A Bone to Pick: A New Adult College Romance (Campus Crushes Book 3)

by Rachel Shane

  “A new organization called Unlock has swept across college campuses, claiming to offer fully paid scholarships to students who need it the most with no academic or skill based requirements. It sounds too good to be true…and that’s because it is.”

  Keane yelled into his mic. “Don’t listen, folks. He has no evidence.”

  “Instead, the organization is using the donations—which so far total over a hundred million—to fund the biggest payoff scandal since the payola radio days.” He went on to explain the details the scheme.

  Keane shook his head, his voice breaking. “It’s not true. None of it.”

  But every head in the crowd was turned toward us, their mouths flopped open.

  “I must give thanks to my daughter, Erin Behr, a junior at Throckmorton University and to Trevor Cardinelli, formerly known as Clever Trevor, for helping me break this story. They both went undercover to gather the evidence and help expose this scandal.”

  Trevor squinted at me in confusion and I smiled at him. This is what I’d texted my dad earlier. To claim that Trevor was in it the whole time for good reasons, not bad, so when the media came down on those involved, he’d look like the saving’s grace. I guess my dad had decided to lump me into that as well.

  “I have in my possession evidence in the form of email exchanges, texts, and signed contracts.” The latter Keane had stupidly scanned into his computer and placed in a single folder. “I will be turning the evidence over to the police momentarily.”

  Keane didn’t make any sort of argument this time and when I glanced at the stage, it was empty. He was gone, fleeing the scene of his crime.

  “Thankfully, we have a chance to end this payoff scandal before it gets worse. Before more people like me lose their jobs.” His voice cracked, vulnerability leaking onto his face. “Before the students counting on these scholarships lose their spots at the schools they can no longer afford.” Dad swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “If you have any questions, you know where to find me. I will be on social media tweeting out screen shots of the evidence.”

  With that, Dad signed off. I glanced at the number of live viewers. 1.2 million.

  “Also,” I said in to the mic. “You should know that our very own Dean is part of this scandal. This battle was never fair. He’d already signed a contract to give the house to Unlock.”

  Gasps rung out and heads swiveled, looking for Dean for answers. But he was gone too.

  I felt the need to add one more thing. “And please don’t hold a grudge against Alexis Rae, Gemma, and the others who performed tonight. They didn’t know what was going on.”

  I sat back, ready to end this podcast. But a million hands went up.

  “Uh, any questions?” Trevor asked and everyone laughed.

  “How did you go undercover?” someone in the front row asked.

  Trevor and I glanced at each other, and then shrugged. Might as well tell the truth.

  “I’m an alumnus of Key & Lock,” he said. “So when I was offered a new job as part of the pay off, I accepted it. But I documented everything to gather evidence,” he added quickly. He grinned at me and I knew he was thrilled that this time, his reputation remained intact.

  “And I’ve been a member of Key & Lock for three years now,” I said, earning shocked gasps from my friends in the wing. “When they started Unlock, I made sure I would be on the committee, so I could oversee everything from behind the scenes. That’s when I realized something was off and I worked from the inside to bring them down.”

  More hands went up, including my friends. I called on Bianca.

  “Wait. What? Key & Lock? You?”

  I sighed. This had to come out now. All of it. “I’ve only actually studied at the library once.”

  She looked completely shocked but also a little impressed. “Man, and I thought you just really wanted straight A’s.”

  I smiled, feeling warm inside, glad my friends didn’t hold this against me either.

  The last question I accepted was from Holly, who raised her eyebrows a few times in succession. “Are you guys back together? Because I see you’re holding hands under the table.”

  We looked at each other, a question in both our eyes. And then we answered it the only way we could…by kissing.

  AFTER THE BATTLE, THE Dean resigned in a fit of hushed whispers and newspaper headlines. Harrison was the first to break that story and wouldn’t shut up about. The interim Dean decided to award the promised scholarships to the three students who had been chosen so far as a way to get some good press back to the school. Robby was safe, he’d be a freshman here next year. And also, ugh, my little brother would be a freshman here next year. After the shock died down and the donations started, students lined up at our table for hours to drop a dollar and receive their bid. Excited squeals rang out as students jumped up and down with their sorority assignments. The Greek system was still underground, but at least now the students were in control. Later that night, we entertained thirty new girls and boys in our basement, the new members of Ours. The future of Ours.

