Harley (Heaven Hill Shorts Book 4) Read online

  Harley

  Heaven Hill Shorts #4

  Laramie Briscoe

  Contents

  Also By Laramie Briscoe

  New Release Alerts

  Author’s Note

  Blurb

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Reviews

  Connect With Laramie

  Royal Rebel

  Copyright © 2019 Laramie Briscoe

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, distributed, stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, without express permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, or any events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and storylines are created from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.

  Cover: Laramie Briscoe

  Cover Photography: Carian Cole

  Formatting: Laramie Briscoe

  Proofreading: Danielle Wentworth

  Also By Laramie Briscoe

  The Haldonia Monarchy

  Royal Rebel

  Heaven Hill Series

  Meant To Be

  Out of Darkness

  Losing Control

  Worth The Battle

  Dirty Little Secret

  Second Chance Love

  Rough Patch

  Beginning of Forever

  Home Free

  Shield My Heart

  A Heaven Hill Christmas

  Heaven Hill Next Generation

  Hurricane

  Wild

  Heaven Hill Shorts

  Caelin

  Christine

  Justice

  Harley

  Jagger

  Charity

  Liam

  Drew

  Dalton

  Mandy

  Rockin’ Country Series

  Only The Beginning

  One Day at A Time

  The Price of Love

  Full Circle

  Hard To Love

  Reaper’s Girl

  The Moonshine Task Force Series

  Renegade

  Tank

  Havoc

  Ace

  Menace

  Cruise

  Laurel Springs Emergency Response Team

  Ransom

  Suppression

  Enigma

  The MVP Duet

  On the DL

  MVP

  Stand Alones

  Sketch

  Sass

  Trick

  Room 143

  New Release Alerts

  JOIN MY MAILING LIST

  http://sitel.ink/LBList

  JOIN MY READERS GROUP

  fbl.ink/LaramiesLounge

  Author’s Note

  Thank you so much for reading my books!

  Thank you so much for following this family from Meant To Be until now, and thank you for being such a support in my life!

  - Laramie

  Blurb

  The heart wants what it wants....

  Harley Walker

  Guilt.

  I face it every single day when I look at my twin sister. Everyone thinks I'm thriving, but no one knows the feelings I face when I'm alone.

  Well, that's not exactly true. One person does.

  But if we're ever caught, we're screwed.

  Things changed when I was ten.

  After my sixteenth birthday though? Things exploded, especially my heart.

  Prologue

  Harley

  Six Years Ago

  “Is she okay?” I whisper, holding tightly to my grandpa’s hand.

  “She will be,” he answers in his comforting voice. Since all of this started, I’ve been with my grandmother and grandfather.

  I haven’t been back home and I miss it so much. The room Justice and I share, my bed, my blanket. More than anything I want my routine back. It’s been over a month and the routine isn’t back. I’m constantly asking them if my sister is okay, because I don’t know. She and I haven’t spoken much, but today we’re going to. Today we’re both meeting with Doc Jones. But as I look across the room at my sister, for the first time I can’t tell if she’ll be okay or not. Her eyes don’t automatically go to meet mine, she doesn’t run up and grab my hand, sharing with me a secret that she won’t tell anyone else. And this feeling in my gut, it won’t go away. I know she’s hurting, can feel it almost as if I’m the one hurting.

  Something has to give.

  The door opens, and in rolls Doc Jones. We’re not as close to her as Caelin and Addie are, but we love her just the same. I was devastated when she got put into this home. Most people who go in, don’t come out.

  “Would you all be willing to leave Harley and Justice alone with me?” She asks, looking at all the adults in the room.

  I’m on one side with my grandparents, she’s on the other side with our parents. It’s been this way for too long. I need us to meet in the middle. The four adults look at one another, they don’t say anything, but there’s something unspoken between them. When they nod, and then turn to leave I almost want to reach out, grab my grandpa’s hand and beg him not to go.

  But I can’t be the weak one. I’m the reason all of this happened.

  “Do you really feel that way?” Doc Jones asks when I say those words aloud.

  I nod, my throat too tight to answer. My nose stings, I’m busy blinking back the tears that are threatening to fall, sniffing to keep myself from making a scene. It isn’t my scene to make. It’s hers.

  “Justice, what do you say to that?”

  This, right here is, the worst. It’s what I’ve wondered too, but I’ve been too scared to ask. There’s no one’s opinion I value more than Justice’s. Fear makes me shake, but I hold myself still so they can’t see it.

  “This didn’t happen because of her,” she whispers. “If I were louder like Harley, they wouldn’t have taken me,” her bottom lip trembles. “If I had made more sound, put up a fight, they wouldn’t have been able to get me in the van. I wish I had been more like her,” she cries now, tears rolling down her face.

