The Replacement: A Reverse Harem Bully Romance (The Thorns of Rosewood Book 1)

by Cassie James

  “No one wants you, Silicunt. You’ll never be anything better than a cheap replacement for Piper.”

  She shoves my head back, releasing my hair as she stands. “Move!” she shouts as she pushes her way through the gathered crowd. A path clears before her, and Chelsey tosses one last glare over her shoulder before flouncing after Tori.

  The crowd disperses slowly as I struggle into a sitting position. I clutch my shirt tightly in trembling fingers, tears leaking from my eyes as I try to wrap my head around what just happened. I sit there for several long minutes, no one moving to offer me a hand, until I can catch my bearings enough to pull myself to my feet. I don’t think twice as I turn the corner toward the back of the building, dialing a number on my phone before I’ve even fully processed what I’m doing.

  I can’t call Mom. I can’t face the disappointment of her knowing how horribly wrong things have turned out. So it’s Dad that I call, finally letting myself take a breath when he agrees to come pick me up.

  I stay hidden behind the building as I wait, contemplating how things went so wrong so fast. How the hell do I come back from this? How do I ever stand a chance of comforting people who hate me for everything I am? And despite the echo of Stan’s words telling me I’m meant to be a comfort, why would I even want to?

  10

  Jude

  I sit in my car, staring up at 2.0’s house for a long moment. I hated missing Tori and Chelsey humiliating her at lunch on Thursday, but we were all fucking ecstatic that she didn’t come to school on Friday. I glance down at my watch. 4:40 P.M. It’s Saturday, and I have a party at nine. But I need to make sure Friday wasn’t a fluke. Tori’s nothing if not an idiot, so I have to be sure she actually did what she claimed to have done—scare 2.0 off for good.

  I get out and stroll up the familiar drive. Their front door is yellow, something I’ve always found ostentatious, but it comforts me as I walk closer. It’s been months since I’ve made this walk, and I think about the girl that used to live behind that door. Piper and I grew up together, our moms have been friends for as long as I can remember, and the last thing I want for her is a replacement. Losing her was hard—really fucking hard—but I’d rather she stay lost than give into that thing living in her room.

  I try to ignore the memories as I reach the door. I fix an easy smile on my face and knock. A moment passes, and I knock again. I’m just about to give up and go when the door creaks open. Familiar blue-gray eyes stare up at me, and a smile forms over her lips, though nothing else on her face moves thanks to the Botox.

  “Hi, Mrs. Hawthorne,” I offer with a smile, and I think for one short moment she’s going to fall forward and wrap me in a hug. I stiffen at the possibility, but she seems to pull herself together as she pulls the door open wider, inviting me into their home. “Is Piper here?”

  “Y-yes,” she says, breathless for a moment. She fans herself as she closes the door behind me and then seems to get ahold of herself. “Sorry, Jude, I just wasn’t expecting any of her friends. It’s been a rough couple of days.”

  I fake a scowl. “I heard what happened, but I wasn’t there. I figured I should come check on her since she missed school yesterday.” And make sure she isn’t ever fucking coming back, while I’m at it.

  “You’re such a good boy, Jude,” Mrs. Hawthorne says as she escorts me to their familiar living room. Under this same vaulted ceiling, when we were younger, Piper and I used to spend hours watching movies and talking crap about everyone else. “I’ll go tell Piper you’re here. Are you planning on taking her out?” There’s a hopefulness in her eyes, and I can only imagine that she’s desperate to get her fake daughter out of the house for a while.

  I offer her my best smile, that one that always cinches a particularly difficult audition. “Yeah, if that’s okay.”

  “Of course. You know you never need my permission. I know the two of you are thick as thieves.” She’s nodding too much, her eyes suspiciously bright. I have to turn away to avoid making a snarky comment. Tyler was right—Jackie Hawthorne has lost her goddamn mind over that thing pretending to be her daughter. Photos of Piper and her parents catch my eye, and then one photo in particular makes me pause. Piper’s standing between me and Tyler, a navy dress hugging all of her curves, and her hair pulled back from her face even though I always thought she looked hotter with her hair down. We’re all laughing at something stupid the photographer said. Laughing at him, not with him, of course.

