Scandalous Series Starter Set: Books 1-3

by R. Linda

  It was like déjà vu, only this time it wasn’t me crying on the bed all heartbroken.

  “No, just tell everyone I have a stomach ache. Please, Bailey. I can’t face him now.”

  I nodded and softly closed Indie’s door behind me. Linc was a jerk, and if I saw him, I was going to make sure he knew it.

  When I returned, Ryder was in the hall scowling at the study door.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Watching.”

  “Watching a door?” I leant into him and smiled. He didn’t smile back. He folded his arms across his chest and glared at the door. “Ryder, what’s wrong?”

  “Kenzie spun the damn bottle.” I swear he nearly had laser beams shooting out of his eyes at the study door. I tried not to laugh.

  “And?”

  “And she’s in there for seven minutes with Nate.” Ryder growled.

  “Nate?” My eyes widened. Ryder’s sister and Indie’s brother. Huh. I laughed. I couldn’t help it. Ryder was so protective of her, and although it was sweet, she was a big girl. With a kid.

  “If he touches her, I swear to God—”

  “Don’t you think you’re overreacting?”

  “No.”

  “She’s old enough to kiss a boy, Ryder. I mean, you do know she’s a mother and all, right? I don’t really think you can say much about it.” I wrapped my arms around his waist and kissed his cheek.

  He closed his eyes and sighed. “You’re right. I know that. But it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

  “Wanna go home?” I asked, knowing we needed to be up early in the morning to leave for our trip.

  “Yeah.” He nodded and lunged for the study door. He banged loudly and shouted, “Time!”

  ***

  I never knew I hated goodbyes because I’d never had to say goodbye to anyone before now. Saying goodbye to the people you loved the most sucked. It sucked a lot. We were leaving everyone behind to go to uni. I’d said goodbye to my mum earlier that morning, and it had nearly killed me. It had been me and her for eighteen years, and now I was leaving. I couldn’t imagine being so far away from her for so long. Four years felt like a lifetime.

  “Don’t worry, sweetheart. You’ll be home before you know it. You can come home for weekends and for holidays and breaks. You won’t even miss me.” My mum sniffed back her tears as she hugged me goodbye before turning and hugging Ryder too. “Look after my baby.” She gave him the obligatory “she’s your responsibility now and I will hunt you down if anything happens to her” speech.

  “I will, Mrs M,” Ryder reassured her as we got into his car to go say goodbye to Kenzie and Cole.

  They were waiting out the front of Kenzie’s cottage when we arrived. When we pulled into the drive, Cole was standing there with balloons in his hand, and Kenzie was waving a farewell sign above her head.

  I burst into tears as Kenzie dropped the sign and pulled me into her arms, making me cling to her. I couldn’t help it. I didn’t want to leave either of them.

  “Bye, Uncle Wyda.” Cole cheered and handed Ryder the balloons.

  “Bye, buddy. I’ll see you soon.” Ryder ruffled Cole’s hair and turned to pull me from Kenzie so he could say goodbye to her as well, but I wouldn’t let her go. I knew I was overreacting, but saying goodbye to so many people in one day had finally got too much.

  Ryder let his sister go and gave Cole one last fist bump before making his way back over to the car.

  “Come on. Let’s go. We have to get Indie now if we want to beat the traffic.” I nodded and wiped my tears.

  “Bye.” I hugged Kenzie tighter. “Call me every day.”

  “I will.”

  “And email.”

  “Okay.” Kenzie nodded and patted my back.

  “And send me photos of Cole,” I added. “Daily.”

  Kenzie laughed and nodded her head, promising me she would send daily updates.

  “Bailey, I swear to…Let them go and get in the car,” Ryder yelled at me, but when I looked over, he was smiling softly.

  “I don’t want to.” I looked up to the sky and blinked rapidly, trying to hide my tears before I crouched down and pulled my favourite little blond-haired, green-eyed cutie into my arms. “I’m going to miss you most of all.”

  “Bye, Bayey. Wuv you.” Cole placed his tiny hands on my cheeks and pressed a kiss to the top of my head.

