Crave Your Mercy Read online

  Crave Your Mercy

  L.A. Hart

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue were created from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual people or events is coincidental.

  The authors acknowledge the copyrighted and trademarked status of various products within this work of fiction.

  © 2020 Editor's Choice Publishing

  All Rights Reserved.

  Only Amazon has permission from the publisher to sell and distribute this title.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Editor’s Choice Publishing

  P.O. Box 10024

  Greensboro, NC 27404

  Edited by Angela Snyder

  Cover by EmCat Designs

  WARNING: WHILE CRAVE YOUR MERCY IS A HIGH SCHOOL ROMANCE, IT CONTAINS DARK THEMES, EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT, AND GRAPHIC LANGUAGE THAT IS INTENDED FOR MATURE READERS.

  Contents

  Synopsis

  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

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Epilogue

  Also by L.A. Hart

  About the Author

  Synopsis

  Blake Sullivan’s perfect life is imploding. His father threw his mother out of the house, and now they’re going through a nasty divorce while the whole town watches.

  Since I’ve been away at college, I had no idea that my brother Aric was the one responsible for destroying Blake’s family.

  Or that Blake would stop at nothing to get back at Aric.

  And I never thought that I would be used as a pawn in Blake’s revenge, not until it’s too late.

  Now I have to make an impossible decision, one that will change everything.

  I’ll never forget what Blake did to me; and no matter how much he begs, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive him.

  Prologue

  Blake Sullivan

  Four years ago…

  “See ya, Caroline,” I say to Aric’s older sister. She’s sitting on the top of the Princes’ front steps when I jog down the other side of them, leaving his house on the short walk back to mine. I avoid looking at her directly in the warm glow of the front porch light. From the corner of my eye, I notice she’s still wearing her blue and red Mercy Academy cheerleading uniform that’s obscenely short when she’s standing up, so sitting, I’m sure her lean legs would look like they’re a mile long. And since her legs lead up to a certain female body part that I shouldn’t be thinking about at all because she’s my best friend’s sister, avoiding a direct visual is key. At fourteen, it doesn’t take much to get a woody, especially from beautiful, sexy girls who are taller than me. Not that I think Caroline is either of those things. Thanks to the bro code, I have no opinion of her at all and have never thought about her naked. Nope. Not even once.

  More like a million times, all of which make me feel guilty and like a horrible friend…

  I’m halfway down the sidewalk when she finally responds. “B-bye, Blake,” she says with a hitch in her voice and a sniffle like she’s been crying. She definitely doesn’t sound like her usual peppy self, which has my sneakers pausing in mid-stride.

  “You okay?” I ask when I spin around on my heels to face her but not look at her directly. I keep my gaze fixed firmly on the Princes’ door above her head and my hands shoved in my navy-blue hoodie that’s a little warm for a September night but a necessity lately because it’s thankfully long enough to cover any sudden tenting in the front of my jeans.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” she responds while swiping her fingers underneath both of her eyes. Great, now I’m looking directly at her, and I can’t force my eyes to move the fuck on. It’s like staring at the sun — you know you shouldn’t, but every once and a while you still do it. Caroline has the same effect on me. She’s so…perfect with a red ribbon holding up her wavy, chocolate hair in a ponytail and her uniform hugging her curves. Her skirt is just as short as I remembered; and from this angle, I can almost see a glimpse of the red panties all the cheerleaders wear. My favorite part of Friday night games is waiting for them to do a kick or a flip to see a flash of those panties. Aric would kill me if he could read my mind.

  It takes several long seconds of ogling her before I notice Caroline’s cheeks and nose are both red and blotchy like she’s been crying. I’ve seen that exact coloring on my mom’s face more times than I can count. She always says she’s fine too, and I know it’s a lie.

  “You don’t look fine,” I tell Caroline as I stroll back over and take a seat on the steps next to her. It’s better this way, not looking at her head on. “You look like you’ve been crying.”

  “It’s nothing.”

  “It has to be something, or you wouldn’t be sitting out here alone crying while everyone else you go to school with are probably partying, celebrating Mercy’s win.”

  God, I can’t wait until next year when I get to play football in the packed stadium under the lights with thousands of people cheering for me.

  “Sean…Sean’s a dick,” Caroline finally admits, referring to Sean Jacobs, Mercy’s starting wide receiver who thinks he’s the shit. Thank fuck it’s his senior year and that prick will be gone by next year. Otherwise, my ass would be riding the bench since I play the same position.

