Name: Water Under the Bridge
Rating: 3.471428571428572 (35 reviews)
ISBN: 9798986416977

Denise Stone

Kels Stone

Water Under the Bridge

Abigail | 

"Whatever you ask of me, I will give you," I promise. Her moans form into screams of pleasure. "Over, and over, and over again."

There is a familiar challenge in his voice, causing my common sense to surrender to the promise of something reckless brewing between us.

Keira 💫

Sometimes you have to grab life by the neck and choke it real good.

Lily, who happened to be working the night shift, poured me a generous glass of wine and listened to me vent about my overbearing ecology professor. Then she told me about a guy she was seeing who brought her an annotated book every time they hooked up.

Why must people always turn work into their social playground?

Our dates stand together. The contrast between their appearances is almost amusing. The taller woman is fresh-faced, and her bright smile complements the incredible detail of her physique. Her arms are easily the size of my calves, and I’m deeply interested in her workout routine. She towers over her friend, practically hiding her from view. 

“Dude, she can squat my body weight. It’s extraordinary.” Where most men I know would cower at such an achievement, Nico’s face lights with excitement.

You sound like me and well I see why I don't have friends now lol. 

But for some reason, no one seems like that I'm careful. No offense, but you can live life amazingly without getting out of your comfort zone so... Scales always tip toward carefulness. 

“Just because you’re careless doesn’t mean you get to make my life a mess too.”

Avery’s chest rises and falls slowly as a tempest erupts behind her eyes. The corners of her mouth lift in a slight smile as her stare falls to my lips. The wetness of her tongue finds my thumb, where she teases the skin with a tiny lick.

“Do you always have something to say?” she breathes, not pulling away from me.

“Only when you’re so keen on talking back.” I stretch the moment between us like hot taffy. 

This is either going to be the best or worst decision I make in my life but I don’t falter. 

My mouth crashes into hers. The weeks of aching to feel her in my arms pour into the kiss.

“I’m taking you home, Avery.” “Home?” I question. “The bet was just a kiss, Navarro.” 

A fit of venomous anger returns to invade me. Slithering through my body and morphing into something rotten. 

He stretches his right arm onto the light post, towering over me. My breathing shallows in my chest, and I smell the alcohol mingling between us. 

Luca’s lips brush over my neck, and I arch toward his warm touch. He finally nears my ear. 

“Let’s get one thing straight.” His voice spills into me. 

“When I kiss you again, you’ll remember every single fucking second of it.” 

I gasp, but he continues, his free hand steadying me. 

“I promise that each one of your moans, your breaths, will pour out of you willingly. Because I know you want me as much as I need you.”

Dude Luca makes me want to have butterflies ngl. I wish I felt something but everything feels so platonic now. 

But I'll admit I really want a rivals to lovers story that ends similar to this 😩😩

However, I am a bigger fan of enemies to lovers because I'm not the smartest lolol. 

“I dedicated the better part of my adult life working toward the opportunity at ORO. How could you?”

 “I didn’t agree with her decision,” he barks. “But I’m happier to have you as my equal and my teammate than as another employee.” 

I’m too focused on Joanna to even process his last words. 

Another pause as he puts together a response. “She thought you were too young,” Luca finally admits. 

“Full of ideas, not life experience.” I cringe. 

Age has never been something I felt insecure about, even when I was the youngest person in the room throughout my career. It gave me an edge, more ideas, and a different perspective. 

“I drew up the paperwork to hire you the next day, but—” 

“Of course, what don’t you understand?” I finally notice the pained expression on his face. 

“You’re fucking brilliant, Avery. You make me want to be a better person with your relentless optimism.”

 The words soothe whatever was building inside of me until the alcohol swirling through my veins begins pulling me into another haze.

Luca fucking marry me. I hate coffee but I want someone to care this much about me.

My eyes finally land on mint. “Who puts mint in their coffee?”

 “I wasn’t sure which one you liked the most, so I bought them all,” Luca replies. 

 I almost pinch myself, but I snap out of it when Ollie clears his throat. 

Luca’s eyes shift from my heated face to my companion. “Excuse me, I meant I wasn’t sure which flavors the office would be most partial to.” 

Luca gives me a wink, and my insides melt like an ice cream cone on a blistering summer day.

Yo, one day when my Spanish is fluent and not broken, I won't have to try and figure out contextual meaning and will actually know every word well enough to read it. 

“Aye, Miguel. ¿Cómo estás?” “Ooooh, Luca. ¿Quién es la señorita?” His eyes bounce between me and Avery. 

