Of Boys And Men: An Enemies to Lovers, New Adult College Romance (Ridge Rogues Book 1)

by Renee Harless

  By Renee Harless

  I had a past. It was dark. It was ugly. It was my dirty secret.

  No one knew the weight of the burdens that nearly consumed me.

  I lived with a singular focus—seeking revenge on my father.

  Then the new girl, Jolee Ward, moved into the apartment above me and shattered my carefully constructed world.

  We were like oil and water. . . until we weren’t.

  Then we detonated like gasoline and fire, but the inferno threatened to destroy us both.

  One night with her couldn’t erase years spent plotting.

  Wellington University wasn’t big enough for the both of us.

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright ©2020 Renee Harless

  This work is one of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to persons, living or deceased, is purely coincidental. Names, places, and characters are figments of the author’s imagination. All trademarked items included in this novel have been recognized as so by the author. The author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.

  All rights reserved

  Image: Shutterstock

  Cover design by Porcelain Paper Designs

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter One – Jolee

  Chapter Two – Ford

  Chapter Three – Jolee

  Chapter Four – Ford

  Chapter Five – Jolee

  Chapter Six – Ford

  Chapter Seven – Jolee

  Chapter Eight – Ford

  Chapter Nine – Jolee

  Chapter Ten – Ford

  Chapter Eleven – Jolee

  Chapter Twelve – Ford

  Chapter Thirteen – Jolee

  Chapter Fourteen – Ford

  Chapter Fifteen – Jolee

  Chapter Sixteen – Ford

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgements

  Coming Alive Sneak Peek

  Chapter One – Jolee

  I did it.

  I couldn’t believe that I finally did it.

  As the plane taxied down the runway to its final destination, I exhaled the deep breath I had been holding since the plane began its descent. The flight from Anchorage, Alaska to Boston, Massachusetts, was a long one, and through the entire trip, I couldn’t help but recall how similarly my life matched that of Rapunzel’s from the Disney movie, Tangled.

  After living under my parents’ strict watch for the last twenty years, I finally took the chance to go out on my own, despite their insistence and fear. I wanted to see what the world was like and what treasures it could hold for me. The day I received that acceptance letter to Wellington Ridge University had been a game-changer. Miraculously I was given a few scholarships, which I desperately needed because my parents weren’t going to help out one iota since I decided to transfer from the local college. The rest of the funds were coming from my savings and a job I found close to campus.

  The only reason my parents didn’t completely lose their sanity over my pleas to study somewhere else was that my cousin, Willow, attended the college where I would be transferring.

  As the plane settled into place I shot a message to my cousin and let her know that I had landed, she had promised to meet me at baggage claim. A welcoming face to greet me was going to be worth the long flight. Thankfully, I didn’t bring much with me; one checked bag, a carryon, and my laptop. Everything else was mailed or I planned to purchase it when I arrived.

  Exiting the aircraft, I followed the masses toward baggage claim, where I found Willow standing nervously by the farthest corner, anxiously glancing at any person that walked passed her. She looked just as I remembered. Her long blonde hair, similar to mine but with tight, spiral curls, was pulled into a messy bun on the top of her head while she looked casual in a pair of jeans and a navy blue T-shirt.

  Willow smiled a dimpled grin when she noticed me and I generously smiled in return. We’d only met in person three times, but as the cousins closest in age, we video chatted almost daily. She understood what this journey meant for me, how difficult it was for me to leave everything behind, but she encouraged me to stand up for myself and spread my wings. If I ever wanted out of the small town, I needed to do it soon.

  “Did you have a good flight?” she asked in her soft voice.

  “It wasn’t what I expected,” I told her as I rolled my carryon toward the conveyor with the rest of the passengers and waited for my one suitcase to make its way down the path. She followed along with me, her eyes darting around constantly.

  “Are you okay?” I asked her wondering about her anxious nature.

  “Sorry, I’m just not a huge fan of crowds.” I nodded in understanding. Crowds weren’t my favorite thing either; that’s another reason I chose Wellington Ridge. The University was on the smaller side since it was a private college.

  “Anyway, the flight was fine. I expected it to feel confining and scary, but once we hit altitude and people started moving around, I felt more comfortable.”

  I spotted my bright pink suitcase and gripped the handle before it passed, the heavy case landing with a thud as I yanked it down. The zippers were tightened to their max and I was worried that I’d find the contents inside draped along the conveyor, but so far, it seemed to be withstanding the pressure.

  Together, Willow and I made our way out of the airport and waited in line for the shuttle that would take us back to the University. She had informed me that the shuttle is one of the luxuries provided by the upper-class private college – money made things happen. I didn’t have money, not like Willow. All I had to my name was my meager savings from working as a veterinary assistant the last three years and the job waiting for me to start in a week.

