For Crosby Read online

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not considered to be real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2018 by J. Nathan

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Edited by Stephanie Elliot

  Cover Design by Letitia Hasser at RBA Designs

  Cover Photo by Lindee Robinson

  Cover Models Daria Rottenberk and Logan Parks

  First Edition March 2018

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  EPILOGUE

  For Emery Excerpt:

  CHAPTER ONE

  November

  Sabrina

  I threw back my shoulders and walked with purpose across the dark campus. It may have been three in the morning, and I may have been slightly buzzed, but I still made myself a promise. I was done being everyone’s trusty sidekick. Trace freaking Forester, superstar wide receiver and one of the hottest guys I’d ever met, friend-zoned me, and I all but encouraged it.

  What the hell was wrong with me?

  “Hey,” a deep voice called.

  I stopped short, spinning to see if Forester changed his mind and followed me. He hadn’t. That in itself sucked, but so did the knowledge that I was being followed in the middle of the effing night, alone on a huge campus with no mace or martial arts training. I doubted my flyer spot on my high school cheerleading squad would’ve done me any good now—two years later.

  “Hey, blondie,” the voice persisted.

  I spun around, my now fading curls whipping around my head as I squinted into the darkness. The lights from the security phones cast a soft blue glow over the sidewalk, giving me the slightest sense of safety.

  “Over here.”

  I spun again, this time noticing movement by a large tree. I focused, still struggling to discern who it was and wondering if I should run instead of stand there—like the victim in a horror movie giving the murderer time to catch her.

  “You gonna stand there and stare or you gonna help me?” The annoyance in his voice—and the fact that he wasn’t heavy breathing through a distorted mask—told me he wasn’t a deranged slasher.

  “Help you? I can’t even see you.”

  “What the hell,” he grumbled under his breath. “Come closer then.”

  I dug my hands into my hips. “Sorry if I’m reluctant to venture into the darkness because some stranger I can’t see calls me over.”

  “Turn on your phone’s light.”

  Huh. I hadn’t thought of that.

  I slipped my phone from the back pocket of my jeans and flashed my light on him. My eyes widened as I inhaled sharply. He definitely wasn’t a masked murderer. He wasn’t covered at all. He was butt-freaking-naked and tied to the trunk of a very large tree. The thick ropes binding him pinned his tattoo-covered arms to his sides.

  “Why are you naked?” I asked.

  “Naked? You wanna know why I’m naked?”

  I nodded.

  “So, the fact that I’m fucking bound to a tree is what? Not weird at all?”

  I tried to keep my eyes on his, but the fact that my phone served as a wide spotlight on his naked body was a little distracting. “Sorry.”

  “Sorry?” His exasperation was palpable.

  “Yeah. Sorry your nakedness surpassed the fact that you were kidnapped.”

  His face contorted. “Kidnapped? No one kidnapped me.”

  I lifted a knowing brow.

  His face grew angry. “I get how it looks, but this ain’t no kidnapping. It’s an initiation...of sorts.”

  “You’re pledging a frat?”

  “Do I look like a frat boy to you?”

  My eyes drifted over his naked body. His very impressive naked body. Whoever did this to him was kind enough to leave his goods on show for the world to see. And I wouldn’t be a hot-blooded college girl if I didn’t inspect his extraordinary package. “Hostile, cocky, and naked.” My eyes lifted to his. “Total frat boy material.”

  “I need you to untie me,” he ground out through clenched teeth.

  “I didn’t hear a please.”

  Given the deep growl in the back of his throat, it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to remain composed. “Could you please walk to the back of the tree and see if it’s possible to untie the knots or if you need to go find a saw or something.”

  “A saw?”

  He let out a long, frustrated breath.

  “Just pointing out that a saw doesn’t prove you’re not some psycho murderer.”

  “What?”

  “How do I know I’m not the one being set up? How do I know behind that tree isn’t a group of guys ready to kidnap me?”

  “I wasn’t kidnapped,” he growled.

  “Says the guy tethered to a tree.”

  His head fell forward and he shook it. “If you’re incapable of helping me, can you at least call someone who can?”

  “I’m not incapable. Just skeptical.”

  “Jesus fucking Christ. The longer I’m trapped here, the closer to morning it gets. And while I know my body’s breathtaking to women everywhere, I’d prefer not to have it plastered all over the Internet.”

  Breathtaking? Was this guy serious? I flashed my light around the area surrounding us. Nothing lurked. No strange sounds existed. He appeared to just be a guy caught in a very precarious situation. “Do you even go to this school?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why haven’t we met?”

  “Because most nights I am not bound to a fucking tree,” he snapped.

  I walked closer to him, moving to the left and circling to the back of the tree. I stayed far enough away so if his ropes were an illusion and dropped from him if he stepped away from the tree, I could run. I flashed my phone around one last time, ensuring no one hid in the bushes before settling the beam on the knots holding him to the tree. Jesus Christ. “Did an entire Boy Scout troop do this to you?”