  “Bye, buddy. I love you too.” I kissed his head and stood up before running over to the car, completely ignoring Ryder. I threw myself into the front seat and looked out the other window so I didn’t have to watch as we drove away.

  “It’s okay, love. You’ll still see them all the time. We’ll come visit, and they can come to us.” He placed a hand on my thigh as he backed the car out of the driveway. “Now, let’s finally leave this small-minded town behind and go on to something better. Indie is waiting for us.”

  “Okay.” I sniffed and nodded my head in agreement. I knew he was right. Kenzie and Cole would come and visit in a couple of weeks once they got settled into their new place, but it still didn’t make saying goodbye any easier.

  I was glad to put this last year behind me. It was just one crazy rollercoaster of a year, and I couldn’t wait to start afresh at a new school with new friends and all new experiences.

  “This is going to be a good year, Bailey,” Ryder told me as we pulled up into the parking lot after three hours on the road.

  Indie had been quiet the entire trip. I knew she was still heartbroken over Linc.

  “I know it’s a fresh start. No one knows us here.” I smiled and leant over to kiss him. Indie made a puking sound in the back seat before climbing out.

  “Let’s go sign in and find our dorms,” Ryder said, grinning. He was really looking forward to uni. It was a chance for both of us to start anew as ourselves. No rumours. No gossip. No lies. No backstabbing.

  “I’m going that way, so I’ll come find you later, yeah?” Indie said, pointing in the direction of a coffee shop.

  “Okay, sure. Good luck.” I gave her a hug before she turned and walked away. I hoped we’d get a dorm together, but I didn’t like our chances.

  I followed Ryder around aimlessly, letting him take care of everything because it was all just too overwhelming for me to comprehend. I was still amazed that he chose to come here with me instead of going to one of his preferences. The day he told me he was accepted and coming to university with me was the best day of my life.

  “I’m not staying away from you, Bailey. I can study anywhere,” he’d told me when I tried to argue that he should go where he wanted.

  “Just shut up and stop arguing with me. You’re it, Bailey. That’s all there is to it. Where you go, I go. End of story,” he’d said.

  I crashed my lips to his, and that was it. The discussion was over, and he was coming to uni with me.

  “Okay, this should be it,” Ryder said, stopping outside a door and dangling a key from his fingers. “You ready?”

  “No,” I whispered and shook my head.

  “Come on. Don’t be nervous. It’s uni. It’s meant to be the best years of your life.” He leaned down to press his lips to mine, knowing that his touch alone could calm me down and his kisses made me putty in his hands.

  I felt my back press up against the door to my new dorm room as my arms wrapped around his neck. I completely forgot that we were in a hall full of new students rushing around in utter chaos as I lost myself in Ryder.

  “I fucking love you,” he whispered.

  “I fucking love you too,” I whispered back as the door suddenly opened from behind me.

  “Oh, sorry. I thought I heard people out here,” my new roommate said.

  “Oh, sorry about that,” I said as I turned around to meet her. At the same time, Ryder hissed in my ear.

  “Shi—”

  I looked up, and the smile dropped from my face instantly. You’ve got to be freaking kidding me.

  “Christina?”

  Bonus
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  Then

  Tonight was the night. I knew it. It had to be. I was leaving for university tomorrow and wouldn’t be home much for the next three years. It had to be tonight. The moment I had been dreaming about for thirteen years.

  My first kiss with the boy from down the street.

  Okay, well, not really a boy. He was all man, baby. And he was my older brother’s best friend. But dammit, I had been in love with Lincoln Andrews since I was five years old, and I wasn’t leaving here without a kiss.

  Everything was planned out. My guests were floating around the house listening to music coming from the speakers in the ceiling, and Bailey and Ryder were here with Kenzie, attempting to get her to mingle with people her own age. And I was going to get my first kiss from my one true love for my eighteenth birthday.

