Romantically Perfect: A Friends to Lovers Romantic Comedy (Perfectly Imperfect Love Series Book 3) Read online

  Romantically Perfect

  Perfectly Imperfect Love Series Book 3

  S.E. Rose

  Contents

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  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  Stay Connect

  About the Author

  Also By S.E. Rose

  Sneak Peek at Awkwardly Perfect

  Copyright © 2020 S. E. Rose

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  www.seroseauthor.com

  Cover design © Arijana Karčić, Cover It! Designs

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  This book contains descriptions of adult relationships and derogatory language. If such things offend you, this book is not for you. The book is intended for mature readers.

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  This one is for all my fellow romance readers. Never be afraid to be a dreamer.

  Chapter One

  Di

  Music blares from my headphones as I jog down Main Street. Louis Armstrong is belting out about “friends shaking hands” and it’s like he wrote “It’s a Wonderful World” just for Banneker, Maryland. Right on cue, Mr. Benson and Mr. Folley, who always play checkers outside of the coffee shop, lean over the table and shake hands before packing up their pieces to head home for the day. The sky is blue with giant puffy clouds floating by on a light breeze.

  Summer is quickly warping into fall, which means I have three more days until school starts. Then, my midday run will have to turn into either the crack-of-dawn run or the before-dinner run. I groan internally at the thought which begins to morph into a giant rain cloud over the spectacular day.

  My phone buzzes and I look down to see a text in my family chat.

  Lanie: Need help setting up your classroom?

  Kent: Why is this in the group chat?

  Kylie: Don’t be an asshole.

  Mothership: Kylie! Language! And, Kent, you are being a party pooper!

  Dad: I can help you if you need it.

  C-Dog: Yeah, I sort of have a party…all weekend.

  Kent: See, we have pressing life matters to attend to. I’m sure Di has this.

  Lanie: You guys suck! Seriously, text me if you need help.

  I laugh and text back that I’m good before continuing my run.

  “Miss Moore! Miss Moore!” The shrieking of Ellie Thomas and Ruby Hines draws me out of my funk. I slow down and smile at them. These two cuties are going to be in my class this year. I have been lucky in that I have moved from teaching second to third and now fourth grade at my elementary school. Fourth grade is the grade I had originally wanted to teach when I started a few years ago, but there weren’t any openings, so I taught second or third for a few years. And then Ms. Garrison retired and voila! I am now the new fourth-grade teacher!!

  It also means that I have had some of the same kids in my class now for going on three years. It’s unusual that I get to know kids so well, but I love it. I’ll be sad to see them go to a new teacher next year.

  “Hey, girls,” I reply as I slow down in front of the ice cream shop. “You ready for school?”

  Ellie nods enthusiastically but Ruby shrugs and looks down at her feet.

  “Yes,” they both say, their voices mirroring their bodies’ reactions to the question.

  I nudge Ruby’s foot with mine and she looks up at me. “We are going to have so much fun this year! And guess where we get to go on a field trip?”

  Ruby’s eyes widen a bit. “Where?”

  “Annapolis and the National Aquarium!” I say excitedly.

  Ruby’s lips slowly form a smile. “Really? The National Aquarium?”

  I nod. Poor Ruby has allergy issues and she ate a cracker with peanut butter on it at an after-school activity and ended up in the hospital. That happened to coincide with our field trip to the local nature center. I haven’t felt that bad about a kid missing a field trip in a long time.

  “Yep, it’s going to be awesome! I’ll see you ladies in a few days.”

  They wave goodbye as I take off running back home, which is only a block away. I currently reside in an apartment above Martin’s Gifts on Elm Street, just a block off Main Street and two blocks from my school, Charles Elementary School.

  I slow down as I turn onto my street. As I’m stretching, my phone buzzes with a text.

  Mothership: You ready for school to start? Are you sure you don’t need me to help you?

  I roll my eyes. My mother was a school nurse and I swear she lives vicariously through me now.

  Me: Yes, Mother. And thank you, but I really am good. Can’t talk now.

  Mothership: Oh dear, did I catch you running? I’m sorry. Call me later.

  Me: OK

  I’m about to punch my security numbers into the door that takes me up to the apartment when my phone buzzes again. I look down to see the sibling chat blowing up with messages.

  Kent: Alert! Alert! This just in: Party at my place on Saturday after the rents.

  Tabby: Correction. Party at our place.

  Kent: Same thing.

  Tabby: (angry emoji)

  Lanie: Kids or no kids?

  Kylie: Pool or no pool?