“No te creas. ¿Qué les puedo dar?” “Dame cuatro tacos de nopales, una torta de pollo asado, y dos mulitas de rajas. Ah, y una horchata, por favor.” 

“¿Si, y para la señorita? Tal vez una cerveza, para que te pueda soportar.” Miguel looks over at Avery and gives her one of his friendly grins. 

This is what I get for finally bringing a woman here. 

“Miguel—” Avery surprises me and chimes in, “No, gracias. Un agua, por favor.”

I thought the authors were wrong for addressing a girl cariño but turns out the word cariña doesn't even exist! 

The more I learn, the more fascinated I get🤷

“But I can barely remember what I wore yesterday, let alone weeks ago. How did you remember?” 

“How many more examples will it take for you to realize I remember everything about you?” he says. My heartbeat quickens. “Every ordinary and extraordinary piece of you, Avery, has a home within me.”

HELP. HE'S SPITTING QUOTE-WORTHY SENTENCES ONE AFTER THE OTHER. 

“You know, no one’s ever picked me up so easily before.” 

“I don’t know,” I whisper, “Maybe because I’m quite tall.” 

He looks into my eyes. “It’s their loss.”

“Will you ever stop trying to fight me?” 

“I’ve been quite harsh at times, haven’t I?” I hide in his chest.

 “If I can put it behind me, so can you, Ave.” 

“Alright, let’s call it water under the bridge.”

After a few beats of silence, I ask, “So, how is it?” 

 Enthusiasm thrums through me. I take the glass, my lips pressing to where his were just moments ago, and sip the concoction. The thick, starchy substance coats my tongue, the burn of cinnamon and granules of sugar ruining my palate.

Also, Ave feels incomplete. Aves sounds better ngl. 

“Luca?” I manage to say, but my words disappear off my tongue when my eyes meet his tender stare. 

“You and me, Ave, is so much better than you versus me.”

Avery Soko, a bright-eyed and ambitious do-gooder, is on the cusp of getting her dream fundraising job at the Oceanic Research Organization. Luca Navarro, a former corporate lawyer with an extravagant tie collection and an irritatingly handsome smirk, holds Avery's future in his very large hands. When he calls with the news of her rejection, Luca seems to revel in crushing her dreams.

But Avery will do anything to pursue her passion, even accept a job at a struggling start-up. Her spell of bad luck finally changes when a competition is announced at a grandiose gala that could save her and her new team from going under. Of course, Avery's least favorite person, Luca, also joins the running for the multimillion-dollar prize.

At the height of the competition, Avery and Luca realize they've met their match. Will the tense moments, absurd attempts to out-do each other, and the string of games and bets they've concocted turn into a series of failures, or will it make them into something more than adversaries?

Water Under The Bridge

It was alright for a romance. (Would really appreciate if authors would stray outside Luca, Gray or Kai for male lead names— I promise the ml can still be hot without being called any of the aforementioned names.) 

kyra

1/5. i got this book from bookstagram and i was so excited too, but i just couldnt get through it.

Rics

I’ve been seeing this book around booksta, so I got curious 👀 ! Thank god my curiousity got me! This book easily joins my top reads this year! Who doesn’t love a good workplace romance with snarky & witty banters between the MMC & FMC? Don’t you also love it when the entire workplace promotes a healthy working environment? I just love everyone from Plastech & Oro! (Ok, Joanna was kind of a bitch but then again she had her own problems)! 

Anywhooooo! I’m definitely looking forward to the next books in this series! Luca and Avery are the perfect example of an intellectual couple who knows how to communicate!!!! They know how to respect each person’s boundaries! The slow burn was chef’s kiss! It gave time for the readers to get to know the characters together with them! No unnecessary third act break ups because we all looooove rational human beings! Haha I also loved how attentive Luca was towards Avery! God of course he fell first! He might tease the living shit out of Ave, but we all knew she was THE one for him!!! (Amen to dual pov!!!!) 

Overall, this debut novel made me want more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

📖⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🥵 🌶️ (NECK TIES OMFG)

Paulina

"Interesting. So he does know how to get his hands dirty. How would those dirty hands feel on my skin?" - I'm SORRY but what? She literally said this after she discovered 
his interest in environment projects... This is not the only one tho, she dropped this in like every paragraph 😭😭

I hated this book. I dnfed it at 30% because I cringed at every page. I wish romance book would go back to this cute loveable story and not a spicy non romantic story where they want to rip their clothes from each other every time they think of SOMETHING. Like oh an apple? This reminds me of his dirty sexy hands grabbing them. THAT WAS THIS BOOK EVERY PAGE.