  “What did Sean do? Do you want me, Aric, and Royal to kick his ass?” I offer.

  “No, but thanks for offering,” Caroline says with a sniffle, and then she tilts her head, resting it on my shoulder and making me forget how to exhale for several long seconds as her sweet, peach scent engulfs me. I almost miss her next words, which sound pretty damn important. “It’s my fault really. I should’ve known he only wanted one thing from me. Seniors like him don’t ever date freshmen! Vanessa and Carrie warned me, but I just thought they were jealous.”

  “What happened?” I ask. Even though I think I already have an idea, I just want her to keep talking to me. I even slip my arm around her back to clasp her upper arm and hold her. It seems like she needs comfort from someone; and for the moment, I’m the lucky son of a bitch she’s opening up to.

  I’m only a little disappointed when she shakes her head on my shoulder, refusing to go into details. I don’t think I really want to hear them anyway.

  “Promise me that you won’t ever be a jerk to girls like Sean Jacobs,” Caroline says when she turns her face to see mine.

  “Okay,” I easily agree, because it’s not like I’m having to fight chicks off with a stick or anything. No, that’s always been Aric and Royal, and I’m just their tagalong friend.

  “And …and don’t get in a big hurry to lose your virginity to just anyone,” Caroline adds when she lowers her eyes but keeps her head on my shoulder while she talks to me about s-e-x.

  Holy shit. My dick swells up in record-breaking time behind my zipper as I subtly try and pull my hoodie lower to cover it. Caroline doesn’t seem to notice because she goes on to say, “Your first time should be with someone special, you know? It should mean something to you and to her. You should love each other.”

  In the silence that follows her advice, I struggle to think of what to say; but it’s hard to come up with anything good thanks to all my blood rushing south and my total lack of experience.

  “So, um, did you, did you love Sean?”

  “No,” she answers without hesitation. “I stupidly thought that, if I slept with him, maybe he would fall in love with me. Instead, he’s acting like I’m invisible now and talking to every other girl in the world.”

  “Sean’s an asshole,” I tell her honestly. “There are plenty of guys out there who would kill to be with you, Caroline.”

  “You think so?” she asks, tilting her face to mine again. We’re so close, only inches separating her lips from mine. And fuck, I want to kiss her, but I can’t. I’m just her little brother’s friend and nothing more. I sure as hell can’t compete with some senior dickhead.

  “Absolutely. Forget Sean. The best thing you can do is probably move on. You know, act like you don’t give a shit about him.”

  “Ugh, I can’t just forget him!” Caroline groans when she presses her face into the shoulder of my hoodie and winds her hands around my arm to squeeze it. Her muffled voice says into the fabric, “He’ll always be my first! I wish…I wish I could just take it back. Now he’s going around school telling everyone!”

  God, I wish I could take her virginity back for her, but it’s too little too late. The guys and I have always talked about how we can’t wait to fuck a girl to get rid of ours, but now, seeing how much Caroline regrets her first time…well, I don’t want to ever feel that way or make the girl I’m with want to take it back after it’s over. Being a disappointment sounds a helluva lot worse than staying a virgin. Although, she said she regretted giving her virginity to Sean but not that it actually sucked.

  “Was it…was it any good?” I can’t help but ask curiously.

  “No,” Caroline answers without having to consider it, tightening her grip on my arm. “We did it in the backseat of his Mercedes. It was cramped and uncomfortable, not to mention it hurt. At least it only lasted, like, two minutes…”

  I make a mental note to never screw a girl in my car our first time and to jerkoff at least twice before doing the deed so I can last longer than two minutes.

  “So then at least Sean wasn’t your first good sex,” I point out.

  “Oh yeah,” she agrees after several quiet moments. “Maybe I’ll even tell him that.”

  “You should,” I urge her. “If he’s telling people anyway, then you should make sure they at least know that he wasn’t any good.”

  “They should,” Caroline says with a chuckle. “And you know what else?”

  “What?” I ask.

  Whispering, she says, “I thought he would be bigger.”

  “Oh, you should definitely throw that out there too,” I tell her with a grin. At least I know that’s one thing I have on Sean fucking Jacobs, because I’m very, very blessed in the size department. Which is probably why no virgin is ever going to want me to be her first.

  While I’m thinking about my big Johnson, Caroline’s lips land with a smack on my cheek. “Thank you, Blake,” she says as she lets me go to get to her feet. By the time I look over my shoulder, she’s already slipping inside the house. Her short, pleated skirt barely covering her ass is the last glimpse I have of her.