  Mine follow hers. Ugly tears, full of regret, fear, and all the emotions I’ve allowed to build up over the past month. Instantly I’m off my chair, bolting across the floor between us, throwing my arms around her. We hold tightly to each other.

  “I’m sorry,” I sob. “So sorry! I should have waited for you. I should have paid more attention to what was going on.”

  “I should have too,” she sniffs, holding on tightly to me.

  “Neither of you are at fault,” Doc Jones says quietly behind us. “Travis was a sick man, and none of us could have predicted what happened. The only thing we can do now is move on from it,” she rolls over, hugging us both.

  “How do we do that?” I ask, squaring my shoulders, wiping the tears from my eyes.

  She lets go, grabbing both our hands in hers. “You live your life without fear of others. Be smart, but not afraid, girls. That’s what I want for you.”

  “How do we do that?” Justice echoes my earlier sentiment.

  “What are you most scared of?” She asks.

  “That someone will do it again,” Justice replies.

  “I’m scared of that too.”

  Doc Jones nods. “Then the two of you need to learn to make yourselves feel safe. Whether that means you take self-defense classes, learn to shoot a gun when you get older, whatever it is. The two of you will feel safe again, I promise. Together, no one can break the two of you.”

  I reach out, holding Justice’s hand tightly in mine. “Together we’re strong.”

  “No,” Doc Jones shakes her head. “Apart you’re strong women, together, you’re unstoppable.”

  The two of us look at each other grinning. “Unstoppable.”

  There’s a knock at the door, Dad sticks his head in. “Everything okay in here?”

  We nod and Justice clears her throat. “Daddy, I think we wanna go home.”

  His eyebrows raise almost to his hairline. “You do?”

  She looks at me. “Don’t we?”

  “Yeah,” I smile up at him. “We do.”

  “I missed this,” I tell her as we sleep next to one another that night.

  It will be a tradition we hang on to for the first year after the kidnapping.

  “I did too,” she turns over to face me. “Promise me, Harley, you won’t blame yourself anymore for what happened. It wasn’t your fault. Bad things happen to good people all the time. It’s how we grow from it that matters.”

  “As long as you promise me you won’t blame yourself. I mean you get to hang out with Caelin now, from what I’ve seen.”

  She grins wider. “He’s my hero.”

  “There could be worse heroes,” I giggle.

  “He is pretty cute,
” she giggles along with me. “He hugged me the other day.”

  “Oh my God! How was that?”

  “He’s got big muscles,” she whispers.

  “Like Dad?”

  “Bigger than Dad! And he smells so good,” she sighs. “One day he’ll be my husband, I think.”

  I roll my eyes. “Why are you always getting married?” This is like the third guy she’s sure will be her husband.

  “Because that’s what I’m meant to do. Be a wife, be a mother, help out others.”

  She’s been saying that since we were little bitty kids.

  “Not me,” I shake my head. “I wanna be wild and free, ride on my own bike and dare someone to stop me.”

  “One day,” she snuggles deeper into the covers, “You’ll want someone to ride in front of you. You’ll want to wrap your arms around them from behind, and snuggle into their back, feeling their heat and smelling their cologne.”

  “OH MY GOD! You rode on Caelin’s bike.”

  “Don’t tell Mom and Dad, you know how they are,” she whisper-shouts.

  “Don’t tell Mom and Dad?!” I yell back in exasperation. “You won’t even ride with Dad.”

  “Harley, this is my secret.”

  And it’s a good one, I can’t believe she has one better than me.

  “Okay,” I huff. “I’ll tell you one of mine.”

  She scoots in closer.

  “Jason Hefner kissed me on the school bus.”

  “We’re ten, Harley!”

  “It’s not like he used his tongue, Justice,” I fire back, rolling my eyes. “It was just a peck.”

  “Still, it’s a kiss and he’s older.” She sounds completely scandalized.

  “Three years” I act like it’s no big deal, but it had been. I hadn’t expected it, and I’m still not sure how I feel about it.

  “That’s a difference.”

  “Not as big as you and Caelin,” I smirk.

  She’s quiet now, and I know I’ve got her. “But he’s so much different.”

  “The hell he is,” I look at her, seeing the outlines of her face in the dark. “He’s still just a boy, who will totally try for a kiss one day. The question is, will you let him have one?”

  “Yes,” she whispers. “I’ll let him have everything.”

  That’s the difference between us. She will let someone have it all, but not me. I’ll give it to them, let them know it’s on loan and not up for sale. My dream is to have my own bike, ride alongside my dad and uncles, be the girl who can do anything the boys can do.

