by Wendi Wilson
The Third Strike
Rogues of Everly Prep Book Three
Wendi Wilson
Copyright © 2020 by Wendi Wilson
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.
Cover by EmCat Designs
Created with Vellum
For everyone who’s been waiting to see Chaz get her happily ever after.
Contents
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
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Wendi Wilson
1
This sucked major ass.
After sneaking around all summer, growing closer to Mason and feeling happier than I ever had, we’d unfortunately returned to reality. We were back at Everly Prep, and everything was, once again, royally fucked up.
Josh and I sat alone at our usual lunch table, watching as Charlotte, Isla, and Amelia draped themselves all over Mason, Theo, and Seth. Simone shot us sad eyes from her spot beside Cooper, and Stella looked like she might spew chunks at any moment.
I knew it was all for show. I knew Mason loved me, and Theo loved Josh. Seth fucking hated Amelia and had secretly been in love with Stella for years.
But knowing the truth didn’t make watching those bitches put their slimy hands all over the guys any easier. And this was not what I had in mind when I decided to play ball with the fucking Bellamys and bring them down.
It was senior year, the greatest year of high school. The year lifelong memories were made, goals were achieved, and students prepared to make the giant leap into adulthood.
And if day one was any indication, this year was going to suck. Major. Ass.
I took a deep breath and trained my eyes on Josh. He was staring at Theo, of course. I cleared my throat to get his attention, giving him a sassy smirk to lighten the mood.
“These people are so fucking stupid,” I said, waving a hand around to encompass the student body as a whole. Then I leaned in closer and lowered my voice. “Theo made a spectacle of himself in a stunning show of jealousy. He knocked out Henderson, kissed you in what can only be described as epic love-story fashion, and then disappeared for the rest of the school year. Now, he’s sitting with Isla, and no one has even batted an eyelash. It’s like they don’t want to know the truth, so they ignore it and pretend all is right in their small little worlds.”
“Welcome to lifestyles of the rich and famous,” Josh replied in a semi-decent British accent.
But his joke fell flat, and my chest tightened.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this? You swore that if you got back with him, you wouldn’t let him keep you a secret.”
“That was before I found out why my being a secret was necessary.”
I nodded, and silence fell between us once more.
Stella was the reason all this was necessary. If the boys didn’t fall in line and follow their parents’ edicts, not only would they be cut off from the family fortunes, but Stella would be shipped off to Europe to marry some old rich dude. She’d be forced into a miserable life as arm candy and a baby-maker.
A shiver zipped down my spine at the thought. None of us were going to let that happen.
We only had about nine more months until the twins turned eighteen, and Stella would be free of her parents’ threats. As a minor, she was completely at their mercy. While I’d had my doubts as to the validity of their threats—we’re not living in the eighteen hundreds and there are laws to protect children from parental abuse and exploitation—the Rogues assured me that with their money and connections, nothing was impossible.
After all, they’d somehow strong-armed the Davenports, the Coopers, and even Atticus into bending to their collective will. And that was twenty years ago when they were all kids, themselves.
Now? Now, they were downright scary.
At least, they were to most people. I wasn’t scared. I was ready to come at them with a baseball bat and show them how people on my side of the proverbial tracks dealt with their problems.
But that wouldn’t work with this situation. We had to be smart and patient.
“I know you want to be free to live your life how you see fit,” Josh said, “but right now…we have to play their game, Chaz.”
“Oh, I’m playing,” I shot back. “And I have every intention of winning.”
“There’s my queen,” he said, giving me a real smile for the first time that day. “Marry me?”
“I’m too young to get married,” I sassed back, lifting my nose into the air. “And I’m not sure you could keep me in the lifestyle to which I’ve become accustomed.”
He cocked his head, smirking. “You think I don’t have enough money to give you everything your heart desires?”
“Ha! It’s not the money I’m referring to,” I say, dropping my voice an octave as I let my eyes travel suggestively down his body. “It’s the regular, not to mention multiple, orgasms I’m worried about.”
Josh laughed, a real laugh that warmed my heart with its joy. Last year had been hard on us all, and Josh’s bouts with depression were a constant worry.
The last three months had been a dream. We were like spies, sneaking away to meet up in random, unexpected places. Acting like children at a water park three hours away. Romantic dates in Carsenville or Cypress Pointe, where no one from Everly Prep would see us. Midnight playdates at my house, because Atticus Kincaid was an old romantic and would never hang us out to dry with the Bellamys. All while dodging the persistent calls and texts from Charlotte, Isla, and Amelia.
