Of Boys And Men: An Enemies to Lovers, New Adult College Romance (Ridge Rogues Book 1)

by Renee Harless

  The puppy wagged his tail in excitement as I placed the red bow on his collar and lifted him out of the crate. Carefully I carried him through the mudroom until we came to the kitchen. I set him down on the floor and the little rascal took off toward the voices.

  By the time I made my way into the living room, Jolee was scooping up Balboa (that was the name I had given him since Jolee and I bonded over our night with Rocky) into her arms and kissing his head.

  “Merry Christmas,” I whispered to her as I sat back beside her on the couch, Balboa squirming in her hands.

  “I love him so much,” she cried as she held him to her chest. She reached out to read his name tag and looked over at me with questioning eyes.

  “Balboa, for Rocky,” I explained.

  “It’s perfect. Thank you. I’m sorry that I didn’t get you a gift. This was sort of unexpected.”

  “Believe me, I have the best gift of all.”

  And as Jolee settled against me with Balboa nestled across our legs, I knew that I really did have the best gift of all, the gift I had been searching for my entire life – my family. It wasn’t conventional, but it was perfect. It just took this girl with broken luggage to open my eyes.

  Epilogue

  The spring sun was shining brightly in Boston this morning, melting the last bit of winter’s snow. I was up early to help my brother, Ford, and his girlfriend, Jolee, set up a fundraiser at the local animal shelter down the road from Wellington University. This was where she had volunteered her time outside of classes and her job at the veterinary clinic. I didn’t know how she found the time or energy to do any of this – she amazed not only me but all of the ridge rogues.

  “Hey, where do you want this?” I asked Jolee as I carried the parts of the dunk tank. She had asked us all to volunteer our time this Saturday without any qualms, mainly because she knew we would say yes. For how she was able to save our brother from himself, we would do whatever she wanted. Plus, we all loved animals.

  “Over by the big oak tree.” She pointed in the direction she wanted across the front lawn.

  I carried the large contraption over to the oak tree and sat it in the shade. People were already starting to arrive just as the workers at the shelter began carrying some of the dogs outside. They were the ones eligible for adoption. Ford was going to have his hands full trying to keep Jolee from bringing another pet home – they were still working on house training their puppy Balboa.

  Glancing around the yard, I noticed a hose tucked around the side and went to grab it to start filling the dunk tank. Ford struggled to carry a few blowers for the bounce house and inflatable slides, and I was very tempted to turn the hose on him but held myself back. I didn’t need Jolee coming after me. She may be beautiful, but she had a vicious tongue.

  By lunchtime, the parking lot was filled and there were lines of students waiting to dunk volunteers in the tank or wait for food from a local food truck.

  Knowing that my chance to grab a bite to eat was shrinking by the second, I made my way to the food truck and waited in line, pulling the brim of my hat down low.

  Behind me, a soft voice rang out as she bumped into my back. “I’m sorry.”

  I turned around to tell her that it was fine, but my tongue caught in my throat. Her red hair hung down in soft waves around her face and her pale skin shone under the sun. But it was her brown eyes that held me captive. They reminded me of someone so familiar, someone I hadn’t thought of for over ten years. The woman reached out to touch me and then suddenly I was transported back in time.

  I shivered in the cold, dank apartment. The walls were peeling away and the floor felt wet beneath my feet. I sat on the couch, one of the springs poking into my thigh as I held tightly to the only picture we had of my parents.

  The phone in the kitchen kept ringing, but I was scared to answer it. I was afraid it was my teacher calling to yell at me again. She didn’t like how I acted in school and how I never turned in any homework, but I didn’t have anyone to help me.

  My parents left for a trip one day and never came back, my sister, Natalie, told me that they went to be with the angels. She packed me up in the small car my mother used and we moved into this nasty apartment that smelled like old people.

  I hadn’t seen my sister in three days and I hadn’t left the apartment to go to school because I was afraid I wouldn’t have a place to come back to.

  Just as the phone stopped ringing, my sister stumbled into the apartment. I rushed to her and wrapped myself around her legs, but she kicked me away. Her red hair that had reminded me of Clifford the Dog had turned a weird color since my parents left, it was more like straw now. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like how her arms had bruises all over them, either.

  “Sissy?” I asked as I scrambled onto my feet. My stomach had been growling for two days and all I had to eat was cereal. I hoped that she came home with more food because we didn’t have anything left.

  My sister bypassed me and went to the room we shared, ignoring me completely, as she slammed the door closed.

  I counted as high as I could before I knocked on the door again, but my sister didn’t answer.

  “Natalie?” I called out as I peeked through a crack in the door.

  She was draped halfway on the bed and halfway off like I did when I was dreaming about fighting bad guys.

  “Sissy?” I said as I walked closer to her and rocked her shoulder with my hand. Usually, she would move or try to shove me away, but she didn’t do any of those things.

  “Sissy, wake up. My school keeps calling and I’m hungry.”

  I repeated the same motion until I rocked her so hard that she fell off the bed.

  But she didn’t do anything. She just laid there.

  I knew what that meant. I had seen it on television when Natalie had stayed out late one night.

  “Sissy!!!!!”

  “Oh. . .um. . ,” she murmured, breaking me free from my flashback.

  I was glad that she had taken two large steps back because I was completely disgusted with myself and needed to find an escape.

