SAVAGE
Rosewood High #3
Tracy Lorraine
Copyright © 2020 by Tracy Lorraine
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Editing by My Brother’s Editor
Proofread by Pinpoint Editing
Cover by Dandelion Cover Designs
Cover photography by Michelle Lancaster
Model Josh Elton
Contents
1. Ethan
2. Raelynn
3. Ethan
4. Raelynn
5. Ethan
6. Raelynn
7. Raelynn
8. Ethan
9. Raelynn
10. Ethan
11. Raelynn
12. Ethan
13. Raelynn
14. Ethan
15. Raelynn
16. Ethan
17. Raelynn
18. Ethan
19. Raelynn
20. Ethan
21. Raelynn
22. Ethan
23. Raelynn
24. Ethan
25. Raelynn
26. Ethan
27. Raelynn
28. Raelynn
29. Ethan
30. Raelynn
31. Ethan
32. Raelynn
33. Ethan
34. Raelynn
35. Ethan
36. Raelynn
37. Ethan
38. Raelynn
39. Ethan
40. Raelynn
41. Ethan
42. Raelynn
43. Ethan
44. Raelynn
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Tracy Lorraine
Hate You
Hate You
Andy and Amelia
1
Ethan
The sound of his car pulling up in the driveway fills me with dread. I’ve avoided spending any time with my father since his secrets were exposed a few weeks ago, and, being the spineless prick that he is, he’s allowed me the space. Any decent dad would force me to sit down to hear him out, but no… he ran. Ran back to her, no doubt.
My parents have been even more absent than usual recently—not that I’m complaining. It meant I had the place to myself and was able to do what the fuck I wanted whenever I wanted, just the way I liked it. But I had no idea that they weren’t just on another one of Dad’s work trips. The reality of it was that Mom had moved back in with her parents in Connecticut, and my dad was banging his assistant in Washington.
I shake my head, still refusing to fully accept what he’s done. I’m not ashamed to admit that he is my idol, and the fact that he’s just screwed my mom over in the worst possible way shakes me to my core. The man I’ve always looked up to, who I thought was a god, just pissed all over everything I ever believed. I thought he was honest, trustworthy, honorable. But it seems that all of that was an act, a lie. All it took was a woman in a short skirt with an easy smile, and he ruined everything we had.
My fists curl as the sound of the front door slamming shut echoes through the empty house.
“Ethan?” My name booms up to me. I want to pretend I’m out, but he’s just parked next to my car. There’s no chance I’m going to get away with this. “Ethan?” he shouts again, his feet pounding on the stairs as he makes his way to my room.
His knock on the door is strong and assertive, and it makes me want to slam my fist into his ribs just to show him how fucking strong he really is.
When he still doesn’t get a response from me, he pushes the door open anyway and walks inside.
“There you are, son. Didn’t you hear me calling?”
Keeping my head down for a beat, I then turn toward him. He’s wearing his standard suit and tie duo, the one I thought always made him look so powerful and successful, but now, I just roll my eyes. He’s a joke.
I don’t respond. He knows full well I heard but that I have no intention of talking to him. He didn’t just betray my mom when he stuck his dick in that whore, he betrayed our whole family. Our name. Everything we stand for.
Ignoring the fact that I clearly have no interest in what he’s got to say to me, he continues nonetheless. “I’ve got tickets to today’s game. Thought it would be good for us to spend some time together.”
Although the thought of the game is appealing, especially knowing that he’ll have fucking epic seats, if it means sitting next to him and pretending everything is perfectly fine, then no thank you very much. “I’m good, thanks. I’m busy.” I turn back to stare out the window. In reality, I’m doing fuck all, and the fact that I’m sitting on my bed with nothing turned on or even my cell in my hand should clue him in on that.
“Really?” he asks, the amusement in his tone pissing me the fuck off.
“Really.”
“Ethan, come on. Don’t be like that. I know you’re pissed at me, but not everything is as it seems.”
“Oh, really so you weren’t dipping your pen in the office ink while being married to Mom, then?” He pales. “If I’ve got it so wrong, please, enlighten me, Father.” I stand, stepping right in front of him. I’m taller and wider than him now, and I know how much he hates it. His neck ripples as he swallows. It’s not with fear. This motherfucker’s not scared of anything, especially not me.
“You wouldn’t understand.”
My teeth grind, and my chest swells with anger. “I’m not a fucking child,” I seethe. Relationships are complicated, I get that. Things happen, I get that. But what I don’t get is why he couldn’t be a fucking adult about it and talk about it instead of fucking the first woman who crossed his path.
He stares me down, daring me to say exactly what’s on my mind, but I refuse to acknowledge his behavior with that kind of attention.