But now that school was back in session, The Rogues were expected to fall back into old patterns with the Roguettes. Mason’s parents had sat them down and explained that they were done letting the boys slide. Mason, Seth, and Theo were ordered to reignite and maintain their relationships with the girls, and at any indication that they were slacking in their duties, Stella would pay the price.
So we had to be careful. That meant no contact at school, and only seeing each other when we were absolutely sure we wouldn’t be caught.
I felt eyes on me, the small hairs on the back of my neck standing on end, making my whole body shiver despite the warmth of the dining hall. Pretending to look out the window, I let my gaze drift to Mason, who was staring at me with fire banked in the bright blue depths of his eyes.
I snuck a quick glance at Charlotte, who had her head together with Amelia’s as they stared at something on her phone. My eyes snapped back to Mason. I flicked my tongue out to wet my lips, then sucked the bottom one in and clenched it between my teeth. Even from where I sat, I saw his nostrils flare.
After m
aking sure none of the Roguettes were watching, I licked my lips again, this time slowly. Mason’s cheeks grew ruddy with color, and I shot him a wink before turning back to Josh…who was shaking his head at me.
“You are devious,” he muttered, looking as if he wasn’t sure if he should be impressed or appalled on Mason’s behalf.
“You know it,” I said, smirking and holding up a fist for him to bump.
“I’ll give it to you,” he said, bumping his fist against mine, “but only because I fear for your survival once he gets his hands on you. You might be laid up in bed for days after he pays you back for teasing him like that.”
“A girl can only hope,” I sighed, laying the back of my hand against my forehead in a mock-swoon.
“Scandalous,” Josh teased, grabbing a tater tot from his tray and tossing it at me.
It bounced off my cheek and landed on my own tray. I picked it up with a shrug and popped it in my mouth, chewing thoughtfully.
“It’s kind of weird that they serve tater tots for lunch at a posh school like this. You’d think such common fare would be below their rigid standards.”
Josh nodded, then launched into a monologue about The Great Food Debate, describing how the student council petitioned the school board, asking them to include some basic, junk food choices because, after all, rich kids were still kids.
I was only half-listening, my mind focusing on the fact that Josh looked and sounded like his old self. It gave me hope that in a few months, when high school was over, we’d recover from all this bullshit and be able to live normal, happy lives.
We only had to make it nine more months. Easy, right?
2
“How is it possible that none of you are in any of my classes?”
That was my greeting as I opened the door for Mason and Stella. It was nearly eleven p.m., but I’d take what I could get. The twins had to wait until their parents’ nightly doses of muscle relaxers—chased by tumblers of scotch—kicked in, and they passed out for the night.
Seth shoved me out of the way to get to Stella, and when I raised my fist to slug him in the back, Mason caught it and spun me around. His lips were on mine before I could protest, and all thoughts of punishing Seth flew right out of my head.
Once I melted in his arms, Mason pulled back and whispered, “Hi.”
“Hi,” I parroted lamely.
“And to answer your question,” Stella chimed in once she was done greeting Seth with a few kisses of her own, “you’re not in any of our classes because my parents donate a shit-ton of money to Everly Prep.”
“So, they made sure to keep us apart? Why didn’t they just get me expelled?” I huffed, throwing my hands in the air.
“Because my Dad donates just as much, if not more. Tweaking your schedule can be played off as pure coincidence. Expelling you can’t.”
I mulled over Seth’s words as we headed upstairs. Sometimes we would all hang out together in the T.V. room, but I could feel the spark of energy coursing through Mason tonight. He needed to get me alone—and naked—as soon as possible.
He pressed against my back, hurrying me into the room before closing the door and spinning me around. His mouth latched onto my neck as he walked me backwards toward the bed. A moan slipped up my throat as his teeth grazed my skin, making heat pool in my center.
My hands threaded into his soft hair, gripping it tight and pulling his mouth up to mine. He kissed me lightly, a small peck with lips sealed shut, then pulled away.
“Mason,” I groaned, bucking my hips against his while chasing his mouth with mine.
“Nuh-uh,” he whispered. “I’m not letting you rush this. I’ve been thinking about it since lunch.”
“So, this is payback for teasing you, a little?” I asked as I tightened my grip on his hair.
“Not payback,” he whispered. “Just a little…delayed gratification.”
“So torture.”
He tilted his pelvis, and I could feel the hardness of his cock through the thin athletic shorts he wore.
“I’ve been dealing with this off and on for the last ten hours,” he said, his voice husky. “That’s torture.”
