Revenge

E. M. Denning

Edited by Marisa Chenery

Cover design by April Martinez

Copyright 2015 E. M. Denning. Published by Forever More Publishing, 31 Wycliffe Place, Kitchener, Ontario, N2M 5J6, Canada. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-92785-985-8

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

Dedication

This book is for Jaden Wilkes and S. A. Starcevic.

Jaden for starting me down this road, and S. A. Starcevic for urging me to continue.

On the heels of a horrific break up, Summer is looking forward to having a couple months at home to lick her wounds. After a run-in with her ex leaves her reeling, she does something she’s never done before—has a one-night stand.

Hunter watched Mitch treat Summer like crap for months, so he was relieved when they broke up for good. Even better was when she invited him to her dorm room the night before they left campus for the summer.

The morning after comes with a surprise neither of them saw coming—Summer has a new stepbrother.

Hunter.

Chapter One

I stuffed the last of my clothes into a duffel bag and then zipped it up. My second year of college was complete, and I was ready for a relaxing summer free of stress. My life was a never ending cycle of drama, and it all revolved around a guy I could no longer stand. I eyed the box of his belongings and groaned. I’d have to return his stuff sooner or later.

I sighed, picked up the box and headed to his dorm. I should have felt some sort of emotion, but all I could muster was irritation that I’d wasted two years of my life on Mitch. The first year was great. We were inseparable. Young lovers who did their best to be together as often as we could. We spent a lot of time finding places to screw. I should have dumped him at the beginning of the year, I thought as I lugged the break-up box across campus.

I came to his door and set it on the floor. I could walk away and leave it there for him to find, then I worried someone would take it. There wasn’t anything of value, but it was his stuff. I picked it up, balanced it on my hip and knocked on the door.

The door swung open, but it wasn’t Mitch. His cousin, Hunter, opened it. They were also roommates and best friends.

He rolled his eyes. “What do you want, Summer?”

He stared at me. More like glared. Hunter and I weren’t exactly friends. We had the same major so we shared a lot of the same classes. There was an unfriendly competition between us to see who could end up at the top of the class.

I shoved the box at him. “See that Mitch gets that, will you?”

Hunter took it and peeked in the top. “No problem. What’s in it?”

I scoffed. My irritation at Mitch and this whole shitty year spilled over. “It’s all the shit he left lying around my dorm.”

“So you two really are done, huh?” Hunter took a pink teddy bear out. Mitch had given it to me after our last reconciliation. “This was his?”

“No, but I don’t want it anymore.” I didn’t want anything from him ever again.

Hunter laughed and dropped the bear back into the box. “What happened with you two, anyway?”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “As if you don’t know. He probably tells you everything.” I turned and left, but moments later, Hunter walked beside me.

“Did you get your chemistry grade?”

I nodded. “I checked this morning.”

“And?”

I looked at Hunter from the corner of my eye. “None of your business,” I spat.

I increased my pace, but his legs were longer than mine. Even if I sprinted, I wouldn’t get away from him.

He smirked and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Yeah, I knew I beat you.”

“Excuse me?” I stopped and whirled to face him.

“The only way you wouldn’t brag about your grade is if it was shitty. So I beat you. Good to know.” He turned on his heel and walked back toward his dorm.

“Asshole.”

I stormed to my room and then flung myself onto my bed. If I was being honest with myself, part of me had hoped to see Mitch. I wanted to see if he was as miserable as I felt.

Felicity, my roommate, came in just then. “Summer, he’s so not worth it.”

I glared at her. “I’m not moping.”

“No?” She picked up my cell phone and tossed it to me. “That’s what it looks like. Your mom called.”

Felicity was already packed and organized, completely ready to go home. She was like that, always ten steps ahead of everything.

“I delivered the box.”

Her eyes widened. “The break-up box?” She sat on her bed and crossed her legs. “How’d he take it?”

I shrugged. “He wasn’t there. I left it with Hunter.”

“You should have set it on fire.”

I laughed. “The thought crossed my mind.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“It wasn’t my stuff to destroy.”

“You’re such a good person, Summer.”

I was never sure if Felicity meant that as a compliment or an insult. She’d said it to me a few times, usually when I was unwilling to do something daring or reckless, or anything that was against the rules.

My phone vibrated. I answered it without looking at the display. “Hey.”

“So you’re not keeping any of the gifts I gave you? Really fucking mature, Summer.”

I flung my legs over the edge of the bed and sat up. “I’m not keeping anything you touched, Mitch.”

Mitch laughed. “You might want to get rid of your roommate then.” The line went dead.

“Asshole.”

I ended the call and stared at the phone. He was always like that. We’d break up, and he’d get hostile and say awful things. He’d come crawling back. I’d forgive him because I loved him, but now I didn’t. I could never love him after seeing him and Tiffany Jacobs. The image was burned in my brain. Her skirt up around her waist, Mitch’s tongue in her mouth. He hated me because I wouldn’t be his doormat anymore. Felicity came and sat beside me.

“You okay?” She put an arm over my shoulders.

I nodded, then exhaled. “I’m okay. He’s a dick. I’m over it.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Are you?”

“No.” My laugh was cut short when my phone rang again. “Every time he calls and is a dick it makes it that much easier.” Annoyed, I answered. “Can you just leave me alone?”

“Summer?”

“Crap. Mom. Hi. Sorry. I thought you were someone else.”

Felicity put her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter.

“Clearly.” Mom sounded less than impressed. “Listen, I have a big surprise for you.”

“Yeah, what’s that?”

“I can’t tell you yet. When I get you tomorrow, we’ll do lunch and I’ll tell you then, okay?”

“Okay.”

I didn’t like it when my mother decided to surprise me. The last time she’d had a big one for me I was ten. She’d uprooted me and moved us across the country. There had been three more big surprises just like that one by the time I went to college.

“I have to run, honey. I’ll see you tomorrow. Love you.”