  C-Dog: Seriously, are these even questions?

  Kent: Park Ash at Mom and Dad’s and of course we’ll be in the pool. Who are you and what have you done with our sister?

  Me: I’m in.

  Lanie: Great. You can explain to your nephew why he can’t come.

  C-Dog: Poor Ash-man. I’ll tuck him in and then he won’t be so bummed.

  Kylie: Right. He’ll just have nightmares instead.

  C-Dog: (middle-finger emoji)

  Lanie: Grow up, people.

  Me: So much love.

  Lanie: Di, don’t stir the pot.
>
  C-Dog: What? Who’s bringing pot?

  Me: Clark, first of all…no, just no.

  C-Dog: You are sooo boring!

  Me: I am sooo a teacher.

  Lanie: Is this convo over? I have things to do.

  Kylie: So sorry, your supreme highness. I believe our audience with Mother Hen has ended.

  Lanie: (eye-rolling emoji) Whatever.

  I put my phone in my pocket and start to open the door when I hear my name from across the street.

  “Di?”

  I turn slowly to see Garrett Henley, all six foot two inches of his perfect body. Garrett teaches fifth grade at my school. He is also fucking hot as hell. He lives a few blocks away on Walnut Drive in an old house that he has slowly been restoring over the past five years. And I may have had the world’s biggest crush on him for the past five years. But our very first conversation makes Garrett a non-starter for me in the relationship department.

  Why, you ask? Because he doesn’t believe in true love. He says love is just a temporary thing. He actually said that when one of the other teachers began raving about seeing a production of Romeo and Juliet over the summer. I couldn’t believe my ears. I went from hearing angels singing when he entered the staff room on his first day, all muscled and perfect in his tight-fitting t-shirt that had an old Poltergeist movie photo on it, to permanently friend-zoning him. Truthfully, I had actually glimpsed him the day before that and thought he was cute then. Now, I just ogle him from afar.

  The funny thing about his first day was that he was literally wearing a t-shirt with a photo of a girl whose middle name I have because of the movie. Diana after Wonder Woman, thanks, Dad, and Carol after Carol Ann from Poltergeist because Mom has a thing with horror movies.

  I wanted him to so badly be my soulmate, my one true love, the one that would sweep me off my feet, finally! And then he had to say that. My dreams came crashing down and I moved on to dating Brad Farley, who left me for a waitress at his favorite restaurant, which isn’t even that good, by the way.

  Of course, Brad was just one in a long line of failed attempts at love. I don’t get it. All my siblings just run into random people and bam, they find love. Meanwhile, I want to find true love more than all of them combined, and nope, nothing. It’s seriously crickets over here.

  At least Garrett turned out to be a nice guy. We’re friends now. I mean, friendly. We usually both attend the teacher happy hours at the pub. And he’s helped me out a few times with the use of his truck for moving things.

  “Oh, hey. What’s up?” I say as I lean against my doorjamb. He looks both ways and crosses the street. He clearly just got back from Floyd’s Gym. His tight shirt clings to his sweaty body and fully accentuates his six-pack or does he have eight? I try to stop from looking but that deep V above his waistband has all of my attention.

  “You coming to the first-day happy hour this week?” he asks as my eyes slowly move up his body to meet his eyes. His eyes. Have I mentioned those yet? ’Cause they are perfect. They are blue, like mine, but darker with flecks of green and brown in them.

  “Uh, yeah. I’ll be there,” I answer.

  “Cool.” We both pause for a moment in awkward silence.

  “How—” “What—” We both start talking at once. I grin and blush as I stop, and he grins back at me.

  “You first,” he insists.

  “How was your summer?” I ask. I hadn’t seen Garrett in a few weeks.

  He shrugs. “Honestly,” he starts, running a hand through his thick brown hair that makes my hand twitch in longing, “sort of shitty. I broke up with April a few weeks ago. My friend, oh you met him once, Greg, he talked me into going to the shore for the last two weeks. Which was needed. How about you?”

  My brain is still processing that he is single. Ugh. His breakup probably only worked to confirm his feelings about true love.

  “Oh, nothing really. Just hanging out with the family. My brother got married two weeks ago, so that was fun.”

  “Right, I forgot Kent’s wedding was this month. How’d it go?”

  I launch into a short version of the wedding of the century for Banneker. They got married down at the historical society, which is housed in this ancient mansion on the river near the courthouse. It has some pretty gardens in the back and faces the park on the river with a gazebo. Of course, Kent rented the park and the house and had a giant party for all our family and friends. An intimate ceremony, they said. Kent’s idea of intimacy was 200 of our closest family and friends, but whatever.

