by Franca Storm
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Other Books By Franca Storm
Thank You For Reading!
Ready to Love
A Damaged Hearts Novel
FRANCA STORM
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
READY TO LOVE. A Damaged Hearts Novel.
Cover Design by Louisa Maggio at LM CREATIONS
Copyright © Francesca Julia Gale (2015). All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the author.
The sale of this book without its cover is unauthorized. If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that it was reported to the publisher as “unsold and destroyed”. Neither the author nor the publisher has received payment for the sale of this “stripped book”.
Cover Design by Louisa Maggio at LM CREATIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My husband - for being a living example of what truly makes a man. For being my ultimate beta reader on this one and for helping me to hammer out the essence of John’s character. You are my best friend, my greatest supporter, and the love of my life.
Chris W - for your endless encouragement. For being the first person to ever get a look at RTL and for helping me to make those first few chapters better. Thank you so much!
Candace Havens – thank you for rooting for this novel, for all of your amazing notes that helped to make it better.
Nicole at Indie Sage - thank you for all of your extremely hard work with promoting me and this release. You’ve got mad skills and you are truly the master. You’ve been absolutely amazing!
Louisa (LM Creations) – for the awesome cover and promo graphics, for being so great to work with—and so fun, too! You are the best! Thank you so much!
Kylie at Give Me Books - thank you for all of your hard work with promoting this book. You are awesome!
All the Bloggers and the great FB Pages/Groups - thank you for helping me to spread the word.
My amazing fans - thank you for reading and thank you for your support. You guys rock!
Chapter 1
~John~
“What you’re tryin’ to make me/ Is a man bound by a steel cage/ You are the fucking worst of me/ Making the beast inside me rage….”
“Twist me…” Nicki’s voice wraps around mine as we belt out the chorus of our hard-rock fuck-you song. One of our signature songs.
I wink at her and then I do a 180-degree spin to our drummer, Chloe, and pump my fist in the air right on time as she slams down the final beat.
Applause and wolf-whistles thunder through the massive backyard of the campus frat house. As I look out at the crowd of college students, I catch a couple of blondes giving me the eye and licking their lips as their gazes rake over my chest and leather pants. I flash them one of my infamous panty-dropping grins. I catch Nicki’s eye and she’s shaking her head at me in playful disapproval. I shrug my shoulders and give her my most innocent look. It’s one she knows all too well and one I know she can see right through. She’s been my best friend for four years now so I don’t expect anything less.
I feel an arm wrap around my shoulders and I turn to see our bassist and my roommate, Mitch Hawthorne, smirking at me. He brushes his sweat-drenched brown hair out of his face and follows my line of sight. He winks at one of the girls and then grabs his cock through his jeans in an X-rated move—his normal way of doing things. The guy has no inner censor.
“I’ll take the one in the booty shorts,” he tells me. “You take the leather skirt.”
I laugh. “What makes you think I’m not gonna take both of them?”
I see Nicki roll her eyes at me. She turns away and walks over to Chloe who’s spinning her drumsticks like a professional baton twirler as she makes her way across the stage.
As I turn back to the girls, something smacks me in the face. I grab at it. It’s my white shirt. I’d lost it somehow during the set. I can’t remember which song had me ripping it off. But, as usual, it ended up on the floor. I look at Nicki to see her laughing at me, she being the culprit who’d thrown it at me.
“Don’t like what you see?” I tease her.
She blushes and looks away. She’s always the same. So damn shy about stuff like that.
As I’m shrugging my shirt back on, Blake Turner bounds onto the deck that’s doubling as a stage. He’s the head of the frat house and the guy who booked us tonight. He’s also my law buddy—we’re in the same program. Ugh…law. All thanks to my asshole of a father.
“Give it up for Worst Exit everyone!” Blake roars to the crowd.
As everyone goes into a frenzy, Blake grips my shoulder and says, “Great job. Thanks, man. Stick around. Enjoy the rest of the night.”
I nod. I know he’s going out of his way for me. I didn’t want to take this gig, but he pretty much begged me to. I hate frat guys, so the last thing I wanted was to play here. But Blake was offering us good money to do it so I decided to suck it up and take it. Aside from him, the frat boys hate me as much as I hate them. Something about me getting too much pussy. They think every woman on campus is theirs for the taking, that they should get first refusal or something. Fucking ridiculous. And it’s not like I poach their women on purpose. It’s the whole rock band front man thing. They come to me, especially after they’ve seen me play. And if I like what I see, I take it. What’s wrong with that? Not a damned thing in my books.
As the four of us exit the stage, I see Chloe shaking her head; her long blonde hair bouncing from side to side. She reaches into her mini dress and pulls a bill out of her cleavage. She hands it to Nicki and Nicki grins at her victoriously. A bet, I realize.