“I had to pull some serious strings to get these. Are you coming, or what? It’s supposed to be an outstanding game.” He waves the tickets in front of my face.
I haven’t been to an NFL game in forever with him out of town, and the temptation of the roar of the crowd, the shared excitement, the knowledge that I can forget about my own bullshit life for sixty minutes is enough to have me agreeing, although I’m not happy about it.
A smile of achievement curls at Dad’s lip, and I regret it instantly.
“I’ll meet you downstairs in twenty. We’ll go for steak after, too.” Damn him, he knows I can’t refuse the offer of steak.
With a nod of his head, he ducks out of my room, leaving me to stew in my anger some more.
Pulling my shirt over my head, I drop my joggers and step into my en suite. It might have been different if I’d have seen it coming, but my parents have always seemed so happy, so solid. While I watched my friends at school fall apart over the years when their families were ripped in two, I always felt grateful knowing that that would never happen to me. I was that confident in the love my parents had. So the day I got a tearful phone call from my mom, it wrecked me in a way I could never imagine.
“I’m so sorry, baby, b-but I’m not coming home. T-Things are over between your father and me.”
I’ve watched people break when their girlfriends have split up with them, when their teams have lost, when they’ve failed the test they spent weeks studying for, but I never thought it would feel quite like it did in that moment.
She begged me to leave and move to Connecticut with her, pleaded with me that she couldn’t lose me as well, but my life is here. Everything I have—besides her—i
s here. I can’t just up and leave everything I’ve worked so hard for, or my friends who I know have my back no matter what.
As much as it gutted me to do it, I had to tell her that I was staying put. I had plans for my future, none of which included moving in with my grandparents. Although, now thinking about it, following my dad’s footsteps to study business at UFC isn’t all that appealing. I always wanted to be just like him, but now, I’m thinking being the opposite might not be so bad.
The drive to the stadium is in silence. Only the sound of Dad’s V8 engine could be heard as I kept my eyes on the world passing by outside the window. I might have agreed to this, but I don’t want him under any illusion that there’s been any kind of truce between us. There’s a very good chance I might never forgive him for this.
The game is exactly as I hoped. The excitement and roar of the crowd seeped into me the second we stepped foot inside the colossal stadium. My buzz as the cheerleaders shook their pom poms filled my stomach with the kind of tingles I only get when a football is involved. I live for this. Shutting the world out and focusing on one goal. I love the cheer of the crowd, knowing, whether playing or spectating, that I’m part of something bigger than just my little life.
I’m sure everyone around me thinks it’s the attention of being a Bears player that I love, and yes that’s part of it, but it’s not all of it. Being beside my brothers, taking on the world together, means everything to me.
My focus is solely on the game and putting myself in the players’ shoes. Playing in front of the Rosewood High crowd is a serious buzz; I can only imagine how those guys feel when they run out to this exuberant crowd.
It’s a tight game, and it keeps us all on our toes throughout. My heart’s racing when the whistle blows for the final play, not knowing which way it’s going to go.
I fall down onto my seat, the high from the game making me want to celebrate. It might not be my win, but fuck if I don’t have the same response. There’s nothing like a good party and a fuck after a successful game.
I glance around to see if there are any options for the latter, but when I look to my left, I find my dad looking back at me with a smile on his face and my excitement immediately vanishes. My mom has told me stories from what he was like in high school. They didn’t get together until years after, partly due to his reputation. Am I just as bad as him? Am I destined to make the same mistakes when it comes to women?
“Ready to eat?” he asks as everyone starts to leave.
I’m not. The last thing I want is food right now, but I doubt I’ve got a chance of getting out of it. “Let’s go.” There’s no enthusiasm in my voice, and the way my dad’s eyes narrow, I know he doesn’t miss it. It doesn’t stop him from taking me to the most expensive steak house in the district though.
The atmosphere is heavy, the tension between us becoming seriously uncomfortable as he orders us both a fillet steak and sits back with his beer, practically waving it in my face after refusing to order one for me, claiming that I’m underage—which of course is true, but it doesn’t stop him filling the house every weekend for me, or leaving his credit card for me to stock up with more should we run out.
“I know you’re angry, Ethan. I understand that this was a shock, but things haven’t been right between your mother and me for a very long time. We—”
“I don’t care, Dad. You didn’t need to cheat. There are a million ways to deal with a failing relationship, and fucking your assistant isn’t one of them.”
He rears back slightly at my blunt tone.
“It’s not like that with Ash.” I raise a brow, not missing the fact he’s talking about her in the present tense, like she’s still very much a part of his life. “She was there for me as a friend long before anything happened.”
