LEGEND: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Rosewood High Book 7) Read online

  LEGEND

  ROSEWOOD HIGH #7

  Tracy Lorraine

  Andy & Amelia x

  Contents

  1. Kyle

  2. Harley

  3. Kyle

  4. Harley

  5. Kyle

  6. Harley

  7. Kyle

  8. Harley

  9. Kyle

  10. Harley

  11. Kyle

  12. Harley

  13. Kyle

  14. Harley

  15. Kyle

  16. Harley

  17. Kyle

  18. Harley

  19. Kyle

  20. Harley

  21. Kyle

  22. Harley

  23. Kyle

  24. Harley

  25. Kyle

  26. Harley

  27. Kyle

  28. Harley

  29. Kyle

  30. Harley

  31. Harley

  32. Kyle

  33. Harley

  34. Kyle

  35. Harley

  36. Kyle

  37. Harley

  38. Kyle

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Tracy Lorraine

  Copyright © 2020 by Tracy Lorraine

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Edited by My Brother’s Editor

  Proofreading by Sisters Get Lit(erary) Author Services

  1

  Kyle

  “So how does it feel?” Kane asks as I drop down into his passenger seat after throwing the few belongings I had into the trunk.

  “It’s been about thirty seconds, bro.”

  “I know.” He shrugs. “I just thought you might feel different.”

  “Relief?” I ask, glancing over at him.

  “Fuck, bro,” he growls, running his hand down his face and resting his head back on the headrest. “I’m so fucking sorry you had to go through that.”

  “It’s not your fault,” I mutter, looking out the window at the building and the barbed wire-topped fences I’m about to finally break free from.

  “I should have been there. I could have stopped it.” Regret laces his voice, and I know why. He thinks this happened because he got distracted and left me alone at that party. But it can only be my fault. It was my decision. It was my mistake. It’s time he lets it go and moves on.

  “It’s okay, Kane. I don’t blame you for this. It’s just… it’s over. Time to move on.”

  “Speaking of… I’ve got a surprise for you.”

  I raise a brow, waiting for him to spill the beans. I’m sure there are going to be a lot of surprises waiting for me, seeing as I mostly checked out on real life for the past twelve months.

  “Go on,” I encourage, already getting impatient for him to just put his car into drive and take me away from this place and the memories that I already know are going to haunt me for the rest of my life.

  “What’s the one thing we used to dream of?”

  “Err… become millionaires and move to LA?” I ask with a laugh, knowing that there’s no way he’s achieved that without me knowing.

  “Close, but no.”

  “Just tell me,” I sigh, my head falling back in defeat. I’m so fucking tired. All I want to do is go home and crawl into a semi-comfortable bed for a month. My eyes fall closed and I relax for what feels like the first time in just over a year. It’s a weird feeling.

  “We’ve left Harrow Creek.”

  I let a second pass for him to tell me that he’s joking, but when he doesn’t, I rip my eyes open once more and stare straight at him.

  “For real?” I ask, more hope than is probably necessary filling my voice. He’s not wrong that we used to dream of leaving that shithole on almost a daily basis. But without money, and seeing as we were only kids, there was no way of that happening. Although, I didn’t think it would be right now either.

  “For real. I got us a new place.”

  “Where?”

  I swear some of the color drains from his face at my question and a little guilt flickers through his eyes.

  “Kane?” I warn, already assuming what’s about to fall from his lips. “Don’t tell me that you’ve—”

  “Rosewood.”

  That one word is like a bullet to my chest. All the air drains from my lungs and my shoulders sag.

  “Why, Kane? Why would you do that to me… to us? Of all the places.”

  He stares at me, his brow wrinkling in concern. “It wasn’t very easy, and I needed help, a lot of help. We didn’t have that many options, so it was Rosewood or stay in the Creek and that was not happening. After…” He gestures to the building behind me. “You needed a fresh start, and I’ve done everything I can to give you one. I know you might not like it, but you’ve got a year to make the best of it before you can go to college.”

  I hate that my first reaction to what he’s done is anger, but I can’t help it. I know I should be grateful, and I am. Not going back to the Creek is the best news I could have wished for. But going to Rosewood. The place the one person I never want to see again lives, that’s not exactly what I wished for upon release from that hellhole.

  She was the one that put me in there, I sure as hell don’t want to see her the second I come out. My fists curl, my nails digging into the worn leather of Kane’s passenger seat as I try to contain the anger she ignites within me.

  “Rosewood is a big town, Kyle. You probably won’t even see…” He trails off, correctly guessing where my head is at.

  “Kane, this is a really fucking bad idea,” I warn.

  “I’ve got us our own house, I’ve got you a place at Rosewood High so you can graduate, and hopefully, we’ll keep social services off our back until you turn eighteen in a few weeks.”

