More Than A Bully: North Woods University Books 1-3 Read online

  Contents

  Warning

  1. Remington

  2. Jules

  3. Remington

  4. Jules

  5. Remington

  6. Jules

  7. Remington

  8. Jules

  9. Remington

  10. Jules

  11. Remington

  12. Jules

  13. Remington

  14. Jules

  15. Remington

  16. Jules

  17. Remington

  18. Jules

  19. Remington

  20. Jules

  21. Remington

  22. Jules

  23. Remington

  24. Jules

  25. Remington

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  26. Ava

  27. Vance

  28. Ava

  29. Vance

  30. Ava

  31. Vance

  32. Ava

  33. Vance

  34. Ava

  35. Vance

  36. Ava

  37. Vance

  38. Ava

  39. Vance

  40. Ava

  41. Vance

  42. Ava

  43. Vance

  44. Ava

  45. Vance

  46. Ava

  47. Vance

  48. Ava

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  49. Clark

  50. Emerson

  51. Clark

  52. Emerson

  53. Clark

  54. Emerson

  55. Clark

  56. Emerson

  57. Clark

  58. Emerson

  59. Clark

  60. Emerson

  61. Clark

  62. Emerson

  63. Clark

  64. Emerson

  65. Clark

  66. Emerson

  Epilogue

  Whats Next

  Also by the Authors

  About the Authors

  Preview of Hating You

  Ⓒ Copyright 2019 J.L. Beck & Cassandra Hallman

  Cover Art by: Black Widow Designs

  Editing: Ellie Mclove at My Brothers Editor

  All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

  Warning

  Dear Reader,

  We’re so happy that you picked up our newest book The Bet. We hope you enjoy it to your fullest and we cannot wait to read your reviews on it. However, we wanted to leave a little note at the start of the book to warn readers with sensitivity to dubious content, sexual themes, and verbal abuse that this book may not be a good read for them.

  We also would like to say that while the book is entirely fiction we know that abuse, sexual, physical, and verbal is a very real thing in our world and that we do NOT condone any behavior of that nature, nor do we think that it’s okay to treat someone that way.

  Again, this is fiction and while we don’t always agree with the things our characters do sometimes it makes sense for a story.

  With love,

  J.L. Beck & C. Hallman

  1

  Remington

  I lick my lips, the busty blonde sitting beside me has my cock rock hard. I know I should be focusing on the shit that the professor is droning on about, but I don’t care. All I can think about is the things she’s going to do with her lips and tongue in about an hour.

  A loud creaking noise fills the room interrupting Mr. Johnson, and momentarily pulling me from Layla, or maybe it’s Lacy, I can’t really remember. I look from the girl beside me and to the door.

  Whoever it is, is going to get an ass-chewing. In college, the professors don’t really care if you’re late or don’t show up, so I’m not really sure why Mr. Johnson makes a show out of those that are tardy, still, I don’t hold my breath that he isn’t going to start bitching in a second.

  My entire world flips on its axis when I see the person entering the room. Big blue eyes, soft pink lips, and long blonde curls, just the way I remember them.

  Jules.

  My heart starts beating out of my chest with just one look. No fucking way. I must be dreaming, or high, or drunk, or all three combined, because there is no fucking way that she’s really here, much less in this class.

  I haven’t seen her in three years.

  Three. Fucking. Years.

  The memory of her is like a hot branding iron on my skin. The day she left was the day I lost a piece of who I was...a piece I tossed over my shoulder and never cared to find again. I grit my teeth, my jaw flexing with the pressure.

  Mr. Johnson spins around, finger already raised as if he is about to snarl at her, but when he sees the sweet angel standing in the middle of the room, his face changes, morphing into something else. Even he can’t bring himself to yell at this sweet creature.

  Sweet creature. I almost snort. This girl, well, clearly a woman now, given the curves she’s hiding and the tight jeans showing off her full ass broke me.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just had a hard time finding the room,” she whispers, her sing-song voice filling the room. She bats her long eyelashes at him innocently and all he does is clear his throat and motion for her to sit down.

  Most of the assholes in this room are probably thinking she is acting, playing the innocent act, the woman who can do no wrong, but I know better. Everything about her is sweet and gentle. She wouldn’t hurt a fly. She never saw anything as a nuisance, not even me.

  Jules has always been the sweetest person I know…until the day she ripped my heart out of my chest and left, taking the shredded pieces with her. Her sweetness turned sour the day she moved away, and all because she wanted to please her father. She didn't even fight. Didn't fight for us, for our friendship, for the chance of love.