  We were playing Seven Minutes in Heaven. And my heaven was Linc. I just needed someone else to suggest the game, so it didn’t look like I was desperate, even though I was. I’d ever so subtly been spinning an empty beer bottle on the table where I sat with Bailey, Ryder, and Kenzie, hoping someone would get the hint. My brother was here somewhere, and I knew Linc wouldn’t be far behind. All I needed was for the game to start and for Linc to want to play, somehow.

  Finally, after what felt like forever, I heard someone shout, “Spin the bottle!”

  I may have squealed a little. “This is my chance,” I said to Bailey.

  “For what?”

  “I’m going to kiss Linc!” I was practically bouncing on the balls of my feet.

  “You are?” She eyed me sceptically. I knew she didn’t think I had a chance with Linc, but she was too kind to ever say so.

  “Yes. If we get him to play, I’ll spin the bottle so it lands on him, and he’ll have to kiss me,” I whispered so Ryder wouldn’t hear. I didn’t want him laughing at me, because he would. He found my infatuation with Lincoln amusing and teased me about it every chance he got.

  “And what if it lands on Allen or someone other than Linc?”

  “It won’t. Come on. Let’s play,” I said confidently, even though that thought had never occurred to me, and tugged on Bailey’s hand. Oh my God. What if it did land on Allen, or Justin? I did not want to kiss them. It had to land on Linc.

  “Like hell,” Ryder growled and pulled her back to him. “She’s staying here with me, away from that bottle. Those lips belong to me.” He touched her mouth, making me want to throw up from their disgusting gushiness over each other, as well as making me jealous. Why couldn’t Linc look at me the way Ryder looked at Bailey, like she was his entire world?

  I frowned, turning to see a circle of bodies forming on the floor, and moved to take my spot. My eyes nearly bugged out of my head when I watched Linc stroll into the centre of the circle and place an empty vodka bottle down. “I’ll start,” he said, staring directly at me, his grey eyes so much darker than I thought.

  I glanced over at Bailey, who was staring wide-eyed, with her mouth hanging open in shock. I turned back to see Linc spin the bottle and move back to watch it with intense concentration. Yeah. He was playing. Without me having to beg. He was willingly playing. And he was spinning first. Oh, no. What if the bottle landed on Mariah or Thea? I couldn’t handle seeing him take another girl into the office for seven minutes, but maybe that was his plan.

  I held my breath as the bottle began to slow down. Kneeling forward to get a closer look, I gasped when it dragged to a stop. Bailey fell to the floor behind me. No, it couldn’t be. There was no way.

  “Well, go on.” She elbowed me because I was frozen in shock. It had landed on me. “Your birthday wish is about to come true,” she said low in my ear.

  I was still staring at the bottle pointing directly at me when a pair of black boots came into my vision. I slowly looked up at a pair of jean-clad legs and a black t-shirt that hugged his chest in a lovely way, and Linc stretched out a hand to help me up. He wasn’t smiling. In fact, I couldn’t tell what his expression was saying. It was blank. Maybe he regretted playing and wished the bottle did land on Thea. I gulped, my throat suddenly dry.

  I reached for his hand and stood on shaky legs, wordlessly following him across the room to my father’s office. I barely gave Nate a thought as Linc closed the door behind us and locked it, because I knew my brother wouldn’t be impressed with us playing the game at all, let alone that I was in here alone with Lincoln. Although I’d like to think he’d rather it be Linc with me than any of the other boys.

  Still holding my hand, Linc walked over to my father’s desk and sat on the edge. I stopped in front of him, unsure of what to do next. Did I just wrap my arms around his neck and press my lips to his, or should I—?

  His hands came to rest on my hips, and I nearly hyperventilated. My hands trembled, and my knees shook with anticipation. I was so nervous, and I didn’t know why. It wasn’t like we’d never been in a room alone together before or that he hadn’t touched me in some way. We’d grown up together. Played together. Ridden bikes together. Swam together. Everything. Even slept together—when we were kids, having campouts in the basement and watching scary movies all night long.

  “So, eighteen?” He smiled at me, shaking a sun-bleached lock of hair out of his face. “How does it feel? You’re all grown up now.”