  Thanks to our donation win, the school decided to award the vacant house to Clever Media—we’d be moving in our stuff tomorrow. They also kicked Key & Lock off campus and awarded their house to Layla’s organization. She was still bitter about not securing old Rho Sig, but she sucked it up and embraced what she received instead. We would still have to coexist on campus together but at least Clever Media acted as the front to rush. The whole Greek System was in our hands now. And we would treat it right.

  Dad’s video went mega viral. His name trended on twitter for three straight days. He was the top story on—you guessed it—CNN. The CEO there resigned in light of the scandal and soon my dad received multiple offers for anchor gigs, including from CNN. But he decided to start brand new. New career. New city. New job title. Host of America’s top morning show. It had always been his dream job and now it was his real job.

  Trevor lost the job he’d secured for both of us but his name appeared in the media in a good light. Suddenly sources were praising him instead of hating on him, and that lead to nearly the same offer. Different network—this time Pop!TV—but similar job. And my new manager Cliff worked out a joint deal with the network. Trevor to host solo for one year, followed by me joining him the next year. I already had a job out of college. What a relief!

  Trevor would be leaving for NYC later today. I already missed him. But thankfully, the distance would only be temporary. I’d be joining him this summer via an internship at the network and Bianca and Harrison would also be interning in the city. Mackenzie, Fallon, and Corey were each only an hour train ride away from the city. This wasn’t the end. This was only the beginning.

  The doorbell rang and I leaped from my bed. It was going to be a long day so I was wearing my yoga pants…but there was some lacy lingerie beneath—for good measure. When I waltzed down the stairs, Mackenzie waggled her eyebrows at me. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

  I laughed. “That doesn’t leave many options.”

  “I meant lifting boxes.” She wrinkled her nose. “I would never do that.”

  I shook my head at her. “I’ll keep that in mind. You guys sure this is okay?”

  “That you’re ditching us in our time of need?” Bianca scoffed, entering the foyer with her arms crossed.

  I waved my hand in the air in dismissal. “I’ll be back in time for Chapter.” Our new members would be arriving tonight for the next meeting and I couldn’t wait to fully devote myself to Ours again, to my friends, to everything that truly mattered to me.

  The doorbell rang again.

  “But that’s my cue.”

  I pulled open the door and gasped at the gorgeousness standing on the front steps, hands looped in his pockets, head bent slightly so he looked up at me from beneath his eyelashes. Trevor wore his beanie cap despite the heat, the blond hairs sticking out of the bottom. A vine tattoo peeked out from underneath his sleeves. He was so goddamned go
od looking, and he was mine. All mine. My face burst into a smile at the sight of him and he returned the gesture, causing the girls behind me to swoon loudly.

  I grabbed Trevor’s hand. “Come on, before they start awwing.”

  He laughed. “I’m okay with that.”

  After a short drive, we pulled up to Trevor’s house where a large moving truck waited outside, half packed with boxes. Thankfully Trevor had only minimally unpacked before, so there wasn’t much to do, but I still promised to help him. Holding my hand, we breezed past the moving guys, jutting our chins toward them in nod. “We just need to finish packing the upstairs,” he told them. “I’ll let you know when we’re done.”

  We took the steps two at a time. Except everything upstairs was already packed in neat, labeled boxes. Everything except his bed and the sheets currently spread on top. And the lone condom sitting out on his nightstand, waiting for use. He grinned at me sheepishly. “I figured this is our last chance to christen this place.”

  I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him. It had been weeks since I’d first been with him, since I’d last—the one and only time. After the battle, all I’d wanted to do was kiss him but we were both whisked away to various media interviews with local news stations arriving on campus minutes after we finished exposing the scandal. Then Cliff shoved him to New York City for more interviews, both the media kind and the job kind. He was finally back in town with just enough time to pack up his place before his lease ended. That gave us one single day to spend together.

  And I didn’t want to waste another second not touching him.

  He must have felt the same way because the kiss ratcheted up in intensity. His lips moved against mine, hard and fierce. Warmth spread across my chest and tumbled downward, balling into a knot of desire at my core. My whole body pulsed for his touch.

  Still kissing, we stumbled backward, hands clawing. I’d made the right decision with the lacy underwear but the wrong decision about the yoga pants. I should have just come here naked because the fabric was too much to separate us. We clawed at each other’s clothes like animals, ripping them off in haste until we were all skin and nothing else. Just us. Close. Together.

  I traced my finger over his vine tattoo that stretched across his bicep and down his torso. “Why this one?”

  He mumbled against my neck, sending tingles down my spine and making my eyes flutter shut. “It symbolizes growth but also roots.”

