When I was fourteen, he stole it and asked another girl to prom.
Now, thirteen years later, he's sleeping in my spare room.
I am going to kill my brother.
Ethan didn't warn me Joel would be at dinner. Didn't warn me that the indie musician everyone in Duluth is suddenly obsessed with is the same boy who ripped my teenage heart out in front of an entire high school auditorium. And he definitely didn't warn me that Joel's old crash pad is now a nursery—which leaves exactly one available bedroom in the family, and it happens to be mine.
Two weeks. That's all I have to survive. Two weeks of Joel making pancakes in my kitchen, playing guitar badly enough in my living room to make my fingers itch, and looking at me like he's waiting for a fight I refuse to give him.
I have rules. No loud music. No unnecessary conversation. No touching my stuff. No pretending we're anything other than the wreckage of what we used to be.
He has charm, a guitar, and the kind of smile that should honestly be illegal.
There's a crumpled envelope in my desk drawer. Joel handed it to me eighteen months ago on Valentine's Day. I never opened it. I should probably keep it that way.
Because opening it means admitting I might have been wrong.
And admitting I might have been wrong means facing the question I've spent my entire adult life running from:
What if he saw me all along?
Dirty Developments is Book 3 of The One Night Stand Club—a steamy, banter-filled contemporary romance series set in the Twin Ports of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Perfect for readers who love Lucy Score, Elsie Silver, and Emily Rath. Expect slow-burn enemies-to-lovers tension that will wreck you, a brooding rockstar hero who's spent thirteen years waiting to make it right, a Korean-American heroine whose comebacks are sharper than her chopsticks, a found-family dynamic anchored by a mother-in-law who will love-bomb anyone within range, and the ride-or-die book club you wish you were in.
Binge the full series: Book 1: Dirty Plans — Lily & London Book 2: Dirty Books — Carlie & Adam Book 3: Dirty Developments — Anna & Joel Book 4: Dirty Games — Quinn & Nico (coming soon)
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Carissa Knight writes spicy romantic comedies with big laughs, bigger chemistry, and characters who fall hard—even when they’re determined not to. Expect sharp banter, found-family vibes, and happily-ever-afters that hit just right. When she isn’t writing, she’s wrangling creative projects and plotting new trouble for her favorite characters. Follow along for new releases and exclusive reader extras.