  “Yeah, then I can leave,” I mutter.

  “Kyle,” Kane warns, his voice low and menacing. It might work on others, they might think it’s scary, but I know him too well to be scared of him. He’s my big brother. My best friend. The one I’ve always relied on, trusted with everything. I fear that I might just have to put everything I’m feeling right now aside and do those things once again.

  “Fuck… Rosewood, really?”

  “I’ve pulled a lot of fucking strings to make this work for us, bro. I need you on board.”

  I stare at my brother. The one person I’ve looked up to all my life. There’s no way I can say no to him now. Not after he’s supported me through this and apparently done everything in his power to help me start over.

  “I guess you’d better take me home then.”

  The corner of Kane’s mouth twitches up into a smile. “It’s not much but—”

  “It’ll be perfect. I’m sure a huge improvement from where I’ve been.”

  Kane flashes a look back over his shoulder, but I don’t. I’m done with the place, it’s time to move forward, even if that has to be in Rosewood with the girl that condemned me to hell in the first place.

  I keep my eyes focused out of the window as Kane takes us to our new home. Being out here, everything just feels… strange. I might have hated that place, my cell, the guys who I was forced to live with. But after so long it became normal of sorts. Being out in the open… it’s weird.

  “What’s the first thing you want to do?”

  I don’t even have
to think about it and the words fall from my lips in a heartbeat. “Sleep in a comfortable bed.”

  “Huh, and here I was thinking you’d want a girl, or even a walk on the beach.”

  “They can come after. Sleep and a hot shower… alone.”

  “Damn, I was going to come and watch as well,” he mutters with a laugh as he takes a left at an intersection I’ve never seen before but he seems to know well.

  “You’re still weird, I see.”

  “Would you want me any other way?”

  “I guess not.”

  It’s almost two hours after we left that place that I never want to think about again when he pulls into a quiet neighborhood and then onto a driveway.

  “Wow, this is… cute.”

  “I never promised you a mansion, Ky.”

  “No, but this looks like a grandmother should live inside. It’s not exactly party central.” My heart constricts at the mention of a grandparent. That’s just one more thing that I’ll never forgive her for.

  “A good thing seeing as we’re going to have a social worker on our back for the next few weeks along with your parole officer.”

  I twist in my seat and look at my brother where he’s still holding the wheel and staring up at our blue and white bungalow.

  “Thank you,” I say sincerely.

  I surely didn’t expect any of this, and I may have sounded somewhat ungrateful when he first mentioned this place but I really do appreciate what he’s trying to do.

  “It’s not just for you, bro.”

  “I-I know. I can’t imagine what you’ve had to do to secure all this. How are you even paying for it?”

  “Gran left us a bit of money, and like I said, I had some good help.”

  “Who the hell wanted to help us? Two scumbags from the Creek.”

  “Someone who understands. Shall we?” he asks, cutting off any more questions I might have.

  He shoulders the door of his old Nissan Skyline and jumps out. I guess some things never change.

  Following suit, I climb out and grab my stuff from the trunk.

  I trail behind Kane as he heads up the stairs to the porch. There’s a swing seat at the other end and a coffee table with an ashtray in the middle.

  “Smoking outside only.”

  “Sure thing, Mom,” I say with a laugh but as his shoulders tense before me, I realize it might have been the wrong thing to say.

  He spins and pins me with a hard look.

  I’ve never been scared of Kane… okay, maybe a few times when I was younger but I know I can hold my own now, especially after the amount of time I’ve spent working out and fighting off assholes in the past year but still, the look on his face makes me swallow somewhat nervously.

  “All it takes is for that social worker to turn up and get a sniff of weed in this place and all of this is going to come crashing down around our feet, Ky. You think they were happy about giving me guardianship of you, even if it is for a few weeks? Let me answer that for you… No, no, they fucking didn’t. I might be older than you, but not by much and my rep isn’t exactly squeaky fucking clean. This,” he says, holding his hands out to gesture to our granny house. “Is a fucking miracle. So for a few weeks, just a few weeks, you need to do what the fuck you’re told or I’ll send you back into that place myself for fucking up all my hard work. You got that, little bro.”

  I have to clench my jaw to stop me from saying anything in response to his patronizing tone.

  “You got it,” I say in the end. “Point me in the direction of my bed.”

  “It’s not even lunchtime yet.”

  “I don’t give a shit.”

  “Okay. Well, Bea is coming at four to make sure you’ve settled in so you need to be awake and showered and looking respectful by then.”

  I drop my eyes to his exposed inked arms, his ripped jeans, and battered boots. Respectful, right.

  “You know what I mean,” he mutters before pulling the screen open, unlocking the front door and dragging it open.