  “Why? How many are there?”

  “A lot.” I switched off my light and tucked my phone into my pocket so I could use both hands. “Who’d you piss off?” I asked as I began picking away at the first knot on the top.

  There was a long pause before he grumbled, “The hockey team.”

  “Did you hook up with one of their girlfriends or something?”

  He shook his head. “I’m on the team.”

  “Your teammates did this to you?”

  Another long pause. “I took the captain’s position.”

  I pulled one of the ropes through a loop and untied the knot. “I got one. Twenty-something more to go.”

  “It’ll be morning before you get them all done,”
he groaned. “Don’t you have friends you can call?”

  “They’re all drunk at Forester’s birthday.”

  “Should I know who that is?”

  “Um, yeah. He’s our school’s star wide receiver. Probably going pro after this season. How don’t you know that?”

  “I don’t follow football. And I just got here.”

  “It’s November.”

  “I transferred.”

  “Mid-semester?”

  “Anyone ever tell you that you ask a lot of questions?”

  “Not every night I find a guy tied to a tree who tells me he transferred mid-semester.”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “Not currently going anywhere.”

  He grumbled under his breath before relenting. “I didn’t know I’d be taking the captain’s position. You’d think they’d be kissing my fucking skates knowing I’m gonna win them a championship.”

  “Ever heard the saying there’s no I in team?”

  “Sweetheart, I am the team.”

  “Wow,” I said, picking away at another one of the knots. “Conceited much?”

  “Just speaking the truth.”

  “I wonder what they’ve got planned next.” I hoped it was something good to teach this guy some humility.

  He said nothing.

  I somehow slipped a second knot free. “At least they gave you time to escape before the majority of campus woke up.”

  “Yeah. I’ll be sure to thank them. What time is it?”

  “Nearing four.”

  He huffed. “Think you could stop talking and work faster?”

  Stop talking? Work faster? Who did he think he was? My fingers picked away at the next knot. It wasn’t moving. No matter what I did, it was stuck. I moved to another. It was just as tight. I dug my fingernails in, but it was no use.

  “Seriously? What’s taking so damn long?” he grumbled as I fumbled away at the unwavering knots.

  His tone and impatience with me caused my fingers to shake, rendering it impossible to untie another knot even if I wanted to.

  “I’m talking to you,” he said.

  “Oh, I’m allowed to talk now?”

  “Listen, I’m not looking to make friends. I need the damn knots untied.”

  I dropped the knot I’d been working on and rounded the tree. Stepping in front of him, I crossed my arms and met his angry eyes. “We, my friend, are at an impasse.”

  His eyes jumped between me and the ropes still holding him to the tree. “What the fuck?”

  “I’ve been trying to help you. But it’s four o’clock in the freaking morning. My fingertips are raw. And I’m doing the best I can. But what do I get?” I threw my arms into the air. “What do I always get? A whole lot of nothing. So, if you’ll excuse me, this is my cue to exit. Good luck getting untied, but I’m starting to think you deserved it.” I turned and walked away to the bellowing roar of the stranger yelling bitch into the darkness.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Sabrina

  “You wanna grab lunch?” Finlay asked.

  “Sure.” I tossed down my phone and stood from my bed, smoothing out my white down comforter. “Where?”

  “I told Caden we’d meet up with him at the dining hall. He’s flying solo today. Forester apparently went home for his actual birthday.”

  I closed my eyes as the images from the previous night brought upon a body quaking cringe. Who pushes a totally hot guy toward another woman? This girl. I was hopeless. And in no condition to be told there were other fish in the sea. I saw what’s in the sea, in the form of a guy tied to a tree, and if guys like that were the alternative, I’d rather be alone. “So, you expect me to be the third wheel again?”

  “You know it’s not like that.”

  “Says the one in love with Caden Brooks, superstar quarterback who only has eyes for her.”

  She groaned. “Would you stop? Caden likes having you around. He thinks you’re hysterical.”

  “Oh, yeah. I’m just full of humor.”

  She tossed back her dark waves and laughed at my bleak tone. “I didn’t tell him about your...experience last night.”

  “Why not? I thought you two share everything?”

  “I wanted to hear you tell it again.”

  “So, I’m your entertainment today?”

  She shrugged. “Something like that.”

  I grabbed my hoodie from the desk chair and walked to the door. “Fine. But I expect a captive audience.”

  “You got it.”

  * * *

  “He said that?” Caden asked, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

  I popped a small piece of a soft pretzel into my mouth. “Yup.”

  “While she was trying like hell to get him free,” Finlay added, as if she’d been there.

  “You guys see this?” a gruff voice asked.

