Cruel Summer: A College Bully Romance (Verona Academy Book 1)
Page 18
“What are you thinking about?” Ryan interrupts my thoughts.
I never told him or anyone, except Amber, why I came back home. Ryan presumes being away from my hometown got to me and I was homesick. Part of that is true, but I don’t need anyone worrying and freaking out about the incident in Italy.
“How I’m going to kick your butt in pool,” I lie.
“You?” He laughs. “Hold on, we are so not paying for drinks tonight.” The car screeches to a halt and Ryan darts out of the car and into the diner. I casually stroll in after him, we are the first to arrive and settle in for a fun night.
***
My dad is waiting in the lounge when I arrive home. I stare at him as I close the door behind me and try to ignore him, hoping he’s up because he can’t sleep.
“Sweetie.” His voice echoes through the quiet house.
“Is mom asleep?” I don’t need her to hear our conversation.
“She is. Sit with me.” He pats the lounge seat next to him.
I stride over to lounge chair, opting to sit at the one opposite him. “What?”
“Can we talk?” His voice is full of regret.
“You are talking.”
He sighs and runs his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say to make this cluster fuck of a mistake I made, better?”
I stare at him. At least he is owning his mistake. “Not agreeing to it in the first place.”
“I had no option, sweetie. I was blackmailed, please believe me.” His forehead crinkles.
“I know what happened. You lied to me. You lied to mum. What kind of person uses their daughter as collateral? A shitty person, dad. That’s who.” I glare at him.
“Pumpkin.” He leans reaching for my hand but I pull away.
“I’m not your fucking pumpkin.”
I’ll never be your anything again.
My tears start to fall then, soaking the front of my top.
“I’m so sorry my sweetheart, just know that it is all over. I kept up my end of the deal and they will never bother you, or me, again. I promise you with my life.”
I stare at him, at the shell of a man he once was. I used to idolise him when I was a kid, thought he could do no wrong. I wipe my tears, hopefully the last ones I shed for this man and stand up off the lounge. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell mom.” I turn on my heels and head for my bedroom.
I’m agitated and my nails dig into my palms. I want to punch something to release the anger built up in me. I grab out my phone and check the time, it’s still early enough to head out. I think of Amber and my heart twinges, I haven’t spoken to her much since moving back. I told her about the whole shitty situation in Italy through a flood of tears. I told her what Enzo had said to me right before I left him standing on the curb. She held me until I could shed no more tears that night and I promised her I would return to Verona one day to see her.
“Are you still awake?” I text Ryan.
“I am.” He replies immediately.
“Can I come over?” I type before thinking and hit send.
“Anytime.” He texts back.
I grab my car keys and head outside to where Betty is parked. I rev her engine to piss my dad off and screech the tyres as I turn out of our street. Ryan lives off campus with a few of his football team mates. The house is dark and it seems as though everyone is having an early night. I text Ryan that I’m out the front so I don’t wake anyone.
He opens the door in just his boxers and my saliva pools under my tongue as I take in his muscled abs and arms. “Are you coming in or are you just here to stare?” His lopsided goofy grin makes me giggle.
I shake the image of him from my head and follow him to his room. He quickly grabs his strewn around clothes, making room for me to sit on his bed. I watch the muscles in his back move under his smooth skin, and marvel at the masculinity he exudes. He is all sweet, dependable and forgiving. A vast contrast to Enzo, who is broody, ruthless and sinister. Like night and day. Like summer and winter. Polar opposites of each other. I am beginning to realise where my heart belongs, as much I try to fight it, in the whirlwind that is Enzo.
“What’s up? You look like you have been crying.” He curls his legs under the blanket.
“Nothing I want to talk about tonight. I just needed to get away from home.” I sit at the other end of the bed and grab his pillow.
“Want to watch a movie? You choose.” He smiles.
“Sound good, how about a movie that won’t make me cry?”
“Fast and Furious?” Ryan grabs the remote to flick through available movies.
“The first one, not the one made when Paul Walker died. I couldn’t handle that tonight.” I climb under the blanket next to Ryan and get comfortable.
Back when we dated, we used to always have movie nights. I wonder how different things would be if he never dumped my ass for moving hours away and leaving him behind? I sigh at the thought.
“You sure you’re okay?” Ryan looks at me with concern.
“Why did you really dump me?” I keep my eyes on the screen.
Ryan scratches his head. “I didn’t think the long distance thing would work. I thought you were running away from me, from us. I was hurt and bitter and I guess I wanted you to hurt as much as I was hurting.” He slides down and scrunches the pillow under his head.
I look down at him. “It could have worked, you know.”
“I know.” He hooks his hand around my waist and pulls me down next to him to watch the movie. “No more talking, movie is starting.”
I smile at the memory of him saying exactly that every time we started to watch a movie. My heart swells with nostalgia and I push all thoughts of Enzo away, for tonight.
***
The phone shrills next to my head in the dead of the night. I throw the covers off and sit up to answer it. A private number flashes on the screen. “Hello.” I blink a few times to adjust my eyesight in the dark.
“Who is it?” Ryan groans next to me. We must have fallen asleep watching Fast and Furious, the light from the television illuminates Ryan’s sleepy face. He rolls over and puts the pillow over his face. “Tell them to call when the sun comes up.”
“I’m free from him, Summer. I’m free from him.” Enzo’s strained voice echoes through the phone, the anguish evident in his tone.
“Enzo.” Alarm bells ring in my ears as my heart rate spikes.
The phone clicks and silence fills the room.
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading Cruel Summer, I hope you enjoyed getting to know Summer and Enzo as much as I enjoyed writing their story. If you need more of the vicious possessive Enzo, make sure you pre-order Vicious Enzo to find out what happens next. If you did enjoy this novel, the best thing you can do is leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. A short and sweet review is fantastic. Reviews help other readers determine if a book is to their liking and authors, especially indie authors, rely on such word of mouth to get our books in front of new readers.
-Melinda Terranova
Bequeathed Amazon: www.mybook.to/Bequeathed
Facebook: https://facebook.com/MelindaTerranovaAuthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mel.terranova
Table of Contents
(Untitled)
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
Three Months Later
rranova, Cruel Summer: A College Bully Romance (Verona Academy Book 1)