and while Maddox straightens the last cushion, I slip my backpack onto my shoulders.

  With everything in place, I take his outstretched hand, and we walk toward the front entrance.

  The silence between us is… comfortable. Familiar.

  Our steps slow as we reach the doors.

  “Any ideas on how…” Maddox trails off as we watch an older man in a jumpsuit approach the doors from the other side, pushing a custodial cart. “Well, that was easy.”

  The man unlocks the outer door and is halfway through the vestibule before he notices us.

  He jerks to a stop, eyes widening.

  Maddox lifts his hand and projects his voice. “Morning!”

  “Morning,” he says back, sounding confused. Then he narrows his eyes on Maddox’s face and points at him. “Aren’t you the Mad Dog boy?” His voice is muffled through the glass.

  Maddox grins. “That’s me.”

  “That was a good scoop and score on Thursday. Fun to watch.”

  “Appreciate that. It was fun to do.” Maddox gestures to the door. “Mind letting me and my girl out of here? We lost track of time studying and got locked in last night.”

  My girl. Gah.

  The man lifts the keys. “You mind signing something for me?”

  Maddox laughs. “Yeah, man. I sign it, and you pretend this never happened. Deal?”

  “Deal.” The man nods and unlocks the door.

  Notebook signed, Maddox and I walk out into the fresh morning air.

  We stop and turn to face each other.

  “I’d like to do that again.” Maddox searches my gaze. “And not just the naked part. Everything that happened before it too.”

  I bite my lip, his words filling me with a lightness I didn’t know I needed.

  “I’d like that, too,” I tell him.

  Maddox takes a step closer. “After your shift?”

  “Today?”

  He nods. “I can’t wait longer than that.”

  “Today.” I breathe my agreement.

  He leans down. “Promise?”

  I set my free hand to his chest, lifting onto my tiptoes.

  “Promise.” I whisper the word against his lips.

  To be continued in Love, Utley

  Order Dear Rosie, book 2 in the Love Letters series, now!

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  S.J. Tilly was born and raised in Minnesota, which is why so many of her books are based there. But she now resides in the beautiful mountains of Colorado with her husband and misfit herd of rescue boxers.

  When she’s not busy writing a new book, she can be found plotting her next book...

  To stay up to date on all things Tilly, make sure to follow her on her socials, join her newsletter, and interact whenever you feel like it! Links to everything on her website sjtilly.com

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Keeping this short, sweet, and unedited - because I somehow deleted my previous acknowledgments… whoops!

  Thank you to my people. My mom. My Kerissa. My sprint group. My BeanBaggers and Banshees and ARC readers.

  I love you.

  I love my job.

  And I hope you love the Love Letters Series.

  Xoxo

  BOOKS BY THIS AUTHOR

  Love Letters Series

  Contemporary Romance

  Tackled in the Stacks

  I caught her staring at me from across the quad, eyes fixed on the football jersey stretched across my wide chest. And if I flexed my muscles, showing off the strength of a defensive tackle, it was just to see her blush.

  And then she did, and I couldn’t get her out of my mind.

  Her wide eyes. The freckles on her cheeks.

  I needed to know her. The girl who scampered away every time we bumped into each other—by accident and by design. The girl who shyly agreed to come to my game, getting her first taste of football. The girl, Hannah Utley, who worked at the campus library and let me rest my head on her shoulder as she read to me in one of the study rooms.

  It was innocent. Mostly.

  Until we lose track of time and discover that the library has closed. And we’re locked inside.

  Now it’s me and Hannah in the stacks.

  Alone.

  With nothing but desire between us.

  Love, Utley

  Hannah

  Maddox Lovelace. The captivating football player I met in college.

  The one I only knew for a week. A week that was… life-changing.

  Until my phone rang, and I had no choice but to go home.

  I left Maddox a letter, putting my feelings on paper, giving him my number, hoping he’d call.

  But he didn’t call.

  He never called.

  He got drafted into the professional league and lived like a king while I stayed home and struggled to stay afloat.

  I may have followed his career, but now that he’s retired from football, I’ve forced myself to stop thinking about him.

  And it’s okay that I won’t ever see him again. That week in college was fifteen years ago.

  I’m not in love with Maddox anymore.

