21 (The List Series) Read online

  Table of Contents

  21

  COPYRIGHT

  DEDICATION

  PROLOGUE

  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

  EPILOGUE

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  OTHER BOOKS BY RHONDA

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  21

  Text Copyright © 2017 Rhonda James

  All Rights Reserved

  ISBN-13: 978-1976419515

  ISBN-10: 1976419514

  Published by Rhonda James, Author LLC

  Cover Layout and Design by Taylor James

  Cover Model: Adam de Carvalho

  Photo Credit: Stone Elephant Photography

  Editor Julia Goda

  Formatter CP Smith

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  The following story contains mature themes, profanity, and explicit sexual situations. It is intended for adult readers.

  DEDICATION

  For every woman in need of a little adventure:

  FUCK THE RULES and make YOUR list!

  PROLOGUE

  V

  “Victoria Lynn Prescott, if you had an ounce of pride inside that tiny frame of yours, you’d walk away and never look back. Michael Cross is nothing more than a waste of time,” Sophie warned on a scowl.

  A big part of me knew she was right, even though I wasn’t ready to accept it, and I knew this was her way of protecting me, but I chose to ignore the last part and instead poked fun at her use of my full name. “Wow, pulling out the middle name. Way to let me know how you truly feel.”

  Sophie Banks, or ‘Soph’ as I called her, was my best friend and had been since we were in diapers. Our moms had been best friends for years, so we’d grown up spending every waking moment together, running the streets of our close-knit community in Mount Pleasant, SC. As far as friends go, we couldn’t be more different. Where I was quiet and pensive, Sophie had always been boisterous and flighty, and often the voice encouraging me to try something outside my comfort zone. I guess when compared to Sophie, one might say I was boring, but honestly I just wasn’t as outgoing as she was.

  We’d just graduated high school and were sitting poolside at my boyfriend’s. Scratch that. Ex-boyfriend. He’d graciously offered to throw a party to celebrate the occasion, and it seemed as though the entire graduating class was in the pool or scattered throughout the backyard.

  “Come on, Tori. You two have been playing this off-and-on game for the past year. You do know he’s just stringing you along? Right? I mean, look at him.” Using both hands, she gestured toward the deep end of the pool, where Michael sat openly flirting with Caroline Cavanaugh. I couldn’t lie; it hurt to watch, but sadly it wasn’t anything I hadn’t witnessed before. Michael Cross had always been a player.

  I guess you could say my infatuation with Michael began in seventh grade on the night of Melanie Hodges’ first co-ed party. We’d all been playing a game of Seven Minutes in Heaven, and I’d nearly choked on my own tongue when my name was called along with Michael’s. I’d been secretly hoping Melanie would pair me with Billy Fischer. Billy had brown hair, and he was so shy with the kindest eyes. But Michael… Michael was blond and enigmatic, with blue eyes that danced with mischief as he grasped my hand and led me back to the laundry room. I remember the first three minutes were wasted on clumsy small talk, mostly my doing because I’d been nervous he would think I was a bad kisser, but then his lips found mine in the dark, and when our time was up, I was left feeling things I’d never felt before. Even at fourteen I’d known I wanted more of those kisses.

  That was four years ago, and it appeared I still hadn’t gotten him out of my system, because here I was, hanging on to hope that one day he’d change his mind and make me his forever girl.

  I held my breath and watched as the tip of his finger ran the length of Caroline’s arm, hating the way the sun had kissed her skin during her latest visit to the Caribbean. I snuck a downward glance at my own skin, pale by comparison, before snatching up a bottle of tanning oil. Fuck the SPF. I needed color, and I needed it, like, yesterday.

  Yeah, like the color of your skin is the reason he’s putting the moves on Caroline, my inner voice snapped like an annoying parrot. Stupid virgin, it mocked, tacking on one more insult just because it could.

  I counted to ten, clenching my teeth so tight I thought my molars might crack, before slathering on the coconut-scented oil. “I don’t know, Soph, it’s not as if he owes me anything. We haven’t been dating exclusively.”

  “That’s only because he’s afraid to commit, and even still, he knows how you feel about him, so he should at least have the decency to keep it in his fucking shorts when you’re sitting thirty feet away!” she yelled at the top of her voice, making heads turn. “Whatever it was you two were doing ended, what, three days ago, and he’s already trying to sweet talk his way into someone else’s bed?” She snatched the bottle of oil from my hand and continued muttering under her breath.

  “Well, maybe if I finally said yes, he wouldn’t have to go looking for it elsewhere,” I acquiesced.

  “Nope,” Sophie shook her head, not having it. “That still doesn’t give him the right to be a dick. Tell me something. If you’re head over heels for this guy, why not just sleep with him and get it over with? I mean, last night you told me you were in love with him.” Her eyes darted between Michael and me. “Can you honestly say he feels the same about you?”

