The Living: A Reverse Harem Bully Romance (The Thorns of Rosewood Book 3)

by Cassie James

  “Hands on the wheel, sugar,” Jude commands, but his tone is strangled, and it takes everything in me to not turn my head and smirk at him. I can give as good as I get. It’s not my fault he always seems to conveniently forget that. I decide to let up on him, though, and reach for the steering wheel, only to be surprised when he reaches around me to shift the car into drive and then grasps the bottom of the wheel, boxing me in between him and the wheel. “Take it nice and easy, Piper.”

  It takes every ounce of my control and determination to focus on the road instead of the feeling of his breath on the back of my neck. I barely notice the narrow roadways anymore as my mind hazes over with lust. The longer we drive, the harder I feel Jude get. There’s no hiding that. By the time I’ve looped the cemetery once, I’m not sure who’s more turned on.

  I throw the car in park and lean back heavily, relishing the way Jude’s hands immediately start to stroke my skin. My head droops to one side as Jude puts his lips on the curve of my neck. I can hear Tyler and Brennan breathing heavily, too, which only makes it that much hotter as Jude touches me.

  “My turn,” Tyler groans out as he stares at me through the rearview mirror, his eyes heated as they meet mine. Jude tightens his grip on me, and for a second, I’m worried he’s going to tell Tyler to fuck off, but he gives me one last squeeze and lets go.

  I barely have time to process as I’m transferred from one lap to another, Tyler now propped behind me and already hard enough that I’m too nervous to sit back all the way. If I thought Jude was a distraction, it was nothing compared to Tyler. He doesn’t even pretend to care about my driving. He digs his fingers into my upper thighs as he starts kissing his way up the opposite side of my neck from where Jude kissed me. I bite my lip and force my focus on the narrow cemetery road in the dusky evening light because it really would be a travesty if I wrecked Jude’s ultra-expensive car or killed us all in a horny haze. By the time I’ve looped the cemetery for the second time, I’m barely sitting still anymore.

  It’s almost all too much, but when we stop near a mausoleum, I can’t deny Brennan a turn. For the first few minutes of driving with him, he’s a perfect gentleman. But then I shift in the seat, not quite comfortable, and all bets are off. His hands shoot to my sides, tracing around to my stomach and then up toward the underside of my breasts. I’m positive I can handle it, though. I’m pretty much a pro at dealing with horny teenage boys while casually driving through a cemetery at this point. Then Brennan’s fingers dip into my waistband, and I can’t help it. I jerk the wheel too hard to the right as his hand just goes lower and lower down the front of my shorts. Jude growls out in protest as he shoots a hand out to grab the wheel and steady it.

  “Brakes, sugar. Hit the brakes.” Jude’s voice is strangled, not exactly what I was expecting after very nearly crashing his SUV into a massive angel statue on the side of the road.

  Somehow, I manage to get the car in park as Brennan’s hand finally finds it mark. I can’t help but throw my head back as I finally get the touch I’ve needed… but that’s the absolute wrong move. There’s a distinct cracking sound as the back of my head connects with Brennan’s face.

  “Shit!” he yelps as he pulls his hand away. I scramble off of him and out of the car. Brennan steps out, too, wincing as he whips off his shirt so he can use it to stop the blood now flowing steadily out of his nose. The one silver lining is that it doesn’t look broken, I think to myself as I cringe hard.

  See? I fucking knew driving was dangerous.

  11

  Piper

  “I can’t believe you’re not going to come play buffer between Tori and me. How are you going to survive break by yourself, Pipes?” Macie asks at lunch the day after my driving lesson. I really should have agreed to go when Macie first asked. The way Jackie’s been running hot-and-cold, Tori would probably have been a welcome relief at this point. She might send the occasional glare my way, but she hasn’t uttered a single word to—or about me, as far as I know—since our little showdown in the bathroom.

  “I’m literally going to lock myself in my bedroom and avoid Jackie all fucking week. I swear, it’s like she can’t decide if she wants to dictate every single minute of my day or pretend I don’t exist. I can barely keep up with her crazy ass.”