“What did you bet?” I ask, curious.
“When you’d take your shirt off this time,” Chloe tells me with a grin. “And once again, Nicki called it.”
My gaze snaps to Nicki. “You did, huh?”
She turns slightly to tuck the bill into the back pocket of her tight-as-sin jeans. My eyes linger a little too long on that sweet ass of hers, before she turns back so she’s facing me again. My eyes instantly snap back up to her face. Off limits. Always off limits, I remind my scotch-infused brain.
“Always,” she tells me, her big blue eyes flashing at me excitedly.
I laugh.
“It’s not fair. She knows
you too well,” Chloe complains as she fiddles with the zippers on her boots, pulling them further up her thighs a little.
“I warned you not to bet with her when it comes to John,” Mitch says, laughing at her as he flips his long hair back.
Before I can say anything, a guy approaches Nicki and Chloe. I feel my fists clench. Axel Craven. I hate that fucker with a vengeance. He’s the worst of all the frat guys on campus. He’s such a slimy piece of shit. My eyes narrow in fury as I notice him blatantly eye-fucking Nicki right in front of all of us. He runs his fingers through his gelled hair and folds his arms over his tank top so he can flex his muscles at her. Fucking amateur.
“Axel Craven,” he tells her. “You were great, babe. Let me get you a drink.”
I see her hesitate. She’s not gonna fall for that. I get ready for her to blow him off in her normal cute polite way. But then the worst happens. Chloe pushes her into him.
“Nicola Lewis,” she tells him, before turning to Nicki and encouraging her, “Live a little. It’s just a drink.”
Fuck. Why is she always pressuring Nicki to hook up? She won’t. Aside from me, she never lets any guy touch her. I’m the only one who can hug her without her tensing up. I’m the only guy she trusts.
I watch her wrap her arms around herself; her normal defensive reaction. Her deep blue eyes gaze at Axel shyly. She doesn’t want to do this. But Chloe can never take ‘no’ for an answer. She doesn’t get it. She doesn’t know what happened to Nicki to make her this way. Only she and I know that. I was there when it went down.
I move to step forward and interfere, but Mitch grabs my arm, holding me back as he shakes his head at me as if to say: It’s not your business. I growl inwardly. Of course, as usual, he’s right.
Axel doesn’t move to touch her, obviously getting the message from her body language. But he’s a determined motherfucker and he smiles a fake trusting smile at her that any guy could recognize as being insincere and filled with the ulterior motive of getting into her pants.
“A drink, babe,” he presses. “That’s all.”
Chloe nudges her hard and whispers something to her.
“Sure. Okay,” Nicki gives in. “A drink.”
And just like that she’s following Axel over to the bar inside the frat house.
Chloe smiles, obviously pleased with herself, and then heads over to the barbeque in the corner of the backyard.
Mitch and I follow Nicki and Axel’s path into the house. I feel him pull me back before I can make it to the bar. He points to the two blondes from earlier. They’re gesturing to us from one of the leather couches. One of them flashes me a come-fuck-me grin. I take one last glance at Nicki before Mitch pulls me towards the girls.
Fine.
Chapter 2
~John~
I’m on my fourth glass of scotch as one of the blondes sits on my lap, her hands all over me, her ass grinding into my semi-hard cock as she chatters away with her friend and Mitch across from us on another couch. They’re hanging onto every word of one of Mitch’s exaggerated stories about some gig we played a year ago. The guy has a talent for storytelling. He’s got the gift of the gab and he’s always the life of the party. Usually I’m right there with him.
But I’m too busy with what’s going on at the bar right now. I can’t take my eyes off the two of them. Axel and Nicki. She’s laughing hysterically at something he just said. I see him slide his hand up her thigh. She doesn’t tense or try to move away. She just lets it happen.
“She’s fucking smashed,” I mutter.
“What?” Mitch asks, stopping in the middle of his story.
Shit. All three of them are staring at me in confusion. I didn’t mean to say that out loud. Too late. I ignore the stares from the girls and tell Mitch, “Nicki. She’s smashed. Look at her.”
“So what? She’s a big girl, John.”
“I know. It’s just…him.”
“Axel? What about him?”
“He’s a fucking player, that’s what,” I growl.
“And you’re not?”
Damn, he’s got me there. But the comparison to that fuck tart really gets under my skin. Despite being more than a little buzzed from the four scotches I’ve already put away, I feel that familiar anger burning just below the surface. I struggle to keep it down. But I can’t. Not while Nicki and Axel are flirting just a few feet away from me. Shit, I need to take a breather.
“I need a smoke,” I say, moving the blonde off my lap. I can’t even remember her name. I know she told me. Several times.