  I shrugged. “Feels the same. I’ve been growing up for a long time, Linc.” I wanted to drive home the point that I wasn’t the kid he still thought I was.

  He huffed out a breath, pulling me slightly closer. “I know.”

  I lost my footing and stumbled on the rug. Reaching out to steady myself, I grasped his shoulders. We were face to face, even with him sitting on the desk and me still standing between his legs.

  “I think I’m going to miss you when you leave,” he murmured, more to himself than me.

  My heart stuttered in my chest. He was going to miss me. I wanted to do a little happy dance. “I’ll be back. For holidays and weekends,” I said reassuringly, trying to play it cool when I was anything but. Nothing would keep me from coming home to see him. Nothing.

  “Good, because it won’t be the same without you here.” His mouth turned up in that half smile that made my knees give out. Did I even need to go to university? Couldn’t I just stay right here, in this moment? Who needed an education? I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay home and be closer to Linc. This moment would not be long enough. A thousand moments would not be long enough. Studying was overrated, anyway.

  “You can’t get rid of me that easily.” I dropped my head forward until our foreheads touched. We were so close. Just a fraction more and our mouths would touch. My lips tingled with anticipation. It was really going to happen.

  Linc’s hands circled around my back, gradually inching their way up, leaving goose bumps in their wake, until he was cupping my face. His voice was barely a whisper as his lips skimmed mine. “I don’t want to get rid of you, Indie.”

  And then he kissed me. Lincoln Andrews kissed me. Stars clouded my vision, butterflies erupted in my stomach, and I gasped in surprise. This moment was better than I had ever imagined it could be. Our lips moved together perfectly, like they were made to be joined forever. He tilted my head, and his tongue slid between my parted lips and met mine, softly, slowly. I saw fireworks. My heart beat harder in my chest—so hard I was sure he could hear it.

  I wanted to keep kissing him. I wanted to touch him, his face, his hair, his back, his—

  A thump on the door interrupted us, and Linc pulled back quickly. I missed him already.

  “Linc, man. You in there?” Nate called through the door, and Linc stood abruptly with wide eyes. We’d been busted.

  Masking his features to one of indifference, he walked over to the door, unlocked it like nothing had happened, and left.

  “What the hell, man?” I heard Nate ask. “Seven Minutes in Heaven with my little si
ster?”

  I waited with bated breath, hoping Linc would say what I wanted him to say.

  Instead, he laughed. “Nah, come on. As if. It’s Indie. We were just talking.”

  My heart dropped to my stomach as I fought the tears that threatened to spill. Nothing. He lied. Completely. And he didn’t even glance back at me once. I didn’t know what I was expecting from him. A declaration of love? Shouting from the rooftops that he loved me as much as I loved him? Okay, maybe not. But something. Anything.

  Did I mean that little to him?

  Tomorrow couldn’t come fast enough. I was getting the hell out of this awful town and moving halfway across the country to start university. But even that far wouldn’t be far enough away.

  I was done with Lincoln Bloody Andrews.

  Chapter One

  Indiana

  My clothes stuck to my skin the moment we stepped off the plane and onto the tarmac. It was gross. The heat. The sun. The bugs. Humid was an understatement.

  “Welcome to paradise,” Jack announced, pulling his sunglasses down over his eyes.

  I was not looking forward to the next week. Sure, I was happy my parents were renewing their wedding vows. And the break from studying was much needed. Who could say no to an all-expenses paid tropical getaway for me and my friends? All of them. Bailey, Ryder, Jack, even Kenzie was flying out. Kenzie and Ryder’s mum were looking after Cole, so she could have a break and come to the wedding.

  Even the friend I didn’t want to see was here.

  The one who was standing just outside the airport with my brother, waiting for us.

  The one who broke my heart a million times.

  The one who reeled me back in over and over with nothing but a smile.

  The one who…

  Who was I kidding? The one I wanted to see more than anyone else.

  I stopped in my tracks, and Jack crashed into my back. “Whoa, baby cakes, how about a little warning?” He grabbed my waist to steady me before I fell flat on my face.