  “I’ll try to think of you while I’m sipping boozy drinks on the beach, staring at all the beautiful men my eyes can handle,” she teases, and I roll my eyes. I know better than that. She’ll do everything she can to avoid her stepsister while obsessively texting and calling Rhys and pretending like she’s not super sad she’s not here hanging out with him and me.

  I smile at her and shrug. “I’m sure you and Tori are going to have the best time together. If you ask nicely, she might let you braid her hair,” I say with a smirk. She laughs before tossing a crumpled napkin in my direction. “Listen, she’s got to be easier to deal with than Jackie, yeah? I’d say you drew the short straw on this one, Pipes.”

  The guys have been talking about the cameo Jude’s doing over break, but that conversation falls silent when Tyler turns to stare at me. “Why don’t you come with me to Vancouver?” My eyebrows shoot up when I see that his expression is serious. “My brother’s college spring break isn’t at the same time, so there’ll be an extra room. And you know my parents won’t care, they love you. We’re not leaving until Monday anyway, so that’s plenty of time to get travel arrangements worked out.” My lips purse. The Hamiltons loved Piper, but they’ve barely interacted with me. Even still, it’s tempting… A week away from Jackie, even if it’s with Tyler’s extended family in Vancouver, would be such a welcome break.

  I don’t know why I’m even pretending to think about it. “I’ll ask as soon as I get home,” I promise. He gives me a wide smile that doesn’t dissipate even as he turns back to conversation with the guys. Macie quirks an eyebrow in my direction, her eyes conveying the same surprise that I feel at the sudden invitation, and I shrug. I don’t know where the fuck it came from, but I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially if that horse is riding me off into the sunset away from my crazy fucking mother.

  “Hey, uh, Dad,” I say as I knock on the doorframe of the office. His eyes shoot up from the computer screen he’d been engrossed in, and he offers me a tight-lipped smile before turning his attention back to whatever it is he’s working on. “What did you and Mom do with my ID and passport after the… after last April?” His head shoots back up, and I quickly try to explain myself. “It’s just—if you didn’t send them in with a copy of the death certificate…”

  I trail off as a blush covers my face. I don’t have a mirror to see if my expression looks any more horrified than his, but I swear it has to be a close second. “I’m sorry!” I blurt out immediately and turn to leave the room. Fuck going to Vancouver. There’s no way I can actually have this conversation with Roman.

  “Piper, wait,” he calls after me, and my feet still in their hasty retreat. I close my eyes and suck in a deep, steadying breath before turning back around to face him. He’s standing behind the desk awkwardly, hands bracing against the desktop as his eyebrows furrow. His head tilts to the side as he studies me, and I shift from foot to foot as he stares. “Come sit down.”

  I slowly cross the room and drop into one of the chairs in front of his desk. He sits back in his own chair and stares at me in quiet contemplation long enough to make me squirm uncomfortably under his gaze. “Why are you asking?” he finally questions.

  My breath hitches in my throat. He’s not pissed, and he doesn’t sound suspicious. There’s only curiosity in his eyes. I’m struck by the thought that maybe, just maybe, he’s starting to view me as my own person. That he sees I’m not just content to sit quietly to the side following someone else’s rules. Someone else’s life. If I really want to go on this trip, it’s Roman I need to convince, and then maybe he can help me slay the monster that is Jackie Hawthorne and convince her to agree, too.

  “The Hamiltons invit
ed me to go with them to Vancouver over break. I figured since you and Mom would be busy with work that it was at least worth asking about, but then...” I pause to take a deep, shuttering breath. And sure, maybe I’m overplaying it a bit, but Roman’s the one this kind of shit works on. And I really don’t want to be stuck here with Jackie all week. “I just didn’t know if I would even be able to travel considering… y’know.”

  Dad drops his head in his hands, his shoulders rising and falling dramatically with each deep breath he takes, and I’m positive I’ve said several wrong things all at once to elicit such a strong reaction from him. But then he sighs and starts speaking, even though he’s not looking at me. “It was like no time at all passed between the accident and Jackie approaching me about you. The thought literally hadn’t crossed my mind about what to do with your identification, and then when I finally did think about it, Stan was already almost finished with you. Your mom doesn’t care about the trips, but they’ve always been one of my favorite things to do as a family, so even though it wasn’t technically legal, I decided to just hang onto them. You know, just in case we could ever get back to the place as a family where a trip felt like a genuine use of our time.”