  I turned to find Grady, the football team’s right tackle, sliding into the booth beside me. His big body pressed against me.

  “What the hell, Grady?” Finlay snapped, beating me to it. Grady made her job as team water girl hell last year and she wouldn’t let him forget it.

  “See what?” Caden asked.

  He held out his phone toward them.

  Finlay’s mouth dropped open before her eyes cut to mine. “You weren’t lying.” She grabbed Grady’s phone and held it up for me to see. The picture filling the screen was a very naked hockey player tied to a tree. The only difference was he was there in broad daylight.

  Caden glared at Grady. “Dude? You think I want you showing my girl pictures of some naked guy?”

  “You feeling inadequate, Brooks?” Grady asked Caden.

  “Is he still there?” I asked, stopping Caden from jumping across the table and beating the crap out of Grady.

  Grady shook his head. “The fire department showed up to free him when I was doing the walk of shame.”

  “Serves him right,” Finlay said.

  Grady’s eyes jumped between Caden and Finlay. “You know him?”

  “Sabrina does,” Caden said.

  Grady looked to me. “Any idea what he did to piss someone off?”

  I shrugged, not wanting to spread rumors about the hockey team. “How many people saw him?”

  “Half the campus. People were posting pictures everywhere. You had to see the hordes of sorority girls showing up. Some were even posing with him.” Grady grabbed a handful of Caden’s fries and shoved them in his mouth. “The guy didn’t stand a chance,” he said with a mouthful. “He looked like he wanted to kill someone.”

  “How long did it take to get him free?” I asked.

  “Don’t know. The show ended as soon as they covered him up. Not too fun watching him get untied while covered up.”

  Finlay’s brows shot up. “You prefer your guys naked, Grady?”

  “Whoa. Retract the claws. I thought we had a truce?”

  Her head recoiled. “Said who?”

  Grady looked to Caden who shrugged.

  “What the fuck?” Grady grumbled as he pushed his large body to his feet. “I’m outta here.”

  Once he was out of earshot, we all broke into laughter. Grady was one of the most unlikeable guys on campus. And even though he’d initially been an asshole to Finlay, we’d heard he wasn’t the prick he wanted everyone to think he was. Finlay and I were still waiting for him to prove it, though.

  “So, are you happy the dick got what he had coming?” Caden asked me.

  “Yeah,” I said, glancing out the window. The leaves on campus had begun to change color. Some had already fallen on the paths. Had Mr. Hockey noticed them as he stared out at the early morning campus before his world had been turned upside down even more?

  * * *

  I flew out the front door of my dorm and hurried toward my chem class. I picked up the pace as I trudged uphill, hoping like hell my professor hadn’t sprung another surprise quiz on the class. I may not have been the most conscientious student—or declared a major yet for that mat
ter, but I still cared about my grades and worked damn hard to make my parents proud. I was an only child which meant I needed my parents to see all their hard work raising me and carting me around to all my activities wasn’t for naught. I wanted to be someone they were proud of.

  Within minutes, I climbed the steps in front of the science building and rushed through the vacant foyer, taking the stairs two at a time. The sound of my Chucks echoed in the empty stairwell as I climbed the four flights to my classroom.

  The squeaking of a door in the stairwell above, along with descending footsteps, stopped me in my tracks. I gasped, toppling back a few steps as Mr. Hockey nearly slammed into me as he rounded the corner, glaring like I’d done something wrong.

  “Good to see you got yourself free,” I said with as much snark as I could muster.

  “No thanks to you.”

  “Seriously? You still can’t see I was trying to help you? What’s wrong with you?”

  “Me? I didn’t leave someone tied to a tree in the middle of the night.”

  “I think you’re forgetting I tried to help you.” I held up my calloused fingers. “Got the blisters to prove it.”

  “Right,” he said doubtfully.

  “Ever think the real reason they tied you to that tree wasn’t because you took a stupid position, but because you’re an asshole?”

  His eyes narrowed.

  The door in the stairwell above us slammed shut and footsteps bounded down the steps. The girl who was descending gave Mr. Hockey a salacious once-over. “Loved your pictures.”

  As if her attention erased the argument we’d been having, his entire face softened. His clouded eyes were now replaced by a vibrant blue. The angry creases around them eased, and the smile on his lips—a God damned smile—showed almost perfect teeth, aside from a tiny chip in his bottom front tooth. An obvious run-in with an angry puck. “Where you headed?” he asked the girl, his voice so smooth you could glide right over it.

  “Back to my sorority house.”

  One of his dark brows arched. “Those the girls who came out to see me?”

  She nodded.

  “Then lead the way. I’d liked to meet them with my clothes on this time. Or...we could make it even and have them strip down.”

  She giggled, and everything about their exchange made my skin crawl. She moved by me, giving him just enough distance to check out her ass. And he did. Of course, he did.