  I heard the doubt in her voice, but rather than answer, I found myself thinking about the way Michael and I had left things the other night, when he told me it would take more than words to prove my feelings for him. After that, he said something about taking some time away from each other to get our shit straight. The bite in his words still stung, but no matter how much of a dick he’d been, I couldn’t bear the thought of letting him go. When I didn’t answer, she shook her head, and this time when her gaze flitted back to Michael, her lips flattened into a thin line.

  “Sweetie, you know I love you like a sister, but it’s time to wake up and stop being his fucking doormat. You deserve more.” She started to lie back against the lounger but instead bolted up and blew out a low whistle. “Holy fuck! Who is that?”

  I turned to where Sophie was pointing, and it only took a moment to spot exactly which that she had been referring to. I dropped my head back down on a sigh and closed my eyes to block out the sun. “That would be Michael’s brother, Dylan.”

  She propped herself up on her elbows and stared in the direction where Dylan stood talking with a group of guys I’d never seen befo
re. “Me-owww. I didn’t realize Michael had a brother, and a hot one at that.”

  “Technically, he’s a half-brother.”

  “Looks like he got the better half!” she snorted. “How come I’ve never seen him around?”

  “He comes and goes. I guess his mom died five years ago and he was forced to move here. I heard Michael’s mom can’t stand him because he’s a delinquent. Michael mentioned something about Dylan being in and out of juvie a few times.”

  I didn’t dare tell her about the dream I had three nights ago. Dylan was in it. So was I. It was just the two of us and we were… Well, that’s not important because nothing like that would ever happen because he doesn’t even know I exist. Besides, I only had eyes for Michael.

  “Ooohhh, sexy and a bad boy. How exciting.” Her brows danced above her big blue eyes. “How old is he?”

  “Twenty-one, I think.” I sank back against the lounger and brought a hand up to my face out of fear he might take one look at me and read my mind. To say that Dylan Cross intimidated me would be an understatement, but still. There was something about him that intrigued me. Maybe it was the whole bad boy persona.

  “I don’t know what you’re getting so worked up about. He’s just another guy, same as any other you see here.” I sliced a hand through the air to indicate the plethora of male specimen surrounding us.

  “I beg to differ, that guy’s not ‘just’ anything,” Sophie replied with a flick of her thick blonde hair. “That, my friend, is one giant slice of Grade-A man meat. I mean, just look at his abs, and don’t get me started on his ass.” She tweaked the air with her hands to simulate pinching both cheeks. “I’m willing to bet he’s packing something pretty impressive behind that button-fly. It’s freaking ninety degrees outside. How the hell is he wearing jeans and not sweating his fine ass off?”

  I raked my eyes over his lean frame and tried pretending as if what I saw had little to no effect on me. But it wasn’t easy. Starting with the dark head of hair, past the tattoo that covered his right shoulder and bicep, then pausing to appreciate his spectacularly shaped ass before finally tearing my gaze away. I swallowed back a moan and crossed my legs, silently cursing Dylan Cross for being so damn sexy. “Please, he looks like someone trying way too hard to seek attention.”

  Sophie barked out a laugh and leaned back against her lounger. “Oh, sweetie, he doesn’t have to try. A man like that commands attention whether he seeks it or not.” Without looking, she poked my arm and snickered. “You know, a guy like Dylan would be a perfect distraction.”

  One eye popped open to gauge if she was actually being serious. “You’re kidding, right? Why the hell would I waste my time on Dylan when I want Michael?”

  This revelation shouldn’t have shocked me because when it came to Sophie and Michael, there was no love lost between them. She loathed him with an undying passion.

  “Um, hell-o. For starters, he’s hot as fuck!”

  I scoped out Dylan once more and continued feigning disinterest. “He’s okay.”

  Undeterred, Sophie continued to make her point. “He’s Michael’s brother, that’s reason enough right there. Jealousy alone will drive Michael back into your arms, though why you want him is beyond me. Furthermore, he has really cool tattoos annnnnddd, he’s hot as fuck!”

  I laughed in spite of myself. “I think you may have already mentioned that one.”

  She licked her lips as a devilish grin spread across her tanned face. “I know, but it bore repeating.”

  “Even if I agreed with you on all accounts—which I don’t—” Lie. “I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It would feel wrong. I want Michael back, but I want it to be because he can’t live without me, not because I tricked him into it.”

  Her bored sigh was a clear indicator of how she felt about my reasoning, but she threw up her hands in defeat. “Fine, but I think you’re passing up an incredible opportunity.”

  I propped myself back up and shot her a dirty scowl. “If he’s such a catch, then why don’t you go over and strike up a conversation?”

  She mimicked my position before casting another glance in Dylan’s direction and then turned to me wearing a smug grin. “I could do that, but I think it would be a waste of both our time.”

  “Oh yeah, and why is that?”

  “Because he just spent the last twenty minutes unabashedly checking you out,” she deadpanned.

  O-kay, then…

  ***

  Unlike most of the parties I’d attended at Michael’s, thanks to Sophie’s little revelation, I spent the rest of the afternoon hyper aware of everything happening around me. See, I’m typically the girl lurking in the background, avoiding the spotlight at all costs, which wasn’t always the best approach when it came to garnering the attention of someone like Michael Cross.