  I reach a finger out to trace over the photo, and my stomach clenches. 2.0 can never replace what I lost—ever.

  “Jude?” A soft voice interrupts my reminiscing.

  I turn to see 2.0 hovering in the doorway to the living room. She twists her hands in front of her, obviously nervous to see me here. She’s wearing a crop top, and my eyes trace the lines of her bare shoulders almost involuntarily. Her skin’s just as creamy and perfect as Piper’s, and I catch my eyes wandering down to her bare midriff, pausing just long enough to get an eyeful of her heaving tits as she waits for me to say something.

  “Hey, Piper,” I greet her in that smooth, deep voice that I know drives girls crazy. She shifts like I’ve caught her off-guard, but then quickly crosses her arms across her chest. There’s distrust written all over her face. I shove my hands in the pockets of my jeans, doing my best to appear casual even as the two of us stare each other down.

  She’s the first to crack, just like I knew she would. She reaches up and twists a lock of hair around her finger. A nervous habit that Piper never would have been caught dead with. I fight to hide my grimace, but damn, how could they get her so wrong?

  “What do you want?”

  “To apologize.”

  “For what?” Her lips twist into a deeper frown.

  “Tori and Chelsey. I should have been there to stop them.” I close the distance between us, appreciating the surprise she can’t hide from her eyes. I drop my hands on her stiff shoulders and stare deeply into her eyes as I tell her, “I had no idea they were going to pull that crap. Then I was worried when you didn’t come to school yesterday.”

  Her lips part softly as I run my hands down her arms, catching slightly on the tight sleeves of her top. That particular move has the added benefit of dragging her top down another few precious inches, to the point where I can almost see straight down it. When my fingers reach her wrists, I pull her forward, wrapping her arms around my middle before pulling her tight against my chest. I run my hands through her hair, and I’m glad she can’t see my face when I hear her sniffle.

  It’s unfortunate the Academy will never see this particular performance. It’s truly Oscar-worthy.

  I hold her close for another couple minutes before running my hands back up her arms and grabbing her shoulders. I rub them for a short second before pushing her away slightly. I run my fingers under her eyes, brushing away a few stray tears as I try to bite back my disgust.

  “Let’s get out of here for a while, yeah?”

  The smile she offers me is bright and wide, and I know I’ve got her—hook, line, and sinker. 2.0 pulls out of my arms and ducks around me to head toward the front of the house. “Mom, I’m going out with Jude for a bit!”

  “Okay, have fun!” Jackie calls back as Piper shrugs on a tan jacket and grabs her purse out of the front closet. I fight back the urge to tell her she probably doesn’t need either of those things. I’m hoping to make this whole thing quick so I can get back to my own shit.

  Piper smiles up at me as she pulls the door open for us, and I smirk as I gesture for her to go ahead of me. If she doesn’t like the way my hand rests on her ass as I walk her to my car, she doesn’t mention it.

  This is going to be even easier than I thought.

  “I didn’t realize how uncomfortable it makes you all!” 2.0 exclaims as we pull into the drive at my house. I roll the window on my Maserati down and type in the code to the gate as she giggles next to me. I hide my distaste at the sound. “You all should’ve said something sooner
! I don’t need to eat, but I can.”

  “Literally didn’t think it was something you could do,” I mutter as I pull the car to a stop in the circular drive in front of the house. I glance at the platinum face of the Rolex on my wrist. 7:00 P.M. There’s no need to park in the garage when I’m going to be leaving again soon anyway.

  “There are lots of things I can do that you guys probably don’t think about.”

  I hop down from the SUV and rush around to open her door. I’d never seen 2.0 eat, and I’d only suggested dinner because I thought it would embarrass her. Imagine my shock when she ordered a side salad and ate it delicately, all the while the waitress staring between the two of us like she didn’t understand why I was grimacing with each bite my “date” took.

  I spent the rest of dinner wondering what the fuck else this thing can do. Thus, my offer to take her to my house to watch a movie in the home theater wasn’t altogether altruistic. How else do you embarrass a teenage girl if it isn’t through what she puts into her mouth?

