Hatefully Yours

by Callahan, Kelli

  Copyright © 2020 by Kelli Callahan

  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.

  Created with Vellum

  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

  Epilogue

  Forbidden Kiss

  Join My Mailing List

  Kelli’s Voracious Vixens

  About the Author

  Also by Kelli Callahan

  Chapter One

  Brooke

  “What are you doing, Runt?” My brother pushed my bedroom door open.

  “Boone, what the fuck? How about knocking?” I grabbed the towel from my bed and did my best to cover myself before he stepped into my room.

  “Do you really think I would want to see those fucking mosquito bites you have on your chest even if you weren’t my sister?” He scoffed. “Mom says we’re going to be late if you don’t hurry the fuck up.”

  “I’m sure mom didn’t put a fuck in that sentence.” I glared at him. “Get out of my room! I’ll be downstairs in a minute.”

  “If you can’t even stand for me to walk into your room while you’re wearing a bikini, I don’t know how the hell you expect to swim in it.” He laughed and walked out of my room. “If you’re not downstairs in five minutes I’m going to convince them to leave without you.”

  I wish I could convince them to put you up for adoption.

  As soon as Boone was gone, I slammed my door and locked it. The towel hit the floor, and I walked to the mirror. My brother was right. I wasn’t brave enough to wear a bikini. It looked ridiculous on my scrawny frame. It didn’t help that I borrowed it from my best friend, Keely, who grew a set of boobs overnight. I was just going to have to accept my flat-chested fate because I was already fifteen, and my boobs seemed to have forgotten that they were supposed to fill out a bra. The bikini-bottom looked just as bad. In addition to not having breasts, I was also suffering from no-ass-at-all syndrome.

  It’s no wonder that none of the guys at school know I exist. I could pass for one of them if had short hair…

  I changed into the swimsuit I wore the previous summer. It still fit, of course, because I was a runt—just like my brother said. The swimsuit was so modest it had a skirt that I thought was super cute when I bought it, but that was before my teenage hormones kicked in, and I realized I wanted to be more than just friends with guys my age. The girls I hung out with were going on dates and getting invited to parties. I was still spending my weekends at home. The only reason I was going to the annual end-of-summer party at Cabot Beach was because it was a public event, and my parents always dragged me to it.

  Maybe next year I’ll be brave enough to wear a bikini…

  “There she is.” My brother threw his hands up when I walked to the bottom of the stairs. “Princess Timeliness, in all her majestic glory.”

  “Be nice.” My mother glared at Boone. “You’re going to spend your whole life waiting for a woman to tell you when it’s time to go.”

  “Do you really think anyone is going to put up with him for that long?” I rolled my eyes and started gathering my things.

  “You be nice too, Brooke. You’re both too old to tease each other like a couple of toddlers.” My mother motioned for us to go to the car.

  “Shotgun!” Boone pointed at the car.

  “You’re riding in the backseat with Brooke.” My mother shook her head back and forth.

  My brother was three years older than me, but he had the maturity of an eight-year-old. I heard rumors at school that suggested he wasn’t like that outside of our house, but I had never witnessed it personally, so it was hard to believe. We used to be close when we were younger, but those days were long behind us. His three priorities in life seemed to be football, cheerleaders, and making me hate being born into the same family as him. I couldn’t wait until he went away to college, and I got to find out what it was like to be an only child.

  That might make spending the weekends alone a lot more enjoyable.

  Things calmed down once we got in the car. That was mainly because our father was driving, and he had no tolerance for bullshit. That was his term for everything that he didn’t approve of. Bad grades were bullshit. Talking back was bullshit. Every pass that my brother didn’t catch on the football field was bullshit. If either of us heard the word bullshit come out of his mouth, we were seconds away from feeling the brunt of his wrath. Boone and I did everything we could to avoid that. It was usually a lot easier for me since I got a perfect example of what not to do by watching Boone fuck up so much.

  “The beach looks nice.” My mother smiled when we got close to our destination.

  “It looks crowded.” My father growled under his breath. “I don’t think we’re going to stay very long.”

  “You say that every year.” My mother looked over at him. “Then you start talking to all of your friends from work and don’t want to leave.”

  “Let’s set up in the shade.” My father completely ignored what my mother said and pulled the car into a parking spot.

  “I’m gonna go look for famous people.” Boone opened his door.

  “You’ll probably get tackled by one of their bodyguards if you get too close.” I rolled my eyes.

  Marking our territory on the beach was part of the tradition, except that it was totally pointless. We would set up an umbrella, put out some beach chairs, and then take off in four different directions.

  My father, who preferred the shade, would go to the large Broussard Industries canopy where he could spend the day smoking cigars and drinking whiskey with his friends from work.