  Michael was larger than life. As captain of the football team, recruited to be a starting receiver at Florida State in the fall, he was the Golden Boy of Mount Pleasant. He practically ruled our school and most every girl loved him, while many of the guys feared him. With his blond good looks and Daddy’s money, it seemed he could do no wrong. I guess that may have been part of the reason I held on to the sliver of hope he kept dangling in front of me. He was a catch. Only trouble was, Michael had no desire of being caught, at least not yet.

  At some point over the course of the afternoon, Caroline disappeared and Michael started drinking with his buddies by the bonfire. I shared a few beers with Sophie before leaving her to flirt with Nick Hutchinson while I made my way over to the guesthouse to change out of my bikini. A port-a-John had been set up for the rest of the guests, but those things were gross. Luckily, I knew where they kept the hide-a-key, but when I reached the door, it was already unlocked, so I stepped inside and called out to see if anyone was there, but no one responded. Once inside the bathroom, I checked my reflection in the mirror and found I liked this version of the girl staring back at me. A touch of pink on my nose and cheekbones revealed the sun and alcohol had done their job. I reached behind me and gave the elastic band a tug, releasing a thick mane of dark curls that cascaded down past my sun-kissed shoulders. The color on my cheeks made the green in my eyes pop, and I liked the effect it had. Before leaving the room, I slipped on a pair of faded cutoffs and a tank, then applied a coat of vanilla lip balm to my lips. Good enough.

  I’d no sooner stepped out into the hall when a familiar voice beckoned from somewhere within the darkened shadows.

  “You really think that’s gonna make a difference, sweetheart?”

  My hand flew to my chest as I stumbled back against the wall. “What the hell, Dylan? You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

  “My bad,” he half-snorted, half-chuckled. “On second thought, if you went down, I’d have to give you mouth-to-mouth, and that sounds like it could be fun.”

  What the hell? He was obviously wasted.

  “No, thanks.” I rolled my eyes and scowled, trying hard not to think about the dream that was still so vivid. So confusing. Why the hell would I be dreaming about Dylan? As far as I knew, he’d never given me a second glance. Until tonight, that is…

  “What’s that you were saying about making a difference? I don’t understand.”

  He stepped out from the shadows, revealing his handsome face. Michael was good looking, but his brother’s beauty could only be described with one word: breathtaking. And while Michael’s eyes were also blue, Dylan’s were the bluest blue I’d ever seen. It was as if I were staring at pieces of flawless sapphire. He wore his jet-black hair longer on top and had a strong jaw with angular features, and his eyebrow, nose, and lip were all pierced; something Michael would never in a million years consider.

  Everything about Dylan Cross screamed danger, but there was no denying the unsettling effect his very presence had on me. One look from him made my insides turn to liquid goo. I won’t tell you what it did to my panties.

  “I’m pretty sure that skimpy red bikini was better suited for holding ever
y man’s attention, including my baby brother’s. That is what you wanted? For Michael to look at you the way he was looking at that blonde? How much you wanna bet they’ve already fucked?”

  “Shut up, Dylan.”

  “But not you. Right, V? You’re all sweet and innocent.”

  “Shut. Up,” I warned.

  “Hell, I’ll bet your legs are still locked at the knees,” he laughed wickedly.

  I crossed my arms in front of me so he wouldn’t see the way my nipples had responded to the sound of his voice. Despite the cruelty lying beneath his words, I couldn’t recall a single moment when Michael’s voice had had this effect on me.

  A sick feeling settled in the pit of my stomach and I prayed he would just stop talking. “Please. You don’t know anything about me.”

  Dylan continued walking toward me, stepping one foot in front of the other at such an agonizingly slow pace it felt as if he were stalking me. Much to my dismay, every muscle in my lower half clenched with every determined step he took.

  “W-what are you doing?” I stammered.

  “Walking toward you real slow.”

  Unease gripped my spine and threatened to choke me, but I swallowed it down and lowered my hands to my sides, ready to bolt if necessary. Every hair on my body prickled with fear. Fear of the unknown—what he might do—what he wouldn’t. For every step he took, the area between my legs throbbed with anticipation. “W-why?” I stammered, pressing myself further against the wall.

  He laughed only once as a glimmer of a smirk formed at the corners of his full lips. That simple act changed his appearance in a way that curled my toes and made my girly bits so hot I was sure my panties would catch fire. “’Cause if I came at you the way I wanted, it’d probably scare you and you’d run away.”

  By this point, he was standing before me and I found myself pinned in place by the muscled wall of his body. Every muscle of my own tensed when he fisted a handful of my hair and lowered his mouth close to mine. He stared intently, and my eyes followed as his ringed fingers traced the line of my jaw. I studied him, trying to gauge his reaction; it was obvious he liked what he saw because he raised his mouth to my ear and rasped, “As much as I love the sight of your ass, I think I prefer this view even more.” The tip of his nose tickled my skin as it trailed across my cheek. “Michael’s a selfish prick.”