  By getting her to put something else into her mouth, hopefully.

  I wrap an arm around her shoulders as I lead her to the door of my house. Her eyes are wide as I use the keypad to unlock the door. Lights come up as we pass, and her head cranes as I lead her further and further into the house. The Hawthornes are wealthy in their own right, but my parents are filthy rich. Motion sensor lights? Not that expensive, but apparently it’s enough to impress the knockoff.

  I open the door to the home theater and recognition sparks in her eyes. She gets her memories from stuff her parents handed over, the stupid goddamn questionnaire we all got, and social media apparently. Brennan’s words play through my mind as she wanders toward the entertainment system, fingers ghosting over the knobs and buttons, and I sigh. With their profession, my parents are gone. A lot. Which makes my house the perfect place for small get togethers or all out ragers. I didn’t doubt that there were pictures all over her accounts from my house. In this room, in particular, we used to spend a lot of time watching advanced screenings of my parents’ films.

  “What do you want to watch?” I ask as she moves toward a reclining two-seater in the front row. Her fingers trace over the soft leather as I grab the remotes from their shelf and come to join her near the loveseat.

  2.0 pulls her jacket off, dropping it in the chair closest to the loveseat, and she shrugs as she perches on the side of the small couch. I fight the urge to roll my eyes and offer her a small smile as I drop down next to her, spreading out just enough that I crowd her, forcing her against the arm of the loveseat. She shoots me an annoyed look that I answer with a grin. She fights back a smile of her own as she settles back against the soft leather.

  She hasn’t answered my question, so I drop the remotes on the chair next to me and turn toward her. My eyebrows dip as I stare at her. She pulls her feet up toward her chest and turns to face me with furrowed eyebrows of her own. “What?” she asks, and I know she wants to know why I’m staring. I shrug, playing coy with her. “Seriously, Jude, what?”

  “I was just thinking about something you said…” I trail off, knowing it will drive her crazy. There’s a rash sort of determination coursing through my veins. All I need is one thing to break her, and she’s not leaving here until it’s done.

  “Okay, what?”

  I purse my lips before leaning toward her and lowering my voice. “You said that there’s a lot of stuff that you can do that we probably haven’t thought about.”

  The flush that rises in her cheeks is actually kind of cute. I fight off that thought and focus instead on the way her fingers twist from where her hands are clasped around her knees. I smile in the panty-melting way I mastered a hell of a long time ago, and she bites down on her bottom lip. After a split second, she releases her lip with a long, breathy sort of sigh, and a rush of excitement swells within me. It feels so fucking good to make her as uncomfortable as her presence makes the rest of us.

  “Yeah.” Her eyes sparkle with a delicious amount of anxiety. “Is there something you’re curious about?”

  “Do you get... urges?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Like sexual urges,” I clarify, and her blush returns even redder than before. “I mean, you’re a teenager, right? We’re horny all the time. You claim you’re as human as the rest of us—I just can’t believe your parents would have you programmed to want to fool around.”

  2.0 stares at her knees for a long moment before peering up at me with hooded eyes. Holy shit. She licks her lips, and I follow the motion with my eyes as she takes a shaky breath. “I-I don’t think it’s something that my parents ever discussed with Stan, but...”

  “But...” I implore, and the flush in her cheeks spreads down her neck toward her chest.

  Piper’s hand shakes as she reaches up to push some of her stray hair behind her ear. “I’m designed to be just like a human, so... yes, I guess?”

  “Have you ever touched yourself?”

  “What? No, of course not,” she squeaks out, and my smile turns downright filthy as I lean a little closer to her. We’re almost close enough to touch, and my smile widens when she leans a little closer to me.

  “But you’re curious?”

  “Y-yes... I—I liked the way it felt when you kissed me.” I hum in the back of my throat, and she averts her eyes back to her knees again. I nudge her chin with my fingers, and she glances back at me, steely blue eyes shining with a heat that I honestly didn’t expect from her. Her next words come out in a rush. “And I really liked the way your hands felt when you touched me by my locker.”

