A Simple Hello – Lacey Black

Plus, it keeps us from getting too out of hand, like throwing Alex’s prescription glasses into the fire.” I crane my neck to look at him. “You threw his glasses in the fire?” “Well, not intentionally, but they were wrapped in a sweatshirt, and everyone was teasing him about needing the extra layer of warmer clothes to sleep in, especially since no one else brought more clothes, so the sweatshirt got chucked into the fire.

We didn’t realize they were in there until about five minutes later, when it finally hit Alex.” “Oops.” “Yeah, so now the rule is anything in the tents is off-limits.” “Throwing things in the fire is a normal occurrence?” He shrugs. “I’d love to say no, but unfortunately, we’re an immature, rowdy bunch, and so I plead the Fifth.” He points to the big pile of logs and limbs, as well as a small, more strategically wood pile.

“Right there is where we’ll have the fire. It gets pretty big and hot, so we make sure it’s a ways out from the trees.” I nod, my eyes returning to his tent. Something niggles at the back of my mind, and I do everything I can to push it away.

The last thing I want to know is if he has women who share his tent with him, but now that I’ve seen the place he’ll be sleeping later, I can’t stop the thoughts from peppering my brain. I mean, since the moment I got here, everyone has confirmed he’s a known bachelor and is never short on the company of ladies.

I’m sure there’s been plenty who have slept in that tent, and the fact I feel jealous of them is pretty astonishing to me. “You okay?” “Oh. Yeah.” My chuckle is awkward at best. “I was just lost in thought for a minute. All good now.”

He sits up straight and places his hands on both of my legs.

Cooper Town Boys Series, book 2 Copyright © 2026 Lacey Black Cover Design by Kristie Leigh, Vanilla Lily Designs Photographer Eric McKinney, 6:12 Photography Model Bryan B Editing by Kara Hildebrand Proofreading by Sandra Shipman, Joanne Thompson, and Karen Hrdlicka Formatting by Champagne Book Design No part of this book may be used, including but not limited to, the training of or use by artificial intelligence, or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission by Lacey Black, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of fiction. Any reference to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without the prior written permission of the author.

Published in the United States of America. All rights reserved. ISBN-13: 978-1-951829-66-7 1kitap1.com/en CHAPTER ONE CADE I walk toward the bar, carrying two cases of bottles so my brother can restock, all while belting out a classic Billy Ray Cyrus tune from the early nineties about broken hearts. I lift my chin to the regulars as I pass by, and then paste on a bright, charming smile to a group of ladies standing at the bar, waiting for their drinks.

“Ladies,” I state as I walk past, throwing them a wink. I get the result I’m expecting when I hear their giggles behind me. Setting the cases on the floor, I get to work stocking what’s low. “You don’t have to do that, but we appreciate it,” Lizzie says as she passes, carrying two drinks for the giggle girls behind me.

Lizzie owns this place now. The Tipsy Lizard. It’s been our hangout since we were old enough to legally drink, and maybe even a little before then, until Chuck, the previous owner, would kick us out. Lizzie bought this place back in April, and in the last four months has completely transformed it into a bar everyone wants to hang out at. The best part is, she kept the old-school, classic look with tons of old alcohol memorabilia, and just brightened the place up with some good ol’ fashioned cleaning and painting.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: a6afc2ffb988484a
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 1,740,218 bytes (1.66 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9781951829667
• Pages: 283
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 397.92 minutes
• Total Words: 79,584
• Total Characters: 424,269
• Average Words per Page: 281.22
• Average Characters per Page: 1499.18

Most Frequent Words

i’m (480), it’s (288), like (262), know (254), one (244), back (241), get (209), don’t (209), oaklee (203), time (200), eyes (197), little (178), cade (177), want (172), head (171), around (171), even (166), i’ll (158), good (156), right (154), he’s (152), take (150), that’s (147), she’s (146), i’ve (146), sure (144), you’re (142), says (140), something (137), way (135), smile (129), say (125), see (124), allison (123), work (122), hand (121), now (118), door (117), tell (116), two (113), well (113), ask (113), asks (103), feel (102), reply (101), make (100), front (99), need (99), room (98), think (97), first (95), much (92), come (92), going (91), can’t (90), never (89), doesn’t (89), night (88), i’d (87), still (87), though (85), didn’t (84), taking (84), look (82), woman (80), always (79), love (78), since (77), we’re (77), lips (77), help (77), last (76), keep (75), beautiful (75), mouth (74), attention (74), face (74), place (73), bar (72), lizzie (72), town (71), anything (71), lance (71), there’s (71), making (71), home (70), against (70), really (70), day (68), away (68), next (67), open (67), move (66), replies (66), toward (65), yeah (65), let (65), book (63), charli (63), long (63).

PDF Download