Mitch shrugs his shoulders at me and continues on with his story.
“Don’t be too long,” the blonde says.
Normally I’d be right on top of that—in every sense of the word. But this thing with Nicki is nagging at me so much that I can’t focus. A smoke will help. It’ll clear my head.
I push my way through the crowds of drunk college students messing around and some of them dry humping in the damn halls. Dry humping? What are we, still in high school? Get a room and get down to the real thing. It’s all or nothing otherwise it’s just a tease. And no guy wants that.
I blow out a breath when I finally make it outside. I light up fast and take a long drag. Ah, that’s the stuff. Normally the combination of fresh air, alone time and a good smoke can calm me right down. But for some reason it’s not working as well as it usually does. Why am I so bothered by her and that asshole?
I know why. I need to protect her. She won’t know how to handle him; won’t pick up on the red flags. Also, this is the first time I’ve ever actually seen her flirt with a guy. It never happens. Sure, guys come up to her. She’s gorgeous. But as soon as they take one look at me they back off and leave her alone. They can tell I’m a guy not to mess with. It’s the former boxer in me, I guess. They can sense it; the fact that I can fuck them up if I have to.
But tonight that didn’t happen. Axel ignored the warning look I gave him. What a piece of shit. Mitch is right though. Nicki is a big girl. She’s not stupid. She’s smarter than all of us. I need to let it go. They’re just talking.
Satisfied that I’ve managed to talk myself down, I take one final drag and then butt out my smoke. I walk back into the house, determined to focus on the blonde who’s made it clear she wants my cock tonight.
But then all that level-headed thinking turns to shit when I catch sight of Axel and Nicki in the hall. Axel has her pushed up against the wall, his tongue shoved down her throat; his hand fisted roughly in her soft dark-brown hair and his other sliding slowly up her thigh towards…no…no way is he gonna touch her there. Fuck no. I’m about to go over there and knock him out when Nicki does it for me. She pushes him and he stumbles back. She storms off and stops short when she sees me standing there watching her.
She holds up an angry hand and snaps, “Don’t, John. I don’t want to hear it!”
I nod, knowing her well enough to keep my distance when she’s pissed. I watch her storm out of the house and run to one of the cabs parked outside. Good, she’s headed home. Safe.
I brush past Axel roughly and give him a serves-you-goddamn-right look. He snarls at me and I can feel his eyes burning into my back as I walk over to the couches where the girls and Mitch are fooling around. I don’t give a damn. I kind of want him to make a move so I can justify smashing my fist into his face and breaking his goddamn nose. But he doesn’t. Just as well, because his frat buddies outnumber me twenty to one.
Don’t fucking touch my girl again. What? My girl? Nicki? No, no way. Stop it.
I take a breath as I reach the girls and push down my disturbing not-so-platonic thoughts about Nicki. Christ; how drunk am I?
***
“Oh God! Yes, John!” What’s-Her-Name screams as I pound her into my bedroom wall.
Her lips move to mine and I avoid them smoothly, flicking her right nipple with my tongue instead. Dammit woman, we’re fucking. No need for intimate shit. My hands knead her huge fake tits and she throws her hea
d back in pleasure.
Thoughts of Nicki suddenly assault me. What the fuck?
I force my mind back to the present; my dick buried in the fake blonde wrapped around me, screaming out my name. I slap her ass hard to distract myself and she grinds down on me.
“That’s right. You like that, don’t you?”
Before she can answer I grab her hands and slam them above her head, holding them there roughly as I pick up my pace and fuck her even harder. I slide my free hand between us and brush her clit. She comes instantly, screaming shrilly as her pussy contracts around me.
Normally, that’s enough to push me over the edge, but all that’s shot to hell as an image of Nicki’s lips on mine flashes in my mind. It’s so damn vivid that it’s like she’s right here with me. And before I can stop myself my mouth crashes against the blonde’s, taking her in a desperate kiss. Taking Nicki in a desperate kiss as I allow images of her to flash through my mind, as though I’m actually kissing her and not this chick.
The mere thought of it has me coming hard all of a sudden as intense pleasure surges through me. Fuck, yeah. I roar out my release, cursing like a sailor and saying God knows what else.
As I pull out and put the blonde down, her hand comes at my face, slapping the shit out of my right cheek.
“What the fuck?”
“Nicki?” she demands, her hands on her hips, trying to look all pissed as she’s standing there naked and panting from her orgasm.
“What?”
“When you came, you screamed out another girl’s name. Nicki.”
I’m too shocked to respond. I did what?
“Who is she, huh?” she yells, getting in my face.
“Get. Out,” I growl.
“What?”
“You heard me. Get the fuck out.”
“You’re such an asshole,” she tells me as she snatches her thong off the floor and pulls it on.