I leaned forward and breathed into his ear, saying, “I can help you with that,” before sucking his lobe into my mouth.
His heartbeat pounded against my chest, his grip on my hips tightening to a nearly unbearable degree. I bit his earlobe softly before releasing it, then let my hands drift down to his chest. Applying enough pressure to put a little space between us, I dropped to my knees.
Mason’s body grew rigid, only his chest moving with each haggard breath he took. I slipped my fingers beneath the waistband of his shorts and tugged, letting my fingers trail over his bare skin.
“Going commando?” I teased.
He grunted something unintelligible, his eyes bright with anticipation. I licked my lips and his nostrils flared. He grabbed the ends of my hair and wrapped it around his fists in tight knots. He didn’t pull or try to guide me toward him. It was almost like he needed an anchor to keep himself from blasting off into space.
Grabbing handfuls of his ass, I jerked him forward and into my mouth in one smooth motion. He cried out, the sound half groan-half growl as I swirled my tongue around the length of him.
I was just getting into a groove when he released my hair to pull me up by my arms. He had me naked and on the bed in a blink, slipped on a condom in what had to be a new world record time, and was sliding inside me on my next breath.
My orgasm came fast and hard, the release turning my body into jelly as Mason reached his own climax. His groan was quiet, yet soul-deep as he collapsed on top of me. I wrapped my arms and legs around him, relishing his heavy weight.
He kissed me then, long and tender, before rolling off me to dispose of the condom. He was back in a flash, curling his naked body around mine as he pulled me back against his chest.
“I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you,” I whispered back.
As we lay there, cocooned in our own little bubble of love and sex, I remembered something I wanted to talk to him about. Something I’d been putting off for a few months, because I didn’t want to ruin our summer. I turned over in his arms so I could face him.
“Tell me about this woman that molested you when you were fourteen,” I said, my voice solemn.
“You want to talk about that…now?” He motioned to our naked, entwined bodies. When I only gave him a pointed look, he sighed. “I would hardly call it molestation. I was willing. Eager, even.”
“Mason, she was a grown-ass woman and you were a child.” I closed my eyes and breathed slowly to calm myself. “How did it happen?”
“I told you she was one of my mother’s friends. She used to come by to visit Mom—always alone, without her husband. She was attractive, for someone my mother’s age, and I was young and stupid. I’d strut through the parlor with no shirt under the guise that I was headed for the pool. I’d flirt with her, in my own childish way. She seemed to like it, and that only encouraged me.”
I tried to wrap my head around a woman, any woman, coming on to a fourteen-year-old boy, much less someone in their late thirties who’d probably known him since he was in diapers. It was just gross.
“My parents gave me permission to move into the pool house, and the next time she came over, she knocked on my door.”
“What happened?” I asked when he seemed to want to end the story there.
“Are you sure you want to hear this?”
“Yes, Mason. Tell me.”
“My parents were gone for the week,” he said, his words slow and measured. “She said she didn’t know they were gone and asked if she could come in to use my bathroom. I was so cocky back then, I ushered her in without a thought. When she came out of the bathroom, she was completely naked. I almost pissed myself.”
“Fuck,” I breathed. What a fucking whore.
“She spent the rest of the week with me, teaching me everything abou
t foreplay, sex, oral…you get the picture.”
“Did Stella know she was there?”
“No. She went with my parents on their trip.”
“Does your mom know?” I asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.
“No,” he said. “I never told her, and I assume Lydia didn’t either. They’re still friends.”
“Lydia,” I growled. Lydia better hope I never see her on the street.
“Chaz, I’m fine. It was a few days of fun with an experienced woman who taught me how to give pleasure as well as take it.”
The way he said that made it sound like I should’ve been grateful to this molester for turning him into a good lover. He would’ve gotten there eventually without her.
I kept my lips sealed because I didn’t want to fight. He had his opinion on the matter and I had mine. We’d have to leave it at that. Besides, it was in the past, and what’s done is done.
“Thank you for telling me.”
“Are you really going to let this go?” he asked, a skeptical look on his face.
“For now,” I replied, not willing to promise anything else.
“Good enough,” he growled, rolling me beneath him. “Nothing else matters but you and me, Chaz Miller.”
Other things did matter, but I couldn’t seem to remember any of them as Mason Bellamy kissed me senseless.
3
Somehow, I made it through the week without bitch-slapping Charlotte for the confident smirks she sent my way every time she touched Mason. Josh teased me endlessly about being jealous for no reason, but he was wrong.