  My mother, who just wanted to cut loose a little bit, would go to the cabana where she could get a margarita and pretend not to stare at the shirtless guys playing volleyball with all of the other desperate housewives—not that she would ever do more than look.

  My brother would find his friends and engage in whatever debauchery they had planned. If one of the celebrities that owned a summer home nearby did manage to find their way to the beach, Boone was sure to do his best to annoy them—and invite them to whatever party he was going to after he got bored of hanging out at the beach.

  As for me? I was a wanderer, and I liked my privacy. A few of my friends were at the party, and I planned to mingle with them, but eventually, I would find myself past the rocks on the left side of the beach. It was the perfect place to get lost in a book or watch the sunset. I had been saying this-year-will-be-different for so long that it was nothing more than a running joke in my head. I would never be the girl that could walk along the beach in a bikini and get noticed—never be the girl that could giggle at the guys playing volleyball until one of them came to talk to me. That was for the girls that weren’t late bloomers, and it seemed like I was never going to bloom.

  Add that to the list of things tha
t I no longer have in common with all of my friends…

  “Brooke!” I heard a voice and turned to see Keely waving to me.

  “Hey, I thought you weren’t going to get here until it was time for the bonfire.” I smiled and walked towards her.

  “I ended up tagging along with my sister instead of waiting for my parents.” She shrugged and then tilted her head with an inquisitive look on her face. “You decided not to wear the bikini?”

  “Did you really think my parents were going to let me leave the house in that?” I laughed nervously as the lie passed across my lips.

  Keely and I hung out for a little bit, but it was only a matter of time before the allure of hot guys was too tempting for her to ignore. I made up an excuse about needing to check on my mother to make sure she was behaving herself and then walked towards the rocks. Keely didn’t notice. Nobody did. I might as well have been invisible on that beach. I didn’t even catch a wandering eye from any of the older guys who pretended that they weren’t looking at the fully-developed teenage girls young enough to be their daughters. A bikini wouldn’t have changed that. I was better off on my own.

  I can get lost in a book where the awkward girl always gets the guy. That will always be fiction in my life…

  I sat down on the rocks and stared at the ocean for a few minutes before I pulled my book out of my bag. I could hear the laughter echoing from the other side of the rocks. Nobody could see me, but from my perch on the rock, I could see that the ocean was full of people. If I leaned forward a little bit, I could even see Keely—trying to get one of the guys playing volleyball to notice how cute she was in her new bikini. I felt like I didn’t belong in that world, so I retreated into another one that I would never be a part of and lived vicariously through the main character in the book I was reading.

  At least I have my book boyfriends. They’ll never ignore me…

  I was just getting to the good part in the book—the part that I preferred to read when I was alone in my room—when I noticed that my sanctuary had been invaded. Another wanderer who had strayed from the pack. He didn’t notice me sitting on that rock—or maybe I really was invisible. He wasn’t wearing anything but a pair of red swim trunks that were dripping wet. His smooth bronze-tanned skin was speckled with ocean water that made it glisten in the sun, and he had a physique that looked like it deserved to shine. I tried to ignore him and flip the page in my book, but he was like something out of a dream, and it was hard to look away.

  “Oh, hi!” He turned towards me with a look of surprise on his face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize anyone was over here.”

  “It’s okay…” I got trapped in his stare—blue-green eyes that made the ocean somehow look less beautiful. “I was just reading my book.”

  “Is it any good?” He started walking towards me and ran a hand through his sandy-blond hair, which caused more ocean water to land on his broad shoulders.

  “I like it…” I closed the book quickly and pulled it close, so that he couldn’t see the cover.

  He makes the guy on the cover look like he needs a new workout regime…

  “Wait, don’t I know you?” He narrowed his eyes when he got closer. “Brooke?”

  “Huh?” My voice and my face both reflected my confusion. “Have we met?”

  “You don’t recognize me?” He put his hand up to block the sun.

  “Trent?” The eyes—the sandy-blond hair—they suddenly matched up with a memory. “Trent Rigsby!?”

  “The one and only.” His lips twisted into a smirk.

  “When did you get back in town?” I tilted my head in confusion.

  “A few weeks ago.” He hopped up on one of the rocks and took a seat. “Boone didn’t tell you? I thought it would be worthy of a mention, at least.”

  “He hasn’t said a word.” I pushed my book into my bag. “Wow, I didn’t even recognize you!”

  “A few years will do that.” He nodded. “You haven’t changed a bit.”

  I don’t think that’s a compliment…

  “Well I’m not twelve years old anymore.” I raised an eyebrow. “I’m in high school now.”

  “Imagine that.” He chuckled under his breath. “Boone’s little sister is in high school. Now I feel old…”

  “You’re not old.” I rolled my eyes. “What are you doing here? I thought your dad got a job somewhere—I forget the name of the town.”