  Willow came into a healthy inheritance when her grandmother passed away when she was in high school – the same grandmother that left nothing to my family. Another point of contention my parents had with me deciding to move and be closer with that side of the family. We never discussed the falling out. I made the mistake of asking once and I learned never to ask again.

  The shuttle ride lasted about an hour and my nose was glued to the window the entire time. I had never seen so many historic buildings or so much traffic. Anchorage was busy, but it was nothing like this. And the suburban town my parents called home boasted no more than five thousand residents. I was in awe.

  The prestigious gates of the school came into view and I felt like I had traveled back in time. The woodwork and stone seemed ancient amongst the bustling city, even though I knew from research that the school had been established in the 1950’s, but it had always been a functioning college since it’s construction in the late 1890’s.

  “Wow,” I murmured as my gaze flicked back and forth across the expansive landscape. This was the place I was going to call home for the next two years. This was the place where I’d learn who I was, not who my parents wanted me to be.

  “It’s pretty, isn’t it?” Willow asks as she chuckled at my expression.

  “It’s far better
than I imagined, and we both know that I have quite the imagination,” I pointed out, recalling the few stories I had concocted on video chats with Willow.

  The shuttle stopped outside of the library and let us out, the driver helping me with my large suitcase as I stepped down onto the sidewalk. I smiled warmly at him in thanks and I was surprised when I got nothing more than a grunt in response.

  With her hand gesturing around us, Willow exclaimed, “So, this is it. Are you ready?”

  “Not in the slightest.”

  “You’ll be fine, just keep to yourself and try to blend in. They’ll leave you alone,” she said as we started the trek to her, well now, our apartment.

  “What did you mean about being left alone?” I asked, trying to maneuver the large suitcase while also taking in my surroundings. Willow trotted ahead with my carryon and laptop bag.

  “I’m not sure how it is in Alaska, but this college has the same cliques that you’d find in high school, except there are fewer rules and more alcohol.”

  “Oh,” I whispered. I remembered some of public high school, but I spent my junior and senior years in an online classroom graduating early.

  “You’re pretty, I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Willow made sure to point out, which left me wondering if she found herself on the wrong side of the mean girls. I always thought Willow had an understated beauty that no one could match.

  We continued our walk through the campus until we reached the opposite end. Rows of homes and apartments spread out before me. Dark side was what Willow called the area and clarified that it was because they had fewer street lamps than light side, which was where fraternity and sorority row resided.

  I followed her blindly, switching my hands on the suitcase handle as my arm began to tire. Finally, my cousin stopped at the front of a large apartment building. Christmas lights and tiki torches lined the balcony railings. Kegs were stacked in a pyramid near the dumpster in the parking lot. Music thumped from an apartment close by. And I had never felt so far out of my element before.

  “This is. . .” My words lingered in the air. I couldn’t quite describe what was laid out in front of me. I wasn’t necessarily disappointed, but for some reason, I expected more.

  Since I enrolled at the college with a bachelor’s degree already under my wing and enough prerequisite credits from the local college to qualify me as a junior, I wasn’t required to live in the college dorms. I lucked out that Willow had secured an apartment for herself and her two previous roommates, then one of them decided not to return to school. It seemed like everything had worked in my favor, up until now.

  But my luck always seemed to have a way of running out when I needed it most.

  “It gets better inside,” Willow assured me, her skeptical eyes running over my fearful expression. “We have an apartment on the top floor with a great view of the nature reserve.” She knew where my heart lay.

  Nodding, I began to follow her up the stairs, one at a time, as I heaved the suitcase behind me. We had four flights to go. Willow stopped at the first landing to wait for me, and once I reached the top of the first flight, I told her to go ahead without me. I knew the apartment number and didn’t want to keep her waiting.

  “Are you sure?” she asked, the bridge of her nose wrinkling as she contemplated my decision.

  “Yes, of course. You’ll just be standing around waiting. I’ll be up in a bit. It’s totally fine, Willow.”

  It took her an extra second, but she turned on her heels and sped up the stairwell, leaving me with my wobbly legs and a suitcase that seemed to gain weight during the trip. I tried not to inhale deeply since the stairwell had an odd scent wafting through the air.

  Five minutes later, I turned the corner as I approached the landing between the second and third floors. I hadn’t quite made it to the top, but I had long since lost the feeling in my fingers. Resting the suitcase on a stair, I released my hold and shook out my hands. The tingling of the nerves was a bit painful, but I was glad to get the blood flowing again.

  I stayed in the spot for another minute, catching my breath. Four flights didn’t seem like a lot, especially when I was used to hiking the mountains behind our house in Alaska daily, but it seemed I wasn’t built for stair climbs while pulling a fifty-pound weight.

  Just above me a door slammed shut, and I exhaled deeply knowing that I needed to move my suitcase out of the way. My arms hadn’t quite recovered, so I wasn’t surprised to find them shaking as I gripped the handle.