  I sit there on the steps for a few more minutes in disbelief that Caroline not only opened up to me but actually talked to me about sex.

  And then I get up and go home to take a shower and jerk off until I withdraw every single fantasy about my best friend’s sister from my spank bank and then close out the account for good.

  Never again will I think about Caroline Prince naked, I promise myself.

  There are plenty of other girls in equally short skirts to chase after that are not related to my best friend.

  Too bad my dick never agreed to any such agreements.

  Chapter 1

  Blake

  Four years later…

  September

  “I gave you everything, and this is how you repay me, you ungrateful bitch?”

  My dad has been yelling at my mom for hours on end, and I can’t take it anymore.

  Fucking Aric Prince.

  Maybe I should’ve kept my mouth closed, but I was just so pissed that I came home and called my mom out as soon as I found out she had been screwing my best friend.

  At first, she denied it.

  Then, my father, a calm and cool under pressure lawyer, started questioning her like she was on trial until finally Mom broke down and admitted it was true. That’s when my dad lost his mind and his temper. I’ve never heard him shout before or swear until tonight. What she did, it’s the ultimate betrayal, I get that. But now it’s gone on for a long damn time.

  The crazy thing is that their three-hour screaming match is the most they’ve said to each other in probably ten years. My dad is always working, one emergency corporate civil case after another needing his attention. Not that my mom ever seemed to mind his absence. I barely saw the two of them in the same room. They don’t even sleep in the same bed. My mom always claimed it was because Dad got up early and came home so late, interrupting her sleep, so she started crashing in one of our four guest bedrooms a few years back.

  I’m not an idiot. My birthday falls just four months after their wedding anniversary, and I’m an only child. I was an unwanted pregnancy when my mom was still in high school and my dad was in college. They got married because she was knocked up, not because they loved each other. As far as I can tell, they barely tolerate each other and do so by keeping their distance. Mom shops and socializes with her friends while Dad works seventy-hour weeks. He says he does it so we can have nice things, but I’m pretty sure he just doesn’t like coming home.

  Even though it’s around three a.m., I send Royal a text message asking if I can come stay with him.

  His response is, Sure. Shit hitting the ceiling?

  You have no fucking idea, I respond before I climb out of bed and start tossing some clothes into my backpack.

  I throw the bag over one shoulder and then place my hand on my doorknob to try and get up the nerve to walk into the crossfire.

  Once my mom says yet again that it was a one-time mistake, a lie neither my dad nor I am buying, I finally jerk the door open and jog down the stairs toward the front door.

  “Where are you going?” my dad asks from where it looks like he’s been pacing in front of my mother. She’s sitting on the sofa with black streaks of makeup running down her face. Dad’s black hair is no longer perfectly slicked back but a mess from yanking on it.

  “Royal’s house,” I answer.

  “Fine,” he says to me, then to my mom, “Thank god Royal’s mom hasn’t been fucking our son like you fucked the Princes’ boy! How would you feel about that, huh, Collette? Disgusted probably, because that’s how I feel!”

  I don’t wait to hear my mom’s response; I just get the hell out of there and hope they’ve calmed down by the time I come back.

  * * *

  “So how bad is shit at your house?” Royal asks Saturday afternoon when I finally wake up after crashing on his uncomfortable floor because straight dudes don’t sleep together.

  “Bad,” I tell him when I sit up and rest my back against the side of his bed frame. “Like really fucking bad.”

  “No kidding,” he says while tossing a baseball in the air and catching it over and over again. He’s never been one to sit down much, and I’m guessing that his sus pension from the football and baseball team is still eating away at him.

  “I’m gonna kill Aric,” I tell him. “Did you know about any of this?”

  “Fuck no,” he says. “You know I would’ve told you if I did. Aric kept this fucked-up train wreck a secret from everyone.”

  “Do you think…maybe it just happened once?” I mutter, and Royal’s silence tells me exactly what he thinks of that.

  “You could ask Aric,” he suggests.

  “Fuck that. I don’t want to hear a single word out of his disgusting mouth!”

  “I don’t blame you,” he agrees. “But if you want answers, only two people can give them to you.”

  “Whatever. I just want to forget everything including my own name for the rest of the weekend.”

  “That can be arranged,” Royal says with a grin. “You worried about the team’s drug tests?” he asks.

  “Couldn’t care less. With that asshole injured, our season will be done in about three more weeks anyway.”

  “In that case, let the wasted weekend begin!” Royal announces.

  Chapter 2