  I might even hate him.

  Maddox

  Hannah Utley. The name that’s haunted me since my senior year of college.

  The girl who caught my attention with her wide eyes and freckled nose.

  Who spent one week twisting up my insides until she stole a piece of my heart the night we got locked inside the campus library.

  The girl who disappeared without a word.

  It’s the name of the girl I’ve been trying to forget for fifteen years.

  And it’s the name looking up at me from the résumé in my hand.

  Because Hannah Utley works for the company I just purchased.

  And that makes her mine. Whether she likes it or not.

  Dear Rosie,

  Waller’s Story.

  Alliance Series

  Dark Mafia Romance

  NERO

  Payton

  Running away from home at seventeen wasn’t easy. Let’s face it, though, nothing before, or in the ten years since, has ever been easy for me.

  And I’m doing okay. Sorta. I just need to keep scraping by, living under the radar. Staying out of people’s way, off people’s minds.

  So when a man walks through my open patio door, stepping boldly into my home and my life, I should be scared. Frightened. Terrified.

  But I must be more broken than I realized because I’m none of those things.

  I’m intrigued.

  And I’m wondering if the way to take control of my life is by giving in to him.

  Nero

  The first time I took a man’s life, I knew there’d be no going back. No normal existence in the cards for me.

  So instead of walking away, I climbed a mountain of bodies and created my own destiny. By forming The Alliance.

  And I was fine with that. Content enough to carry on.

  Until I stepped through those open doors and into her life.

  I should’ve walked away. Should’ve gone right back out the door I came through. But I didn’t.

  And now her life is in danger.

  But that’s the thing about being a bad man. I’ll happily paint the streets red to protect what’s mine.

  And Payton is mine. Whether she knows it or not.

  KING

  Okay, so, my bad for assuming the guy I was going on a date with wasn’t married. And my bad for taking him to a friend’s house for dinner, only to find out my friend is also friends with his wife. Because, in fact, he is married. And she happens to be at my friend’s house because her husband was busy working.

  Confused? So am I.

  Unsurprisingly, my date’s wife is super angry about finding out that her husband is a cheating asshole.

  Girl, I get it.

  Then, to make matters more convoluted, there is the man sitting next to my date’s wife. A man named King, who is apparently her brother and who lives up to his name.

  And since my date is a two-timing prick, I’m not going to feel bad about drooling over King,

  especially since I’ll never see him again.

  Or at least I don’t plan to.

  I plan to take an Uber to the cheater’s apartment to get my car keys.

  I plan for it to be quick.

  And if I had to list a thousand possible outcomes… witnessing my date’s murder, being kidnapped by his killer, and then being forced to marry the super attractive but clearly

  deranged crime lord would not have been on my Bingo card.

  But alas, here I am.

  DOM

  VAL

  When I was nine, I went to my first funeral. Along with accepting my father’s death, I had to accept new and awful truths I wasn’t prepared for.

  When I was nineteen, I went to my mother’s funeral. We weren’t close, but with her gone, I became more alone than ever before.

  Sure, I have a half brother who runs The Alliance. And yeah, he’s given me his protection—in the form of a bodyguard and chauffeur. But I don’t have anyone that really knows me. No one to really love me.

  Until I meet him. The man in the airport.

  And when one chance meeting turns into something hotter, something more serious, I let myself believe that maybe he’s the one. Maybe this man is the one who will finally save me from my loneliness. The one to give me the family I’ve always craved.

  DOM

  The Mafia is in my blood. It’s what I do.

  So when that blood is spilled and one funeral turns into three, drastic measures need to be taken.

  And when this battle turns into a war, I’m going to need more men. More power.

  I’m going to need The Alliance.

  And I’ll become a member. By any means necessary.

  HANS

  Vengeance is rarely clean.

  Sin Series

  Romantic Suspense

  Mr. Sin

  I should have run the other way. Paid my tab and gone back to my room. But he was there. And he was… everything. I figured, what’s the harm in letting passion rule my decisions for one night? So what if he looks like the Devil in a suit? I’d be leaving in the morning. Flying home, back to my pleasant but predictable life. I’d never see him again.

  Except I do. In the last place I expected. And now everything I’ve worked so hard for is in jeopardy.

