Revenge - A Second Chance, First Time Romance Read online

  Revenge

  A Second Chance Romance

  Piper Phoenix

  Juliana Conners

  Contents

  Mailing List

  Other Books

  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

  Epilogue

  More Great Reads

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  Stone - The Brother’s Rebellion

  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

  Epilogue

  Pike - The Brother’s Rebellion

  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

  Epilogue

  Copyright © 2016-2017 by Piper Phoenix

  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.

  Second Edition February 2017

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  Other Books

  PIPER PHOENIX:

  NOVELS

  ——————

  Stone - The Brother Rebellion MC - Book 1

  Pike - The Brother’s Rebellion MC - Book 2

  Dust & Rager - The Brother’s Rebellion MC - Book 3

  STAND-ALONE NOVELS

  ——————

  The Middle of Nowhere

  NOVELLAS

  ——————

  The Choice

  JULIANA CONNERS:

  NOVELS

  ——————

  Yes, Boss

  Please, Boss

  More, Boss

  NOVELLAS

  ——————

  Sold on Valentine’s Day

  Sold on St. Patrick’s Day

  Treat all fairly or they will seek revenge.

  —Christopher Paolini

  Chapter 1

  I couldn’t remember a time in my life that I didn’t think that all men were assholes. Well, maybe when I was younger I thought they were jerks or dummies, but bottom line… assholes.

  It’s possible that I never gave many men a chance, but after what happened to me I didn’t see why I should have. I didn’t need them. I didn’t care to waste my time. What I needed was to focus on my future and make something for myself.

  I never wanted to be the woman that depended on anyone for anything. Which is why I went to medical school.

  It was the perfect plan for someone like me who wanted to avoid relationships. Going to school would consume tons of my time. I’d always have an excuse as to why I couldn’t go out on dates or out to the bar. I would always be busy.

  Not that I was out seeking suitors anyway, I most definitely wasn’t, but my mother and my best friend Tallie were always trying to set me up. First it was the hot neighbor, then it was my mom’s best friend’s son who was obsessed with Dungeons and Dragons. He lived with his mother in her basement. I wouldn’t have had a problem with his gaming really, it was the living in his parent's basement that bothered me. Well, and my whole “men are assholes” mindset too.

  I didn’t want to be set-up. All I wanted was to focus on my future and eventually have my dream job helping others.

  Not only did I want to be a doctor, I wanted to be the best doctor. But being the best came at a price. A price I wasn’t even sure I could pay.

  For the last three years, I’d been living with my brother in his two-bedroom apartment. Obviously, it wasn’t an ideal situation, but he didn’t charge me full price. I could afford to live with him despite the heavy cost of medical school, which was a big plus.

  My brother, Wyatt, had a good job and he was gone much of the time. We’d always gotten along, so it wasn’t hard to make it work.

  Of course, he said when I was a millionaire doctor I had to pay him back with interest, but I was pretty sure he’d been kidding. Although, then again, maybe he hadn’t been… he did like money.

  To keep things from getting too uncomfortable, we had a rule. A very important rule. And it was extremely easy for me to hold up on my end.

  The rule was to never bring a date back to the apartment. All hooking up had to take place elsewhere, and of course, I never brought anyone back for sex, or for any reason at all.

  “Shit,” I said, hitting the steering wheel with my palms. I was about a block away from the apartment when I realized I had forgotten it was my turn to figure out dinner.

  It wouldn’t have been the first time I had forgotten, but I didn’t want to put up with Wyatt’s annoying complaints so against my better judgment I pulled into the local fast food chicken joint. I ordered up far more food than we’d eat because we both liked having leftovers. We definitely weren’t great at keeping the fridge and cupboards stocked.

  After I had the food, I continued the short drive back to our place. As the scent wafted through the air, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gotten a chance to eat anything. I was pretty sure I’d skipped lunch, and quite possibly breakfast. Although, I did remember having a large cup of black coffee at some point during the day.

  The second I pulled into my parking spot at the apartment, I dug through the bag and pulled out a chicken leg. I hungrily took a bite and walked up to our front door.

  I stuck the chicken leg between my teeth as I inserted the key into the lock. I twisted the doorknob with my greasy hand and pushed my way inside, somehow managing to carry the food and my book bag.

  My foot kicked at the door, trying to close it behind me. I pushed my backside against it to make sure it was closed.