  “Sounds nice,” he says when I finish. “I gotta get going. I have soccer practice in an hour.”

  Did I mention that Garrett also coaches the high school boys soccer team? Well, he does. And the mornings when they all come running down the street with no shirts because it gets hot, I may drool over Garrett from behind my curtains.

  “I guess I’ll see you at school,” I reply as I turn and head inside to my apartment.

  Now, as apartments go, mine is pretty sweet. It’s a two-bedroom, one-bathroom that takes up the two floors above the gift shop. It has a balcony off the main living area overlooking a small courtyard in the back. Yeah, so it maybe reminded me of Romeo and Juliet, so kill me.

  I lean against my door for a moment and sigh. Why, oh why does he have to be so freakin’ hot?

  Garrett

  Why, oh why does Di have to be so beautiful? No. Nope. Not going there. I don’t need another relationship. I probably need a year’s worth of therapy to unravel why I hate love and never want a serious relationship again, but if I had to break it down to a Cliffs Notes version, I’d say my parents’ nasty divorce followed by my first serious girlfriend cheating on me are the likely culprits of my disdain for all things romance related.

  On my first day on the job, I saw Di and I was totally interested. I thought, hey, maybe a friends-with-benefits situation. Then she opened her mouth about all that mushy love stuff, and I had to immediately shut her down. She got friend-zoned. But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I use every excuse possible to be around her. She’s an awesome person. Completely not like me in every way, but yet, I find her oddly endearing.

  Her family seems super cool too, like a bunch of people that I’d love to hang out with. Only, Di’s been in serious relationships pretty much the entire time I’ve known her. Until recently.

  Now, I’m curious if that whole friends-with-benefits thing could actually happen. Maybe Di’s changed her mind about all that hearts-and-flowers bullshit.

  I grab a shower while I contemplate this. By the time I finish, I’m no closer to figuring Di out than I was when I started. I pull on some shorts and a t-shirt and head out to the high school to coach my kids. OK, not “my” kids, but, yeah, my kids.

  I arrive to find my two seniors, Aidan and Marcus, setting things up as per their co-captain positions require. It’s strange how much I love this town. When I first came here, I never thought it’d be for me. I took the position thinking I’d stay for a year and then find a position in a bigger city. Yet, over five years later, here I am.

  Chapter Two

  Di

  “Cannonball!” Clark yells as he runs and jumps into the pool, pulling up his legs so he can make the largest splash possible. My youngest brother just started back at college for his sophomore year. Clark, or C-Dog, was the surprise baby in our family. Poor kid had six built-in parents growing up, but I have to say, he hasn’t turned out half bad.

  Of course, Clark is quickly followed by my brother-in-law, Brix, who’s married to my twin sister, Lanie, my brother Kent, and Kent’s best friend Amery. His splash goes even farther.

  I set down a bottle of wine on the bar and walk over to my sister-in-law, Tabby, who is sitting in an oversized lounge chair.

  She pats it as I approach, and I take the seat next to her.

  “You ready for school?” she asks me. We hadn’t had time to catch up at my parents’ tonight, so it’s nice to sit here and chat with her. I love Tabb
y. She’s artsy and fun and a total yin to my brother’s yang.

  “Yeah. Just about. I have a few things to bring to the classroom tomorrow, and then I just need the kiddos.”

  “How stoked is Ashton that you get to teach him again?” she asks, referring to our nephew.

  I grin. “I think he secretly loves it but of course he tells all his friends that it’s such a drag being in his aunt’s class, again.” I put the air quotes to emphasize the last word.

  She giggles. “Whatever, that kid loves you.”

  “I know. I can’t help that I’m way cooler than his mom.”

  “Who are you cooler than?” Kylie asks as she sits down next to me.

  “Lanie.”

  Kylie laughs. “Duh. But that’s not saying a lot.”

  “What’s not saying a lot?” Lanie asks as she walks up to us.

  We all burst out laughing. “What?” she inquires with a raised eyebrow.

  “We were just chatting about how Ash will be super ready for a new teacher after this year.”

  “No, he won’t. He loves having you as a teacher,” my sister insists.

  I raise my eyebrow.

  She laughs and holds up a hand. “OK, OK. But you are the cooler twin.”

  Everyone laughs again. “See, even Lanie knows I’m cooler.”

  She rolls her eyes. “I knew you were talking about me.”

  I give her the twin look and she shakes her head.