  She just left...left when I needed her more than anything, more than air, more than life. Losing her was like losing a piece of my soul, it killed me, but I survived. I built myself back up and became the man I am today.

  “Excuse me,” she whispers, walking down the middle aisle getting closer and closer to me. Every step she takes angers me. I don’t want her near me, let alone to be in the same room as me. She spots an open seat in the row in front of me, and slides into it, but not before lifting her eyes to survey the room.

  The professor has already started talking again, and most of the room is focused on the board, scribbling down every little word that’s written, so no one notices her stares. She tucks a curled lock of blonde hair behind her ear and then as if the entire fucking universe wanted to damn us, her eyes lock on mine.

  Those big blue eyes, once so full of life, of wonder, of love for me, for us. In that instant, the entire fucking world could blow up around us and we wouldn’t notice. She seems shocked to see me, about as shocked as I am to see her, and then a tiny smile pulls at her plump lips.

  “Remington…” the girl beside me whines, rubbing her manicured hand against my thigh, and suddenly my cock has deflated. I feel sick to my stomach, my insides twisting, all because of Jules.

  She gives me a tiny little wave and then settles into her seat.

  What the fuck? What the hell just happened? Did she seriously just wave at me? Red hot anger zings through me. Who the fuck does she think she is? Waving at me, acting like she doesn’t know what the hell she did. The hour seems to
drone on, and with every ticking minute, my anger seems to grow. I feel like a boiling pot of water. One single second away from boiling over.

  “Do you still want to hang out after class?”

  “No,” I grit out.

  “Why? Don’t tell me it’s because of that girl that just waved at you. Who is she anyway?” Using my hand, I brush hers off my thigh and grip my pen with enough strength to snap the damn thing. Maybe I should tell her, yes, but the blonde with a sweet smile and soft heart just ruined my fucking day, year, hell my life.

  “She’s no one. I don’t even fucking know her, so stop acting jealous,” I whisper when all I want to do is yell. I wonder if Jules can hear me, I sure fucking hope so. I don’t want her to try and reach out to me, try and talk to me. I don’t want her to have a damn thing to do with me.

  “Okay, so why then?” She pouts, and I twist away from her.

  This classroom is too small, filled with too many people, and I feel like I’m suffocating. Her mere presence makes it feel like my heart is being ripped out of my chest all over again.

  “I have to go, Remington.”

  I shake my head, not comprehending what she’s saying.

  “What the fuck, Jules? Why?” I know I shouldn’t swear at her, but I don’t understand. I already lost my mom. If I lose Jules too, I’ll risk falling off the deep end.

  She worries her bottom lip between her teeth looking at me as if she doesn’t want to say what she’s going to next. “You knew my parents were getting a divorce, and my mom, she’s too busy with work for me to live with her. You know she travels all the time and really, I want to move with my dad.”

  I blink. “Move? Like, leave?” My lungs deflate, my heart cracks down the middle.

  “Yes.” She frowns. “I just rather go with my dad, Remington. You know I don’t get along with my mom all that well and my brother is going to live with my dad too.”

  I understand what she is saying, but all I can feel is pain, anger, heartache.

  “You’re my best friend, Jules. I need you.” My voice cracks, my insides twisting painfully.

  “I know.” Tears glisten in her big blue eyes. “We have the phone. I can call you, check up on you. I can come and visit.”

  I tighten my hand into a fist. I’m angry, at Jules, at her parents, at my own mother for choosing fucking liquor over her children.

  “You know what, don’t worry about me. Go and live with your daddy.” My words slice through her, and I can tell they hurt. She reaches for me, her hand landing on my bicep, but I shrugged it off. If she cared about me as much as she said she did, she would find a way to make this work.

  “Don’t act like that. It’s not like I want to hurt you.” I can hear her talking, but all I can feel is the betrayal. If she’s leaving, if she’s not even going to be here anymore, then I should just end this, rip out my own damn heart instead of letting her do it.

  “Go away, Jules. Go pack your shit and get out of my face. I don’t ever want to see you again.” I barely get the words out. God, does it hurt to say them, it hurts so damn bad.

  “What? You don’t mean that.” She makes another grab for me, but I take a step backward, putting space between us.

  This is it. The end.

  “I do. I never cared about you, about our friendship. You mean nothing. Just like my mother. Nothing.” I punctuate the words, staring down at her. Her pink lips tremble, lips I’ve thought of kissing my entire life, her hands shaking, and when the tears start to fall, I turn away.