  I leaned back against the door, impressed I’d managed to not drop anything. I looked up at the table, and it wasn’t just my brother staring at me with the chicken leg hanging out of my mouth… my brother had a guest.

  Great.

  Sitting at the table with him was pretty much the last person on the entire planet I would want to see. Chicken leg or no chicken leg, as far as I was concerned, he could go to hell.

  “Um, can I help you with any of that?” Wyatt said, standing up and walking towards me. It looked like he didn’t know if he should laugh or be embarrassed for me.

  My jaw started to feel numb, and I was sure the chi
cken leg was going to fall out of my mouth and drop to the floor. I nodded awkwardly at my brother, and he grabbed the bags from my hands.

  He looked at me and blinked several times. I quickly reached up and removed the flavorful chicken leg from my mouth.

  “Everything OK?” Wyatt whispered.

  “I didn’t eat all day,” I said, as though that would explain everything. Thomas, my brother’s best friend since high school, smiled and nodded at me.

  “You remember Thomas, don’t you, Lacey?” my brother said as he set the food down on the table.

  “Yes,” I said stiffly. My stomach turned, and I could feel my appetite disappearing. My breath started to feel as though it was getting caught somewhere between my nose and my lungs. It felt as though I was going to choke even though I no longer had the chicken in my mouth.

  “I have to… um… go,” I said, walking as fast as I could away from the table. I didn’t look back at them as I opened my door and disappeared from the living room. If only I could disappear altogether.

  I felt like slamming the door closed, but I didn’t. Instead, I closed the door so quietly it was probably just as awkward as if I had slammed it.

  I couldn’t believe after all this time, Thomas was here. Surely he remembered everything that had happened. And if my brother had known what had happened, apparently he didn’t give a shit how I felt about it.

  Asshole.

  Thomas was the reason, the whole reason, that I figured out all men were assholes. And here he is, sitting at my kitchen table as if he doesn’t even know what an asshole he is.

  Chapter 2

  When I saw him sitting there in my apartment, I wasn’t sure how I hadn’t vomited all over the carpet. My hands were shaking. I paced my bedroom, wearing down a path in the plush carpet as I tried my hardest not to have a panic attack.

  I fucking hated Thomas.

  They both just sat there staring at me as though nothing had ever happened. Like something was wrong with me. There wasn’t anything wrong with me… what the hell was wrong with them?

  Especially my brother! What was Wyatt thinking bringing Thomas here? How dare he bring Thomas into our apartment! He knew better. What the hell had I done to him to deserve this kind of treatment?

  Suddenly all the memories came racing back. I remembered everything that happened like it was yesterday. Thomas had been a senior in high school, and I was the invisible freshman.

  One day, when no one else was around, Thomas started talking to me out of the blue. It didn’t take long for him to start saying things… hitting on me. I guess that’s when I should have known something was up, but he was so damn hot. Even though I hated to admit it, he still was. My brain must have malfunctioned.

  Every day I looked forward to going to school. Every damn day. Even when I was sick, I wanted to go just so I could see Thomas.

  It was almost an obsession. If I hadn’t seen him during the day, it ruined my day, but most days I had been able to see him. And most days I had felt very happy.

  He’d pull me into the boy's bathroom and lock us into one of the stalls. It was crazy how hot our little make-out session became when we were enclosed in such a small space next to a toilet.

  What I hadn’t realized back then were all the signs that something was off. The only time he really flirted with me was when no one was around. We hadn’t really talked, and we hadn’t ever gone on a single date. The only time we spent together was in the bathroom stall.

  Several months later when he asked me to homecoming, I thought maybe things were taking a turn. We’d be exclusive, and maybe things would be official… but then I overheard him laughing and joking with a group of his friends.

  He hadn’t known I was there.

  He hadn’t known I could hear every word he said.

  I couldn’t remember who was standing there with him. Either I never knew, or their images had vanished as time passed by.

  I wasn’t sure if my brother had been there or not. I’d like to think if he had been he would have said something, but all I could picture was the random laughing faces.

  “You all better bring your money tomorrow because I’m going to collect on the bet. Don’t forget,” he said with a laugh.

  “It’ll never happen, man,” one of the other guys had said.

  “You’ll have to prove it somehow,” another guy said.

  They all laughed again.

  “Oh, I know! Bring her underwear as proof,” the first boy said raising his eyebrows several times in succession.

  Thomas was grinning and laughing along with them. He thought it was all a big joke. No, worse, he thought I was a big joke.

  That’s when I ran. I left school and went home.