  “Carson Cove.” Trent nodded. “The job turned out to be one of those things that was too good to be true. After a couple of years of getting turned down for every job he applied for, he finally swallowed his pride and begged Mr. Broussard to give him his old job back. That’s the last three years of my life. What have you been up to?”

  “Nothing really.” I shook my head back and forth. “Just trying to survive high school. You know how that goes.”

  “I do.” He laughed and looked towards the beach. “I guess I better go find my dad and make sure he doesn’t celebrate our return by doing shots with your old man. We’ll have to catch up some more later. I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other a lot now that I’m back.”

  “Yeah.” I nodded quickly. “I’m sure we will.”

  I watched as Trent disappeared on the other side of the rocks. He had been gone for several minutes before I realized I had a stupid grin plastered on my face that hadn’t budged since I realized who the hot guy walking on the beach actually was. Trenton Rigsby. He preferred to be called Trent. He was my brother’s best friend—the first guy I crushed on—and our conversation on the rocks was the longest one we had ever had.

  I might not have changed much since he left Cabot Beach, but he certainly had. He wasn’t the boy I remembered—he was practically a man. The years had been very kind to him. I thought he was cute when he used to hang out with my brother, but he wasn’t cute anymore—he was fucking hot. I wasn’t foolish enough to think that he would ever see me as anything more than Boone’s little sister, but damn if he didn’t make me think some really dirty thoughts.

  I won’t be the only one that notices his transformation. I’m sure he’ll be ignoring me again when the school year starts.

  Chapter Two

  Trent

  “Boone!” I waved to my best friend as I walked back towards the beach where everyone was hanging out.

  “Where did you run off to, asshole?” Boone laughed and shoved me when I got to where he was standing.

  “I just took a walk, man.” I shrugged.

  “The girls are waiting. You ready to get your fuck on?” Boone grinned.

  “I’m ready for a party where your mom isn’t looking at me like I’m going to fulfill her pool boy fantasy.” I laughed under my breath.

  “Man, don’t say shit like that.” Boone narrowed his eyes. “She’s a lonely old lady.”

  “Maybe your dad needs to give her the dick a little more often.” I nudged him.

  “Dude!” Boone shook his head. “How would you like it if I said that about your mom?”

  “Rattle a pill bottle at her, and she’ll do anything you want.” I felt the humor drain out of my soul. “If you can fucking find her.”

  “How about we both lay off the mom-jokes?” Boone slapped my shoulder. “Let me go tell my dad that I’m leaving.”

  “I’ll go with you,” I sighed. “I may have to change my plans if my old man is too drunk to drive home.”

  I followed Boone to the canopy that was set up for Broussard Industries. The air was thick with cigar smoke, but you could still smell the whiskey and bourbon mixed in with the aroma of expensive tobacco. The breeze from the ocean wasn’t doing much to clear the air. Boone’s dad was sitting at the bar next to my old man, and they were trading the boomer versions of the same ribs I was exchanging with Boone. My old man didn’t seem to be that drunk, so I kept my plans and told him that I was heading out. Boone told his dad the same thing.

  “No drugs…” My old man cracked a smile and raised his glass of whiskey—almost as if he was try
ing to give me fatherly advice he knew I wouldn’t follow.

  “No bullshit.” Boone’s dad glared at him—it wasn’t fatherly advice; it was an order he expected to be followed without question.

  Boone violated his father’s order as soon as we made it to the car, and he lit a joint. I trampled over what my dad said as soon as Boone passed the joint to me. It had been a while since I drove high, but I didn’t give a fuck. It wasn’t like the cops were going to stop us. The party at Cabot Beach was an annual tradition, and there weren’t enough jail cells in our little beach town to hold the number of people that were going to be well over the legal limit by the time they drove home. Most of those people would be able to drive without wrapping their car around a telephone pole—unlike my old man who didn’t know how to stop when he was shitfaced beyond rational thought. He promised he’d do better, and the fact he wasn’t already crawling on the beach pissing himself seemed to be an indication that he was actually trying to keep that promise.

  “Do you think we’ll ever end up like them?” Boone exhaled a stream of smoke and passed me the joint.

  “What? Being a couple of old douchebags?” I shot him a side-eyed glance. “I could totally see you turning into one of those.”

  “Nah man.” He shook his head, and I could tell by the way he was talking that he was already feeling the weed. “I just mean like—taking our families to the beach, drinking whiskey and smoking cigars while they do all the shit we used to do when we didn’t have all that responsibility hanging over our heads.”

  “No.” I shook my head and hit the joint. “My dad’s a fucking asshole that would sell his soul to the devil if it meant he could take one more step up on the ladder. He doesn’t care who he steps on—I’ll never be like that.”