I have two goals when I head up to the mountain house with my older brother and his friends: get his best friend Xander to see me as something more than my brother’s little sister and lose my V\-card before I leave on gap year. The more those two goals align, the better. So when I end up stuck sharing a room with the wrong best friend, I use it to my advantage. After all, who better to give me the tips and tricks I need? But after a few late nights, I’m forgetting the list I made and realizing that even the best laid plans can end up in chaos. Especially when the wrong guy starts feeling like the right one… Before the Chaos is the novella length prequel to Madison \& Quentin’s full length story in Rival Hearts.

Pro football might see me as their favorite underdog, but Madison Westfield would rather see me six feet under. My ex\-best friend’s little sister has every reason to hate me. I took her boyfriend’s spot on this team, her brother might lose his too, and our short\-lived engagement years ago is part of the reason our families are locked in a grudge match that has the whole league on edge. Ruining me would fix most of her problems, but she's stuck trying to work a PR miracle with my career instead. Making my way through her build\-a\-better\-image checklist is the kind of torture I'll gladly sign up for, especially if I get to help her prove everyone wrong. But it means we're spending a lot of time alone together, and when it comes to Madison, I'll take any chance she gives me. Even if it means there's hell to pay—on and off the field.

I only have room for two things in my life: football and my daughter. At least until my brother's ex\-girlfriend shows up at my team's stadium needing a white knight. When I find out she's also got a secret summer checklist that I'm uniquely qualified for? I've forgotten all the reasons she should be off limits, and I'm signing up to be more than just her part\-time bodyguard. But when the threats she's receiving escalate and the danger is at our doorstep, we have to decide if more than one summer is worth fighting for—whatever the cost.