  Inside is a mostly empty living space. There are two old couches with a coffee table in the middle. There’s a dining table in front of what can only be described as vintage kitchen units and a couple of mismatched chairs. It’s… interesting. But a hell of a lot better than where I’ve come from.

  “You get yourself a job and hopefully we’ll be able to get some better shit.”

  “It’s fine, K.”

  He glances at me but he refrains from pointing out that we don’t even have a TV right now. “This is your room.” He swings the door open and I find something that makes me sigh in relief. A queen-size bed with what looks like fresh sheets. Heaven.

  Dropping my bag, I jump on the bed and starfish in the middle of it.

  “My room’s at the other end of the hall. The bathroom is in between us. I bought you a new cell and a laptop with the money I had left over.” He nods to the dresser where the boxes sit.

  “Kane, you didn’t—”

  “I did. I told her that I’d take care of you, give you a fresh start. That’s what I’m doing.”

  “But… what about you?”

  “Me?” he asks with a humorless laugh. “We’re out of the Creek, Ky. I’m good.”

  “But what about work? What about…”

  “That doesn’t matter right now.” Walking over to the dresser, he picks up the cell phone box and throws it at me. “Maybe set an alarm, yeah?” Then he walks out and closes the door without saying another word.

  His footsteps get quieter before the front screen at the front door rattles and the house falls silent.

  I stare at the room I’m sitting in. It’s not much to write home about. The walls are a dirty cream color, the woodwork is chipped, the floor is stained, and the window is cracked. But… it’s mine.

  There’s one single dresser along with a nightstand beside the bed, and a door that I can only assume is a closet.

  Pushing from the bed, I kick my sneakers off and pad over. Pulling it open, I find a few of my old clothes hanging inside.

  I haven’t seen them for a year and I’d forgotten they even existed.

  I pull each of the drawers open finding brand new boxers and socks and a few new t-shirts and sweats.

  Dragging a couple out, I tuck them under my arm and head out to find the bathroom. I might want to sleep, but before that happens, I need to wash the smell of that place off me.

  The bathroom is… well, it’s blue. Really fucking blue.

  But none of that matters because the water is hot and I’m the only one in the room, in the house actually, seeing as I saw a trail of smoke in front of one of the windows as I walked here.

  A lot might have changed in a year, but Kane isn’t one of them. He’s still as unreadable as ever. I have no clue if he’s happy about this or not. I know he wants me back. That’s not in question. But does he really want to be in Rosewood? He hates those who did this to us as much as I do. Of all the places in this country. Why here?

  Steam billows from the stream of water and after stripping down, I stand under the torrent.

  It’s so hot it burns, but I relish in it. After having to wash in lukewarm water for a year, I’ll take the pain. It isn’t like I haven’t felt worse. I drop my hand to the scar on my side, remembering the pain of the knife but I quickly push it aside, that’s all in the past now and all this is, is a reminder of why I’m never going back there.

  I stand there so long the water begins to run cold. I make quick work of washing with the shower gel on the side before getting out and drying off with a towel that is thicker than I’ve felt in a long time.

  I find a brand new toothbrush in the cupboard that I make use of. There’s also a new razor and shaving gel but I can’t be bothered with that. Those new bedsheets are calling.

  The second I step into the hallway dressed in just a pair of sweats I find Kane heading this way.

  His eyes go from mine and to my body, zeroing in on the scar for a beat.

&nbs
p; “Whoa, where’d my little brother go?”

  “He went to fucking juvie, bro.”

  A smirk curls at his lips.

  “Jailbait and cut. You’re gonna be fighting the Rosewood pussy off,” he jokes.

  I want to join him but the second he mentions pussy, only one girl pops into my mind.

  I shake my head and turn toward my room.

  “What? Don’t tell me they turned you in there. You still want pussy, right?”

  I flip him off before I slam my door closed.

  Pulling the sheets back, I fall into them, loving the feeling of the crisp, cool cotton against my skin.

  “Okay, everything looks good here,” Bea says, closing her folder and looking up at me with a soft smile playing on her lips.

  Turns out this afternoon isn’t the first time I’ve met my social worker. She’d been to visit me inside a couple of times. I’ve had so many people try to ‘help’ me over the past year that I stopped paying attention to who everyone was after a few months. I didn’t need help. I just needed to get out and pay the girl, who put me there in the first place, a visit.

  “Do you need anything else from us?” Kane asks almost nervously. It’s weird seeing him take control of this situation like an adult. He’s always been my fun, slightly insane older brother, seeing him act the part of my guardian, even if it is just for Bea’s benefit is weird.

  “Yes, you’ve done a great job here, Kane. I know it’s not been easy but hopefully, everything will go smoothly over the next few weeks and you’ll be free to continue your lives without me breathing down your neck. Have you heard from your parole officer yet?”