  I pause for a second, letting things simmer before I ask, “Have you ever given a blowjob?” Her flush flares again as she jerks her head back out of my grip. “Do you even know what a blowjob is?” I taunt her.

  “Yes!” she defends with more passion than I expected, her eyes flashing up at me defiantly. Ah, there it is. A clear cut weakness. She doesn’t like the insinuation that she might not know about something so basic, that any real, human teenage girl would know plenty about. “I’m not a child, Jude! I know what oral sex is.”

  “Prove it,” I demand, watching the fire in her eyes falter.

  “What?” Her voice comes out soft and uncertain, as if she thinks maybe she actually misheard me or something.

  I reach for her wrist, disentangling her hands from one another. Her hands shake as I drag her forward just enough to rest her palm on my semi-hard dick. I hate that something about this is turning me on. That there’s something so fucking hot about knowing I can be the one to show her… anything I want. “Prove. It.”

  She starts to pull back, and I know she’s searching for a way to deny me. There’s no way I’m letting that happen. I still have one card left to play. I tighten my grip so she can’t go anywhere, my growing hard-on twitching against her slack fingers.

  “Piper would prove it.”

  Something sparks in her eyes as she takes the bait. I’ve just laid down a challenge that she can’t resist. The urge to prove she can replace our Piper—even though she sure as fuck can’t. Her fingers tighten almost imperceptibly around my bulge.

  I let go of her, resting my hands behind my neck and spreading my legs wider as she sinks down off the loveseat and crawls in between them. She pauses with her hands on my knees, her eyes studying me as if to see if I’m actually expecting her to do this. I sure as hell am, and I guess she realizes that, too.

  She rises up on her knees, her hands shaking slightly as she runs them up my thighs. Despite the shaking hands, she works with more precision than I expected. She unbuttons my jeans, her eyes no longer meeting mine as she stares at the prize waiting for her in my pants. I lift my hips to help her pull my jeans and briefs down in one fluid motion.

  I watch with a satisfied smirk as her eyes widen, taking in her first look at a real, live dick. She reaches out tentatively, her palm so much fucking softer than I imagined as she wraps her fingers around me. Her tongue da
rts out to wet her lips as she stares down at this new physical connection—and holy fucking hell is that sexy.

  I was prepared for the worst blowjob of my life, but that’s sure as fuck not what I get.

  Her mouth closes around me, hot and velvety in a way I couldn’t have predicted even after having kissed her weeks ago. She looks up at me from under her lashes, our eyes connecting as she sinks her mouth down over me, her tongue dragging down the underside of my dick in such a way that I can’t help but let out a tight groan.

  Holy fucking shit, how is she so good at this? My hands start to tug at the ends of my hair as she works me, so I pull them away and fist them in her hair instead. Unlike other girls, my tight grip doesn’t make her wince in the slightest. My whole plan seems to go to hell as I get lost in the sensation of the best damn head I’ve ever gotten.

  11

  Piper

  “Piper, fuck, stop,” Jude moans.

  I pull away, frowning as I let my hands drop to his thighs, feeling his muscles tense under my touch. He breathes in ragged spurts as he eyes me with heat in his eyes that doesn’t quite match his request for me to stop. I reach for him again.

  He sits up straighter, his big hand catching both of my wrists in a tight grip before I can make contact. He jerks me forward, and I’m suddenly self-conscious. Did he not like the way I touched him? I studied enough pornographic films and read through enough erotica that I really thought I knew what I was supposed to do.

  Heat stings the back of my eyes. How embarrassing, to be a girl that doesn’t know what to do with her body. I try to pull away from him, but he holds my firmly in place. He’s staring at me with an intensity that I don’t understand.

  “Sorry if I was bad,” I mutter.

  A snort falls from his lips as he jerks me even closer. His lips crash over mine, and I’m so lost in the feeling of his tongue running over the seam of my lips that I barely register the fact that he’s pulling me up to straddle his lap. I jerk my head away when I feel his erection pulse against me, only a couple layers of fabric now between us.