  My heart pounds in my chest when he finally looks up at me again, sincerity and sadness shining in his eyes. “I’m sorry.” I’m not sure what exactly I’m apologizing for, whether it’s for the accident again, or for asking about the documentation, or simply for the fact that the appearance of a happy family is all Roman and Jackie can pretend for these days. Because no matter how hard Jackie tries to pretend, we all know I’m not really their daughter.

  “When do you leave?”

  My eyes go wide when I realize what he’s asked me. “What?” Hope flourishes in my chest, and I try to beat it back because I’m not sure I could handle the disappointment if Roman decides to change his mind before the documents are actually in my hands.

  “We’ll have to talk to your mom, but I don’t think it’s fair for us to ask you to sit around bored during your school break. I trust that the Hamiltons will take care of you, and I trust that you’ll stay out of trouble.” He gives me the most dad-ish look I’ve ever seen.

  “Oh my god, yeah, of course,” I breathe out with an awkward little half-laugh. My hands are shaking, and I can’t stop the string of random chatter that flies from my mouth as he shakes his head at me with an amused sort of smile. “Yeah, absolutely. Are you serious? Holy crap, okay. Yup. I’ll check in every day, too.”

  He nods once before turning his attention back to the computer. “We’ll talk to your mom at dinner. Try not to piss her off before then, yeah?”

  I give Jackie a wide berth the rest of the afternoon, staying out of her way when possible and complying with whatever she asks as soon as she asks it. If she’s suspicious, she doesn’t immediately call me out, and I let the confidence of Dad’s agreement carry me through the first half of dinner. Jackie eyes me suspiciously as I eat her cranberry kale salad without the usual complaint it garners from me. Okay, but seriously? The only thing I get out of dinner is taste, the least she could do would be to pick something that actually tastes good. Today, though, I manage to keep these thoughts to myself.

  My eyes shoot in Dad’s direction and he tilts his head toward her with one raised eyebrow. Fuck. I thought he was going to bring it up for me. I lay my fork to the side and gently clear my throat. When her gray eyes flash in my direction again, I muster a smile that I’m pretty sure doesn’t look like I’m about to be sick.

  “Hey, Mom?” I ask even though I already have her attention. She nods that she’s listening. “I talked to Dad earlier about something, but I wanted to bring it up to you, too.” Dad’s eyebrows furrow, and I barely catch the slight shake of his head. Oh, right. I can’t make it seem like I’ve gone behind her back. “Because we’re a family and all decisions should be made that way,” I add hastily, but the words are far too stiff to sound natural. If Dad could get away with it, I’m pretty sure he’d drop his head in his hands and groan.

  Her eyebrows raise almost imperceptibly. Thanks, Botox. I look toward Dad, wishing more than anything that he would just help me out here. When I look at Jackie again, I still can’t seem to force the words out. She sighs and sets her own fork down. “Just spit it out, Piper. What is it?”

  Fuck, here goes nothing.

  “Well, the Hamiltons invited me to Vancouver with them over Spring Break, and I was—”

  “No.”

  “But—”

  “I. Said. No.” Her eyes are dangerous, and I know I shouldn’t push my luck. There’s absolutely no room for argument in her tone. I drop my eyes back to my plate. I should fight this harder, but what’s the fucking point? Jackie’s a tyrant—if she doesn’t want me to go, I won’t get to go. “What the hell are you thinking, Piper? You can’t just leave the country. How could you think I would ever agree to this, as if I would ever let you out of my sight for that long? No, it’s out of the question. Absolutely not.”

  “Jackie,” Dad says her name in a low, warning tone, and she jerks in his direction. She takes a deep breath, her chest puffing out, and my entire body tenses in preparation for the fight that’s getting ready to play out in front of me. But Dad reaches out, grabbing her hand gently, running his thumb along her knuckles until she lets the breath go in one long huff. “It’s the Hamiltons. You know Evelyn and Rick won’t let them get into trouble.”