  Later that day, I found out from my best friend Tallie that there was a challenge posed to several of the boys. They had to get a freshman to put out by a certain deadline, but it couldn’t be just any freshman… it had to be me. Thomas was one of the boys that accepted the challenge.

  I hung up the phone and cried into my pillow. It wasn’t like I wouldn’t have slept with Thomas, hell, I probably would have, but knowing he was just doing it to win a bet sickened me.

  He was an asshole.

  I never went to homecoming. My mom told him I was too sick to go and as far as I know he went to homecoming alone. Not that I cared.

  For the rest of that school year, I had done everything to avoid him. I’d gone from being excited to see him, to feeling sick when we even had to be in the same hallway.

  He had tried to call once, but I refused the call. I didn’t even want to hear his voice.

  Whenever my brother brought him over so they could hang out, I locked myself in my room. All I had to do was make it through the school year, and then after that, he’d be gone. Off to college.

  I managed to completely avoid him most days. And of course, I never spoke to him again. I’d never even seen him again once he graduated… that was until just now when he was sitting in my apartment looking at me as though nothing had ever happened.

  I grabbed my phone and called Tallie. She’d been my best friend for as long as I could remember. Tallie had been there in high school… she would know what I should do.

  “Tallie,” I said quickly when I heard her answer the phone. I hadn’t even given her a chance to say anything before I went on. “You aren’t going to believe who’s in my apartment.”

  “Huh? What? Who’s in your apartment?” she asked. I could hear what sounded like people talking in the background, but I could tell I had her full attention. Probably because Tallie always loved some good gossip, and that’s probably what she thought I was about to give her.

  “Who’s there?” I asked.

  “Nothing. Never mind, who’s at your apartment?”

  I cleared my throat and lowered my voice. “Remember Thomas?”

  “Thomas who?”

  I looked at my phone and narrowed my eyes. There was no way she’d forgotten about Thomas… I was pretty sure she was playing dumb. “Thomas, from high school, Thomas.”

  “I guess I sort of—”

  “Well, he’s here.”

  “He’s where?”

  I shook my head wildly. Was she even paying attention? I bit my finger and glanced at the door as though I was afraid he was on the other side listening. “He’s inside my apartment!”

  “That’s random. Why is Thomas from high school in your apartment? I thought you hated Thomas from high school.”

  “Wyatt must have invited him. I think I’m going to puke.” I rubbed my stomach trying to settle it. “Although there isn’t anything in my stomach to puke up.”

  “Wow. OK. What are you going to do?” Tallie asked.

  “What do you mean what am I going to do? I’m going to sit in my bedroom until he leaves. At least that’s what I’ve come up with so far.” I looked at my bedroom door again. I couldn’t hear them out there, maybe they had left. “What should I do?”

  “Dammit, Lacey! Just go
out there and pretend nothing ever happened. Look at you! That hourglass figure and that gorgeous, flawless skin I’d kill for! He’s the one who should be kicking himself for screwing things up,” Tallie said, and my shoulders relaxed slightly.

  “Aww! That so sweet of you to say, but I don’t want to see him!”

  “Well, then don’t. Stay in your room and study like usual. But you have to tell me….”

  “Tell you what?”

  Tallie hesitated. “Is he still, um….”

  “Hot?”

  “Yes. Is he?”

  I looked up at the ceiling and let my body flop back on my bed like a silly teenager. “Yes. Way hotter,” I said with a sigh. “Dammit.”

  Thomas had always been into sports and working out— clearly, he still was. His body was so toned as if he hadn’t missed a workout since high school.

  My stomach turned. Why would Wyatt bring him here? He had to have known… I was pretty sure everyone had known what happened. It was almost like I could still hear all the whispers.

  I was about to ask Tallie if she knew whether Wyatt knew what happened or not. Although I didn’t know why Tallie would know or remember anything about it, other than random gossip she might have heard back then. Wyatt couldn’t have known, if he had, he wouldn’t have ever let him into our apartment.

  Before I could open my mouth to ask, there was a knock at my door. My whole body jerked so hard my bed shook.

  “I have to go.”

  “Keep me posted,” Tallie said, but she didn’t hang up. She was hoping to hear something more. I clicked the phone off and stood next to my door.

  I reached out for the doorknob but quickly yanked my hand back. There was no way I was going to open it unless I was sure that Thomas was gone.

  “Yes?”

  Chapter 3

  “Can you open the door?” Wyatt asked using an annoyed tone.