  “You…you can’t…” she starts, but I whirl back around, stepping into her space. I’ve never hurt her, never wanted her to be scared of me, damn if that is the last thing I ever wanted but seeing her right now with tears swimming in her eyes, looking like she’s the one that has a right to be heartbroken angers me. There are only two women I’ve ever loved in my life, and I’ve already lost one, now I’m losing her too.

  Leaving me with no one…

  “I do not care about you. Leave. Now. You’ve ruined us. Our friendship.”

  “I’m sorry, but can’t change this, Remmy.”

  “Neither can I. Now get out of my face. I never want to see you again.”

  Her mouth opens as if she’s going to say something, but I shake my head, giving her a warning look. I don’t want to hear another word come out of her mouth. I don’t want to see her pink lips, big blue eyes, or soft blonde curls ever again.

  “Remington,” someone calls my name, pulling me from the memory, and I blink letting the image of Jules’ tear-stained face disappear from my mind. I realize then that people are starting to shuffle out of the classroom. Fuck. My eyes move to the seat in front of me, the one that Jules was in before I spaced out. It’s empty now, thank fuck. Now all I have to do is get rid of this chick and I can get out of here.

  “Look, Lacey…” I start, pushing from the table.

  “It’s Layla, actually,” she sneers, displeasure appearing in her eyes.

  “Uhh, yeah sorry, anyway…I’ve got shit to do. I’ll text you later?” I shove all my shit into my backpack and start down the stairs, refusing to let her even talk. As soon as I step outside the classroom, I see her.

  Jules. My heart. My fucking best friend.

  Her eyes connect with mine, a smile pulls at her pink lips, and she takes a step forward. I tighten my hold on my backpack, every muscle inside my body tightening.

  What the fuck?

  What the actual fuck does she think she’s doing?

  2

  Jules

  My heart beats so furiously inside my chest I think it’s going to break free from my body and run down the hallway. It’s been three years…three long years since the day he took my heart and ran it through the proverbial blender. I take a step forward, my feet moving all on their own.

  He’s so different now, bigger, taller, so much taller that I have to look up at him. My eyes roam over his body, it’s toned and muscled, just like an athlete’s. My mouth waters at the sight.

  The ripped blue jeans and a white t-shirt he’s wearing do nothing to hide his chiseled body. His dark russet brown hair is still as unruly as ever, going in every which way. The only thing that seems to not have changed is his dark green eyes that are currently piercing mine, a furious fire flickering in their depths. He holds his head high, an arrogance oozing from within.

  There’s a scowl on his face, and instead of looking happy to see me, he looks angry, impossibly angry. He still can’t be angry over me moving away, can he be? No, there is no way. The Remington I knew never held a grudge.

  Still, I remember the things he said that night the last time I had seen him. Even then, I never believed that he meant the words he said. How could he? We had been friends since grade school, you couldn’t just forget about someone...you couldn’t just start hating them for something that wasn’t really their fault.

  My body reacts to his presence just as it always did when we were kids and I find myself taking a step forward, and then another until I’m in front of him wrapping my slim arms around his middle.

  “Remmy,” I sigh, feeling a little too happy to see him. For a split second, everything is right in the world again. My father isn’t dead. My mother is happy. Remington and I are friends again. I lean against him, closing my eyes, and letting his warmth seep into my bones, into every pore on my body.

  He still smells the same, like soap and mint. His body, though harder, still feels the same too, and I smile against his chest. I can’t believe he is really here. I didn’t expect to see him, not today, and maybe not ever again.

  Then the moment passes, and I’m dragged back to reality when someone pulls me off of him. My eyes fly open and I realize that no one has pulled me off of him, but instead that he is pushing me away. My mouth opens and I’m about to ask him what’s wrong when I see the anger reflecting in his eyes.

  His fingers wrap around my upper arm, his grip hard as steel as he starts down the hall while dragging me behind him. I can
barely keep up with his fast pace, his height making his steps bigger than mine. Apparently, I’m not the only one confused because everyone we pass looks just as shocked and flabbergasted about what’s happening as I am.

  We round the corner and he opens the first door we pass, pushing me inside of the room. I stumble over my feet and grip onto a table to balance myself when he releases me with a shove. My heart is in my throat, and my lungs burn, refusing to fill with air. I look around the empty classroom, wondering what the hell is going on when he opens his mouth and starts yelling at me.

  “What the hell do you think you are doing? You can’t just waltz in here pretending you know me,” he seethes, his words feel like a dull knife slicing through my chest.

  Pretending to know him? I don’t understand what he means, nor do I understand why he is so angry, so hateful. We used to be best friends, certainly, he remembers that, right? Was there some accident while I was gone? Did he get hurt and hit his head? Does he not remember who I am?