Faze
A Rosewood High #6 Prequel
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
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
About the Author
Also by Tracy Lorraine
THORN
THORN
1
Ashton
Looking around the lavish house that I have never wanted to visit, anger races through my veins.
This is the last place in the world I wanted to be.
I should be home in the shitty apartment that Mom and I live in back in Seattle, but I’m not. I’m in his house, the asshole that ruined both of our lives.
It’s been over five years since he walked away, leaving us with fuck all, just the bitter taste of his betrayal.
Mom said it was fine, that it was for the best. But it’s all bullshit. She’s tried to put a brave face on, tried to convince me that their relationship really was over and that he didn’t shatter all of her hopes and dreams for the future.
But I know her better than she thinks. I see the shadows in her eyes. The coldness, the loneliness, that set in after he left. I also don’t miss the number of bottles that sit in our recycling on a weekly basis. They seem to be multiplying week by week, and I have no fucking idea how to help her.
Getting suspended from school again for fighting probably wasn’t the best thing to do to help, but that prick has had it coming for a long time.
I think of Jonathon fucking Parker and the way he looked down at us all like he was something fucking special.
My fists curl once again as if he’s in touching distance. If I could take him out all over again I would.
My busted knuckles split open, the sting of pain a reminder I don’t need of where I am right now.
He’d asked me time and time again over the years to come and visit his new home, his new family. But every time I refused. I had no interest in meeting the bitch that took him away from us or the girl who he got to play daddy for while he mostly forgot that I existed.
My teeth grind as I think about everything I lost the day he walked away. My best fucking friend. That’s what I lost.
But this time was different. It wasn’t him asking me to come. It was Mom. And as much as I wanted to refuse her request, I couldn’t. One look into her tired, stressed eyes and I knew she needed the break probably as much as I did.
I haven’t made it easy for her the past few years. I’ve been suspended more times than I can remember. I’ve been on my last warning at that shithole of a school for months, but the principal is a fucking pussy, so I doubt he’ll ever actually kick me out. It’ll give him too much paperwork to do, and we all know how much he hates doing any actual work.
“Please, Ash. Go and spend the week with him. Clear your head. It can be a fresh start when you get back.” Her words ring out in my mind as if she’s standing next to me having the conversation.
I couldn’t say no to her. I’ve never been able to. Having experienced how much hurt he’s caused her. I’d hate to do the same. I know I’m a constant disappointment to her, but no matter how I try not to be, it happens, nonetheless.
My temper always gets the better of me. My hate gets the better of me. My fury gets the better of me. It’s only right that it does. It is my name, after all. The one and only thing I have that still connects me to the man who spends his days under this roof.
The perfect all-American family home. Wrap-around porch, the huge kitchen with an island in the center, the pristine garden and the glistening pool. It’s a million miles away from the place Mom and I call home now.
I stand at the window waiting for her to pull up. Lisa, my stepmom, excitedly told me that I could expect her any time now before both her and Dad disappeared not long after picking me up from the airport. I can’t fucking wait to meet my stepsister. It’s been a long time coming, that’s for sure.
I’ve seen the odd photo of her when I’ve needed to torture myself and looked at his Facebook. Every single time all it’s done is to add to the anger that lives inside me as I see images of them together playing happy family.
He should be doing that with us. His real family. Not his replacements.
My teeth grind right as a little blue car pulls up in front of the house.
I lean toward the window a little, trying to get a better view of her before we’re face to face. I need to get a read on her, try to make a game plan.
I know nothing about her aside from the fact she played a part in ruining my life. That he chose her and her mother over me and mine. His son and wife. The ones whose best intentions he should have had at heart.
Disappointment settles in my stomach when she doesn’t immediately get out of the car. Instead, she looks down, I guess at her cell.
After a few minutes, she looks up at the house and blows out a long breath.
Is she nervous? Apprehensive about meeting me?
If she’s not, she fucking should be.
This house, that I can only assume is her sanctuary, her home, is about to become the place of living nightmares because my darling stepsister has