  “That’s not the point, Roman! She can’t just leave—what if something happens? I won’t… I can’t… If there’s another accident…” She splutters around the words she can’t quite say.

  “Jackie, you can’t keep her cooped up here all the time. It isn’t fair. All of her friends are going to be gone, and we’re going to be working the entire time. It’s the Hamiltons, we trust them. And I’m sure Piper will check in every single day.”

  “Twice,” I say as I nod along emphatically. Dad shakes his head, and I realize I’m selling it too much again. I slink down in my seat and shoot him an apologetic smile. I try for Original Piper’s cool indifference, hoping something familiar will turn the argument in my direction once and for all. “We’re going to his grandparents’ house, Mom. How much trouble could we possibly manage to get into?”

  Her lips are impossibly thin as she crosses her arms over her chest. “How much… how much trouble can you…” She trails off with a scoff like she can’t believe I could ask such a stupid question. But then when she continues, I can’t believe I could’ve asked such a stupid question. “You weren’t even half an hour away when you—”

  Well, now I kind of feel like the asshole here. It’s times like these I get slapped in the face with the realization that beneath her tyrannical, overbearing exterior, there’s still a grieving mother in there somewhere. I chew my lips as I avert my gaze to my lap.

  “What are you going to do when it’s time for her to go away to college?” Dad asks quietly, and my heart thumps a little harder in my chest. College? Does he seriously think that’s in the cards for me? When I glace back up, it’s clear to me that Jackie hadn’t considered it at all. All the color’s drained from her face, and she looks like she’s going to be sick. “We can’t keep her locked up here forever, Jackie.”

  “F-fine,” she says, but before I can thank her, she’s choking back a sob and pushing away from the table violently.

  I turn toward Dad, eyes wide and mouth slack, and he offers me a tight-lipped smile. “I’ll call the Hamiltons later to work everything out, okay?” I nod as he stands, glancing with a tight frown in the direction that Jackie hurried off in. “I’m gonna…” He trails off and runs a hand down his face with a groan. “Could you clean up?”

  “Yeah, of course,” I murmur, and he’s gone.

  I clean the kitchen and dining room slowly, mind turning over the events of the evening in a bemused sort of way. For once, I’m torn between being annoyed by Jackie’s dramatics and actually feeling bad for her. I push the conflicting thoughts
away before they can take root, though, not ready to face the fact that Jackie Hawthorne might not actually be the monster I’ve built up in my head.

  12

  Piper

  I’m a nervous wreck the whole trip to Tyler’s grandparents’ house in West Vancouver. Even though Dad assured me everything would be fine with my identification, I can’t help but be skeptical. But he’s right, and I make it through the airport with little to no fuss. From the moment we pick our luggage up from baggage claim, we’re thrown into a whirlwind of activity.

  I meet so many aunts, uncles, and cousins within the first couple days of being there that my mind’s on fucking overload. I can barely keep names straight, and I’ve answered so many questions about my nature that I start avoiding his family altogether—entirely overwhelmed and tired of explaining that while I may look like Piper Hawthorne, I’m easily my own person as well. It’s absolute hell, and the exact opposite of the relaxing spring break trip I’d been hoping for.

  By Wednesday evening, I’m done with the endless parade of family members. I beg off from dinner, claiming to not feel well. Tyler’s eyes seek mine out, and there’s worry buried in the green depths. I offer him a smile before going to get a jacket and then skirting around the kitchen and dining room carefully, pausing to snatch a throw blanket from the living room before slipping quietly out the back door.

  A breath of relief falls from my lips the minute the door closes behind me and the boisterous chatter is cut off. The weak, early evening sunlight glints off the surface of Howe Sound, sparkling and drawing my eye toward the horizon and the breathtaking sunset painting the sky red, orange, and gold. The serenity of the moment overtakes me, and I close my eyes to listen to the water crashing against the rocks at the edge of the Hamilton family’s property.