  “Not me,” I shake my head. “Whoever I fall in love with will take whatever I give them.”

  “It better be your heart, Harley.”

  I make a sound in my throat, because this heart thing looks like it may hurt. I mean look at what’s happened with Christine.

  But maybe one day, there might be a boy I look at, like Justice looks at Caelin, Mom looks at Dad, Tatum looks at Remy. I’m not holding my breath though, whoever catches my eye will have to be special.

  Because I’m not going to stand for anything less than what I deserve.

  That includes my bike, my life, and the man at my side. But who knows, maybe I’ll have a lot of fun until I get there.

  Who am I kidding? This is me, I’m all about the fun.

  Harley

  Chapter One

  Present Day

  “Er-ick-son! Er-ick-son! Er-ick-son!”

  I hear the low, chanting voices of the boys and the high-pitched, excited screams of the girls before I hit the back hall. It’s hard not to. We went to state last year, and we’re a shoe-in this year too. Everyone is excited about us bringing home the trophy again. All thanks to our star quarterback - Bishop Erickson.

  Standing over to the side, it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. Normally I’m in the middle of the melee, but not today. Today I watch him. He accepts the praise with a fake enthusiasm, exhibits all the proper body language of someone who’s excited about what’s happening in his life. But it’s all fuckin’ fake. If anyone would bother to watch and really look for a few seconds, they’d see it.

  The truth is, not many people know the guy. The one who doesn’t wear football pads and throw for hundreds of yards every Friday night. Everyone thinks they know him, but they don’t. Not really.

  But I do. I know him. Intimately.

  “Does it piss you off?”

  The voice of my twin surprises me. “When did you get here?”

  She had an appointment with Doc Jones, and typically on those days she doesn’t come to school.

  “About fifteen minutes ago, but you didn’t answer me. Does it piss you off?”

  Looking at her, I chomp on my gum, giving her a look. “Does what piss me off, Justice?”

  “The way everyone expects a piece of him. They act like they know him.”

  “But they don’t, do they?” I’m the one who knows him, knows his dreams, how he tastes, the noises he makes as he comes. I’m aware I’m lucky, because so many wish they did, but I’m the one who gets those moments.

  “Nope,” she holds her books in front of her chest.

  I’ve always wondered if it’s a self-preservation tactic or if it’s just comfortable for her.

  “You do know him,” she reminds me. “Which is why I’m asking if it pisses you off. The two of you don’t even act like you can stand the sight of one another during school hours.”

  I’m watching him, looking for any kind of clue that he sees me over here with her. A small smile, a hitch of his chin, anything. I get nothing, but then again, we’re short and maybe he just doesn’t see us.

  “Are you kidding, Justice? I get him butt-ass naked after every football game, why would I be worried about if he acknowledges me in the hallway of a high school?”

  I try to play it off, like it doesn’t bother me, but sometimes it does.

  Not only do the two of us share our bodies, but we share our secrets, and if anyone knew what he was hiding - the city of Bowling Green would clutch it’s pearls.

  “Are you nervous about tonight?”

  “Nah,” Bishop shakes his head, throwing a football up in the air and catching it. “It’s not even a playoff game,” he grins over at me.

  We’re at our spot. Where we’ve been meeting the last eleven months. When it first started out, all we would do was talk about shit that bothered us. Gradually we got closer, until one afternoon he kissed me. Kissing lead to sex, and now here we are, back to talking. To say we’re comfortable with each other is a huge understatement, which is why I know he’s lying.

  “Your dad’s gonna be at the game,” I remind him.

  Immediately the grin leaves his face, and the air between us shifts. It’s almost like before it was rainbow colored, one mention of his father shifted the entire thing black and gray.

  “Fuck that guy,” he reaches into his duffel, pulling out a pack of cigarettes.

  “How’s it been going with him?”

  One of my favorite things to do is watch Bishop smoke. He has a ritual, and fuck if it’s not sexy as hell. My eyes follow him as he beats on the cardboard, packing them tight. Once he’s satisfied, he leans in, placing one between his lips. His long fingers fish a lighter out of his jeans pocket. My gaze drinks in the sight of him cupping his palm around the flame, blocking the wind, before he takes a few hesitant puffs, causing the end to glow a bright orange.

  “Same old shit,” he blows the smoke away from my face. “Different day,” his head hangs slightly. “Don’t think I’m gonna get a scholarship. I might be the big shit in Bowling Green, Kentucky, but none of the big colleges are lookin’ at me Lee. I’ll be damned if I go to Western and sit at his house any longer than I have to.”