  That made sense. Throckmorton was his heart but his soul belonged on the stage, everywhere and nowhere at once. Each tattoo of his had a story and he relayed them all to me in equal parts elation and frustration at all the talking we were doing and not kissing. The heart with the ax on it commemorated his first platinum album, how the joy he felt was split in two, half belonging to Connor. The mermaid on his leg was symbolic of his mother, because she was almost like a mythical creature to him and he liked to believe she was still out there, hidden beneath the ocean.

  He traced the freckles that dotted my body, making up stories for each of them. How each one marked a special time in my life that he plucked out of thin air. I closed my eyes and listened to his ideas, committing to each one, making them real. He wrote me a past with his words but also his lips.

  There was still so much we had to learn about each other but we’d take it piece by piece, bit by bit. Today—our beauty marks. Tomorrow—our future.

  When he finally pressed himself inside me, it felt like the whole world was connecting once again, each piece fitting tightly into place like a puzzle. We were sitting upright, me straddling him, and I held onto his shoulders for dear life as my hips revolved to take him whole. The sensation of him filling me nearly sent me screaming from pleasure. He surged inside me with strong, solid movements, each one shooting molten heat through my whole body. My fingernails dug into the skin on his back as pleasure rocketed through me, and my whole body shuddered.

  I let out a moan that turned into a scream, my breaths coming heavier than the next. Trevor’s own heavy breath collided with my shoulder. His lips grazed there, sucking gently, and I writhed against him as euphoria pulsed deep in my core. The sensations in me welled to a crescendo. He clutched me tighter, his whole face contorting to one of pleasure. We both screamed out at once and my body convulsed into a series of amazing spasms. I was still shuddering when he finally let go of me and collapsed on the bed.

  I scooted next to him, trying to catch my breath. His hand found mine and he laced his fingers within it. It felt like we were about to conquer the world, and soon, we actually would.

  The End...I hope you enjoyed reading about Erin and Trevor! WANT FREE BONUS CONTENT? To receive your bonus ebook, simply leave an honest review on Amazon for this book, fill out this google form and I'll send you a bonus ebook story featuring Erin! You can't purchase this bonus ebook anywhere!

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  Other titles by Rachel Shane

  Young Adult

  Alice in Wonderland High

  Kasey Screws Up The World

  Rhythym & Clues

  New Adult

  Cunning Linguist, A Campus Crushes Prequel Novella (Fallon's Story)

  Premature Evacuation, Campus Crushes, Book 1 (Mackenzie's story)

  Master Probation, Campus Crushes, Book 2 (Bianca's story)

  A Bone to Pick, Campus Crushes, Book 3 (Erin's Story)

  Adult

  Gravebound, Magical Entanglements vol 1 (exclusively available in the Under Your Spell anthology)

  Cursebound, Magical Entanglements vol 2

  Flamebound, Magical Entanglements vol 3

  Non-Fiction

  Generating Story Ideas: Tips and Techniques For Hatching Ideas From Scratch

  Thank you to my wonderful agent, Jim McCarthy, who plucked me out of the slush and helped make my dreams come true.

  This book would not exist with the continual support of Cady Vance, Chandler Baker, and Naticia Hutichins. You all save me on a daily basis. Thanks especially to Naticia for your copy editing help. Lunch on me!

  Thanks to Denise Jaden for all your keen insight into my books. You were my first reader on this book, back when it didn’t resemble anything on the current page, and the book is all the more better for it.

  Thanks to all my early beta readers on this book, especially those from Critique Circle and Absolute Write. You have helped shape every word contained in these covers. Thanks to Sarah LaPolla and Dana Bacher for your revision suggestions that shaped the book.

  Thanks to Ladies Noir, Binders, KBoards, Absolute Write, Twitter, and all the other writerly online hangouts where I found great friends and great advice.

  Thanks also to Crista Finnochio, Erika Shenker, Chelsey Wolf, Amanda Simon, Melanie Doyle and all my other friends at Syracuse University who inspired me to write this.

  And of course I can’t forget my loving family, for your continual support. But most importantly I’d like to thank my husband Josh and my daughter Quinn for being my rocks.

  Lastly, thank YOU for taking the time to read this book. I hope you enjoyed it!

  Rachel Shane studied Creative Writing at Syrac
use University and now works as a digital Project Manager in New York City. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, young daughter, and a basement full of books.

  Sign up for her newsletter here to get exclusive content, including a free short story prequel that chronicles how Corey Taft and Harrison Wagner went from bros to rivals during pledging.

  www.rachelshane.com