Also here constant emphasis on the fact that she was wearing VINTAGE like okay? cool? It didn't really make sense too, that she was almost too poor to afford something at the beggining of the book, to even pay rent but she can afford a Versace dress? sure

this book was HORRIBLE, not to forget the part were they met every second of the book "surprisingly", but hey, sometimes I thought he was a stalker NOW I'm sure he was.

shortest conversation known to man> emotional breakthroughs, brief existential crisis, tears& love 

Naomi 

I have had this book sitting on my shelf for almost a year now and It took getting a Kindle to read this much-anticipated book. All I have to say is...I wish I read this sooner!

I adored Avery and Luca. I am someone who is attracted to a person who can match my energy and these two complimented each other so well, that it made the book that much more enjoyable. 

This book is definitely a slow burn, but this slow burn was so worth it and because it was so late in the book, there wasn't the huge fallout you normally see in these stories that I have learned to despise, but also continue to put myself through (I secretly love the time away but it breaks me without fail every. single. time.).

I gave it four stars, because while I adore them and their dynamic, I found a little trouble connecting to their story. I definitely lean more towards the energies of Lily, Nico, Molly and Matthew. Avery and Luca are very headstrong and driven, both with there own bold personalities and they have the tendency to think more with there head then their hearts and I tend to connect more with characters who let their heart lead the way. 

Luca is definitely holds a place in my heart now, but I think Nico and/or Matthew might have him beat for me, but I will find out very soon if that is true.

Molly Sheerer

I have had this book sitting on my shelf for almost a year now and It took getting a Kindle to read this much-anticipated book. All I have to say is...I wish I read this sooner!

I adored Avery and Luca. I am someone who is attracted to a person who can match my energy and these two complimented each other so well, that it made the book that much more enjoyable. 

This book is definitely a slow burn, but this slow burn was so worth it and because it was so late in the book, there wasn't the huge fallout you normally see in these stories that I have learned to despise, but also continue to put myself through (I secretly love the time away but it breaks me without fail every. single. time.).

I gave it four stars, because while I adore them and their dynamic, I found a little trouble connecting to their story. I definitely lean more towards the energies of Lily, Nico, Molly and Matthew. Avery and Luca are very headstrong and driven, both with there own bold personalities and they have the tendency to think more with there head then their hearts and I tend to connect more with characters who let their heart lead the way. 

Luca is definitely holds a place in my heart now, but I think Nico and/or Matthew might have him beat for me, but I will find out very soon if that is true.

Avery and Luca...I loved your story.

Amelia 

I had a lot of fun reading this. Overall it was a fun, entertaining read and a pretty damn good debut novel.

I do love Luca ! He was dreamy 🥰

Luvery forever 🤩

I'm going to be honest. I was petrified to read this book. 

I love withlovedac with my entire heart. I literally ADORE her dances as she gives new recs. But when she said she was writing a book with her best friend, I was a bit skeptical. 

But I loved it thoroughly. It's so well written too ah! And it's more plot based which made me so freaking, unbelievably happy ngl. Like I love that it was plot based. 

Avery is relatable in terms of her temper. I'll be honest, I once did trash picking inside the community I live. Was livid with how much uneaten food was thrown around + with all the plastic bags scattered across the community. 

But I regret picking up the trash without gloves because I stunk so badly after doing it. 

HOWEVER, I did love the theme of this book very much. It had a pretty good message honestly. 

Luca is an iconic chap. I love the way he treated Aves. 1572910483/10. 

Nico, you're the loml periodt. Lily marry me ty. 

I'm going to be honest. I was petrified to read this book. 

I love withlovedac with my entire heart. I literally ADORE her dances as she gives new recs. But when she said she was writing a book with her best friend, I was a bit skeptical. 

But I loved it thoroughly. It's so well written too ah! And it's more plot based which made me so freaking, unbelievably happy ngl. Like I love that it was plot based. 

Avery is relatable in terms of her temper. I'll be honest, I once did trash picking inside the community I live. Was livid with how much uneaten food was thrown around + with all the plastic bags scattered across the community. 

But I regret picking up the trash without gloves because I stunk so badly after doing it. 

HOWEVER, I did love the theme of this book very much. It had a pretty good message honestly. 

Luca is an iconic chap. I love the way he treated Aves. 1572910483/10. 

Nico, you're the loml periodt. Lily marry me ty. 

Luvery is perfect for your he-falls-first, office-romance, slow-burn loving heart!! This debut is SO good and I already can't wait to read anything else Kels & Denise write. I caught myself smiling multiple times, full-on swooning at the perfect balance between banter, tension, vulnerability, and romance Water Under the Bridge holds. 

Water Under the Bridge

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