  “Hey, guys,” Jolee said as she approached.

  “I’m sorry, but I need to go,” I told her without a backward glance.

  And I just prayed that I didn’t run into anyone as I sprinted home to burn my skin under the hot water.

  It had been years since I had felt this dirty, this unglued. Leave it to a gorgeous redhead to bring my haunted past into the present.

  You can continue the Ridge Rogues Series with Of Bishops And Pawns

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  Renee Harless’ Risque Readers

  More Books by Renee Harless

  Ridge Rogues

  Of Boys And Men

  Of Bishops and Pawns

  Welcome to Carson Series

  Coming Alive

  Coming Together

  Coming Consumed

  Coming Altered

  Coming Innocent

  Coming Unraveled

  Coming Unplugged

  Coming Home

  Home in Carson Series

  Behind the Lens

  Behind the Badge

  Behind the Bar

  The Stolen Series

  Stolen Nights

  Stolen Kisses

  Stolen Hearts

  The Stone Trilogy

  Make Me Yours

  Make You Mine

  Make Us More

  Standalones

  Screw You

  Between the Lines

  The Scene Stealer

  A Snowflake Wish

  Acknowledgements

  Thank you to all of the readers and bloggers that shared their excitement for this book and series. I have been waiting for years to share it with you and you’ve patiently waited for it to drop into your hands. I hope that it didn’t disappoint.

  Pa
tricia, Lisa, Amanda R., Sally, Crystal, Amanda A, and Kelli thank you all so much for your help in making this book the best that it could be.

  To the readers, this book has absolutely been one of my most favorite to write. I have a deep connection with Jolee and Ford and I hope that after reading their story that you will as well.

  To my family, thank you for the weekends I had to lock myself away to give Ford and Jolee some attention, all while we lived during one of the most interesting times in our lives. I love you all so much, every day.

  Coming Alive

  Welcome to Carson Book One

  BY RENEE HARLESS

  Sneak Peek

  Coming Alive

  Renee Harless

  Avery never expected to take another chance at love. Until she's thrown a curveball she isn't anticipating – a man that causes her pulse to race and also happens to be one of her bosses. Finding herself drawn to him, Avery does her best to push him away, but she in no way predicts her heart pulling him in.

  Logan doesn't trust women. Period. But a one-night stand cut short exposes him to a mysterious woman that flips his world upside down. He didn’t predict meeting her - the one that would make him question everything. Undeterred by her need to keep him at arm's length, he goes against everything he believes in the quest to prove that they're worth fighting for.

  Prologue

  AVERY IS LATE. SHE is so late that she is tempted to take an unscheduled absence and just clock in for tomorrow. Luck is on her side though: her boss’ car isn’t yet parked in the employee lot.

  Wasting no time, Avery rushes through the sliding glass doors at the physician’s office and shoves her items into her locker. Melanie, her friend and coworker, appears behind her in the breakroom and props herself against the locker adjacent to her own.

  "So, I have a thought, but I want you to hear me out."

  Turning to face her, Avery can see that Melanie is doing little to mask the anxiety on her face – crinkles are knitted between her brows and bite marks of worry are on her lips. She does this when she's concerned about her. Melanie knows that a year later, Avery is still struggling to get over her fiancé’s death, as well as trying to make peace with the horrible life she attempts to keep buried in the past.

  Forcing a smile, Avery asks her to continue.

  "I think you need to move away."

  A gasp explodes out of Avery’s mouth at the suggestion.

  A year after Declan’s passing, Avery continues to find she is just wandering through life, masking the pain she still feels inside at the loss of her almost-husband. Though there have been a few moments of happiness - a new neighbor that loves to have Avery over for dinner with her two sons – and of course the event that she never saw coming: Max and Melanie's wedding. That one definitely took everyone by surprise. She supposes that in a way, Declan's death illuminated the true meaning of living your life to the fullest, especially for their two friends.

  "Hold on, Avery. Don’t get upset. I think it would be good for you. Everything here reminds you of all that you've lost. You need a fresh start."

  Taking Avery’s hand in-between her equally small ones, Melanie garners more of her attention.

  "Look. My cousin, Nikki, lives in this adorable town in North Carolina. She needs a new roommate since hers just up and left, and I think you two would get along great. She works as a receptionist at a private practice in her town. When I mentioned what you do, she said they were actually hiring a medical assistant for each of the physicians at her practice." Pulling Avery closer, she wraps her in a tight hug. "This is your chance, Avery. You can be someone new where no one knows what you've been through."

  Avery takes a moment to consider Melanie’s proposal. The idea isn’t a bad one really; it’s actually something she had been tossing back and forth in her own mind for quite some time.

  "You really think I should do it?"

  "Max and I don't think you have anything to lose. And I really think you could be happy there. We all want you to be happy, Avery."

  Absorbing her words, Avery asks if she can let her know by the end of the day. She wants to make sure she has taken adequate time to decide if this is what she really wants – no, needs to do.

  This new idea is so distracting that during her daily workload of patients, Avery is admittedly surprised when she reaches the end of the day without severely harming anyone.

  When at last Avery finds Max and Melanie standing by the water dispenser at the end of the shift, she tugs Melanie into her arms before saying, "How soon can I move?"

  Continue Reading Coming Alive