  Holy pigs in a blanket.

  A man stood at the top of the stairs, phone pressed to his ear, and he was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Did all of the boys here look like they walked out of a Calvin Klein ad?

  I watched in rapture as he wound his fingers through his unruly dark hair and began his descent down the stairs.

  Remembering that I blocked his way, I mustered up as much strength as I could, and I yanked on the handle once, then twice, in the hopes that the luggage would move out of his way. On the third tug, I realized my good luck had taken a nosedive.

  The handle gripped tightly in my hand detached from the outer shell and I flew backward just as the man passed me while the case bounced back down the stairs. I barely had time to shout for him to watch out before the luggage clipped his leg just as my back slammed against the concrete stair behind me.

  He gripped the handrail and turned his steely gaze toward me, ice practically shooting from his eyes.

  “What the fuck?” the man snarled just as my suitcase landed with a thud on the bottom step.

  That zipper I had been worried about? Well, it finally had enough and tore apart, releasing the contents inside. I’d never been more grateful to have picked up storage cubes, but my gratefulness didn’t last long when the man kicked my suitcase and continued on his way, not giving me another glance.

  Despite the pain in my back, which would inevitably turn into a hideous bruise, I gripped the rail and pulled myself up to lean over the side of the stairs.

  “Thanks for the help, you. . . you. . .jerk.” Name-calling wasn’t my forte. I was taught to never curse, so I had to get creative, but he left me so flustered that I couldn’t come up with anything interesting.

  In response, he flipped his middle finger in the air. I knew what that gesture stood for.

  How dare he?

  My anger seethed. When was the last time someone treated me so carelessly? I could remember only once, and that did nothing to extinguish the fire igniting deep in my gut.

  “Yeah? Well, I hope your momma knows that she raised no gentleman,” I shouted, ignoring another door slamming above me.

  That seemed to get his attention.

  He turned his face back toward me, his nose flaring with every breath. God, he truly was quite the specimen, but apparently, I’d pissed him off. Well, served him right.

  “Sorry,” another man said as he scooted around me, his brown hair pulled back in a neat bun. He winced at my open suitcase and turned his eyes back toward me, regret filling them, then looked around the corner at the man who had focused his furious stare on me.

  “J, do you need some help?” Willow called down from the top landing. I glanced up through a sliver in the stairwell, breaking my contact with Iceman.

  “Yeah,” I sighed. After the mess that was made, I was definitely going to need some help.

  Turning back around, I found that the two men were long gone. What a great impression I’ve made on my new neighbors.

  As Willow clambered down the steps, I made my way down to my suitcase, my back protesting as I bent forward to reorganize the mess and stuff it back inside. Except as Willow made it to the landing, I noticed that the zipper had completely torn away from the suitcase.

  “Great,” I grumbled, looking up at Willow as she nibbled at her lower lip. We huffed out a sigh simultaneously and reached down to grab a stack of the storage cubes.

  “This is not how I wanted to start things off,” I complained as I meticulou
sly stacked the remainder of the cubes in my arms, blocking my line of sight.

  Slowly, I followed Willow up the stairs and down the hallway until I watched her feet stop outside of an apartment door.

  “This is us. Welcome home, Jolee.”

  Willow balanced her stack of cubes precariously in her arms as she opened the door. A minute later, I felt hands grip one of the piles in my arms and remove them, carrying them further into the apartment as I stood still in the hallway. Finally, the other stack was pulled from my grip and taken in to the apartment.

  Inside, I was met with a small hallway, just wide enough for one person to pass through at a time. The wall to my left had a set of bi-fold doors that Willow described as a coat closet and a laundry area. We were lucky to have laundry in the space; I was not a fan of laundromats.

  Slipping passed me, Willow explained that she was going to grab my broken suitcase while I looked around the apartment.

  I barely made it through the entrance before a woman with jet black hair bumped into me, her glasses slipped down the bridge of her nose.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” she squeaked.

  “It’s my fault. I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

  She stared blankly at me as she removed her glasses from her face and wiped the lenses on her shirt. I didn’t realize that purple eyes were real, and I absolutely would have thought this woman wore contacts if I hadn’t noticed her extremely thick glasses, but she had the most stunning eye color I had ever seen. I couldn’t stop staring.

  “What?” she asked as she propped her glasses back on her face.

  Ashamed to have been caught looking too long, I shook my head in embarrassment. This was not how I wanted to make a first impression. First, with the boy on the stairs and now with the girl that I assume will be my roommate.

  “Nothing, I didn’t mean to stare. It’s just, you have beautiful eyes.” My cheeks reddened in embarrassment. I couldn’t believe I had admitted to her that I had been staring. “I’m sorry, that was incredibly rude of me.”

  Just as the awkward silence grew between us, Willow came gliding into the apartment with my broken suitcase.