  We can’t stop what we’ve started, but this is bigger than the two of us.

  And when his past comes back to haunt him, love might not be enough to save me.

  Sin Too

  Beth

  It started with tragedy.

  And secrets.

  Hidden truths that refused to stay buried have come out to chase me. Now I’m on the run, living under a blanket of constant fear, pretending to be someone I’m not. And if I’m not really me, how am I supposed to know what’s real?

  Angelo

  Watch the girl.

  It was supposed to be a simple assignment. But like everything else in this family, there’s nothing simple about it. Not my task. Not her fake name. And not my feelings for her.

  But Beth is mine now.

  So when the monsters from her past come out to play, they’ll have to get through me first.

  Miss Sin

  I’m so sick of watching the world spin by. Of letting people think I’m plain and boring, too afraid to just be myself.

  Then I see him.

  John.

  He’s strength and fury and unapologetic.

  He’s everything I want. And everything I wish I was.

  He won’t want me, but that doesn’t matter. The sight of him is all the inspiration I need to finally shatter this glass house I’ve built around myself.

  Only he does want me. And when our worlds collide, details we can’t see become tangled, twisting together, ensnaring us in an invisible trap.

  When it all goes wrong, I don’t know if I’ll be able to break free of the chains binding us or if I’ll suffocate in the process.

  Sleet Series

  Hockey Romantic Comedy

  Sleet Kitten

  There are a few things that life doesn’t prepare you for. Like what to do when a super-hot guy catches you sneaking around in his basement. Or what to do when a mysterious package shows up with tickets to a hockey game, because apparently, he’s a professional athlete. Or how to handle it when you get to the game and realize he’s freaking famous since half of the 20,000 people in the stands are wearing his jersey.

  I thought I was a well-adjusted adult, reasonably prepared for life. But one date with Jackson Wilder, a viral video, and a “I didn’t know she was your mom” incident, and I’m suddenly questioning everything I thought I knew.

  But he’s fun. And great. And I think I might be falling for him. But I don’t know if he’s falling for me too, or if he’s as much of a player off the ice as on.

  Sleet Sugar

  My friends have convinced me. No more hockey players.

  With a dad who is the head coach for the Minnesota Sleet, it seemed like an easy decision.

  My friends have also convinced me that the best way to boost my fragile self-esteem is through a one-night stand.

  A dating app. A hotel bar. A sexy-as-hell man, who’s sweet and funny, and did I mention, sexy as hell… I fortified my courage and invited myself up to his room.

  Assumptions. There’s a rule about them.

  I assumed he was passing through town. I assumed he was a businessman or maybe an investor or accountant or literally anything other than a professional hockey player. I assumed I’d never see him again.

  I assumed wrong.

  Sleet Banshee

  Mother-freaking hockey players. My friends found their happily ever afters with a couple of sweet, doting, over-the-top, in-love athletes. They got nicknames like Kitten and Sugar. But me? I got stuck with a dickhead who riles me up on purpose and calls me Banshee. Yeah, he might have a voice made specifically for wet dreams. And he might have a body and face carved by the gods. And he might have a level of Alpha-hole that gets me all hot and bothered.

  But when he presses my buttons, he presses ALL of my buttons. And I’m not the type of girl who takes things sitting down. And I only got caught on my knees that one time. In the museum.

  But when one of my decisions gets one of my friends hurt… I can’t stop blaming myself. And him.

  Except he can’t take a hint. And I can’t keep my panties on.

  Sleet Princess

  My trip to Mexico for my cousin’s wedding was only supposed to be a few days of obligation and oceanside.

  I wasn’t expecting Luke.

  Wasn’t expecting the hot hockey player, with the smirks and the tattoos, who kept bumping into me.

  And I certainly wasn’t expecting to spend a night on the beach, under the stars, underneath him.

  It was magical, but I thought it would end there.

  Instead, we exchanged numbers and stayed in touch.

  So when Luke invited me to watch him play in Vegas, I went.

  And it was great.

  Until we woke up the next morning and found the wedding certificate in my pocket.

  Turns out that dance party we snuck into was actually a group wedding ceremony.

  And now we’re married.

  Which is bad.

  Because I think our wedding was actually our first date. And if my dad finds out, he’ll cut me out of the family business.