“Spare me the details of your sordid little affair.”
“Keep your voice down, Ethan. The whole town doesn’t need to know our business.”
A spiteful laugh falls from my lips. “And you don’t think the gossip is going to be rife when they realize Mom’s not coming back?”
He opens his mouth to respond but nothing comes out. “Listen, son,” he says eventually, and my stomach drops. I should have known he had a hidden agenda with this spur of the moment daddy/son bonding day. “I know you’re not going to be happy about this but—”
I blow out a slow breath as I prepare for the next bit of information that’s going to rock my world.
“Ash is going to be moving in with us.”
“She’s fucking what?”
“Look, I know this isn’t ideal. I hadn’t planned on asking her yet, but things are tough for her in Washington right now. She’s lost her apartment and—”
“I don’t give a fuck, Dad. We’re not a fucking homeless shelter for women you randomly pick up.”
His face turns beet red with anger. His eyes narrow and his lips twitch. I recognize it as the look he gets when he’s trying to keep his shit together. “It’s my house, Ethan. If I want her there, then she’ll be there.”
Well, isn’t that just fucking great.
“It might be your house, but you’re never there. Are you expecting me to play house with this woman, or is she going to disappear with you for weeks at a time?”
“She’ll be with me, but—”
Fuck my life, there’s another but. I stare at him, my expression blank as I wait for the next blow.
“Her daughter will be coming with her and enrolling at Rosewood. I’m going to need you to take care of her while she settles in.” I wait for him to tell me that he’s joking, but at no point do his lips twitch into a smile. “She’s a lovely girl. I think you’ll like her.”
2
Raelynn
“Hey, honey,” Mom says, letting herself into our depressing apartment after working her second job of the day. “I hope you haven’t eaten, I brought your favorite.” The second she says the words, dread sits, heaving in my stomach. Mom only splurges on Chinese when she’s got bad news to break. And more times than not, that news is that we’re moving. Washington has been home now for almost eight months. It’s the longest we’ve stayed anywhere that I can remember; I should have seen it coming.
Mom’s been unusually settled, and I had hoped that I might get to complete school here, but as I round the corner into our living area to find her unpacking the takeout boxes, I know the reason we’re about to up and move again. It’s always for the same reason. A man.
Every time she promises that it’ll be different. That this time, he’s the one and we’re going to lay down some roots and make ourselves a real home. But every time the one turns out to be a total douche and we end up leaving—or running, more like.
She’s a serial fiancée. Almost every time things get serious enough that he buys a ring, and then he shows his true colors and it’s all over. The one before last one was the worst. A shudder runs down my spine as I think of him.
Eric, though, seems like a good guy. He’s the wealthiest of the men she’s gone for in the past, and she does have a good nose for the ones with money. It’s how she thinks she’s going to make herself happy after years without anything to her name. I truly hope that one day she finds what she’s looking for, but I fear it’s all just one big fantasy.
“Smells good, Mom,” I say, dropping onto our worn couch, breathing in the scent of real food. It’s been a while since I ate something quite so substantial. “What’s the occasion?” I ask, the words almost getting stuck in my throat.
She blows out a breath, stalling for time, and I realize that at no point does she attempt to look up at me.
“We’re moving again, aren’t we?”
“I’m so sorry, honey. But I think it’s for the best.”
I nod at her sadly, knowing the real reason she wants to move again right now but also knowing that she’s not going to voice it. We never talk about that—about him. She just keeps trying to outrun the memories instead.
“Eric’s got this amazing hou
se by the sea. The local high school is incredible. You’ll have so many more opportunities than you do here.”
That is very true. The high school I’m currently at is the worst of all the ones I’ve experienced in the past five years. I certainly won’t miss the place when she drags me across the country once again.
“When are we leaving?”
She swallows and pokes her chopsticks into her noodles. “He’s coming to get us on Wednesday.”
“Wednesday?” I almost snort rice out through my nose. “Wednesday? As in the day after tomorrow?”
At least she has the decency to look guilty.
“He’s not sure when he’ll be back at the office again, and he doesn’t want to leave us here longer than necessary.”
Jesus, the way she says that makes me think we’re kids’ toys sitting on a shelf, waiting for a new owner.
“We’re more than capable of moving on our own. It wouldn’t be the first time,” I mutter.
Guilt fills her features. I know this isn’t how she wants us to live, but unfortunately, it’s our life. Maybe one day she will get the stability she craves. I hope she does, I really do. Is Eric Savage it? Of the possible stepdads I’ve had over the years, he’s got to be up there in the top three of real possibilities. But who knows what the future could bring. It’s not ceased to amaze me this far.
SAVAGE: Rosewood High #3 Page 1