Rebel's Love (Cape Cove Book 1), page 1
REBEL’S LOVE
CAPE COVE BOOK ONE
HARPER MONROE
Copyright © 2022 by Harper Monroe
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover Design: Clarise Tan with CT Cover Creations
Cover Model: Colby Dansby
Photographer: Randy and Michelle Sewell with RLS Photography
Editing and Formatting: Maria Vickers
CONTENTS
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
Epilogue
Playlist
Acknowledgments
About the Author
DEDICATION
This one is for all you dirty, good girls out there.
My only love sprung from my only hate. Too early seen unknown and known too late. Prodigious birth of love it is to me, that I must love a loathed enemy.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
PROLOGUE
MERICK
Havana Hills, California. The city I was born and raised. I love everything about it: the white sand on my feet as I run into the crystal-clear ocean, the sun beaming all year round, the oceanfront properties.
The wind blows through my long blonde hair as I drive along the coast with my two best friends, London and Britney, in my black Aston Martin convertible that I got for my sixteenth birthday. Using my knee to guide the steering wheel, I lift my arms into the air. London and Britney mimic me, and we all scream and laugh while the music blares Lizzo’s Truth Hurts. It’s the best feeling in the world, like you’re flying. Total freedom. Best sweet sixteen birthday present ever from my parents. The only birthday I could compare it to was my sixth birthday when my father bought me Cloud, my all-white Arabian horse that was only a couple years old. I’d sworn she was a unicorn because she was so beautiful.
“What are the plans for your eighteenth birthday?” London questions as I’m driving to her house to drop her and Britney off.
“I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it yet. I’ve been so distracted with us starting our senior year and college applications and Matt.” Mine and Matt’s two-year anniversary is coming up. It’s on my birthday because we started dating the night I turned sixteen. Senior year, graduation, college…it’s all so much to think about. We only have one month left of summer break before it all begins, and the thought of it gives me anxiety.
Britney informs me, “Girl, you better start thinking about it. I hear Shayne is going all out for hers.” I roll my eyes. Of course, Shayne Clemens would already have hers thought out and planned. She’s been in competition with me for as long as I can remember, but the skank has never won. It’s been an ongoing feud of who can throw the best party because not only is she my archenemy, we share the same birthday. But…I’m Merick Hastings, and everyone at Havana Hills Academy knows I’m the number one bitch.
“I’ll put it on my list with everything else I need to get done.” I pull into London’s circle driveway. “Call me tomorrow.” Leaning over, I hug both of them before London hops out and moves the seat for Britney to get out as well.
“Love you, bitches!” I yell from the driver’s seat.
“Love you, too!” they both shout over their shoulders as I hit the gas.
I walk into the foyer and drop my keys into the glass bowl that sits on a wooden table by the front door. My mom thinks she should be an interior designer because of all the house shows she watches. There’s not an empty spot or wall in our house. It’s full of decorative tables, plants, paintings, and some other artwork. I have to give her credit, though; our home could be featured in a magazine. She has done an incredible job. I wonder why she never went for it. She was always just a stay-at-home mom that did charity parties and was a trophy for Dad’s arm. Come to think of it, she’s never pursued anything for herself.
“Merick, you need to come in here and sit down.” I hear my mother before rounding the corner to enter our family room. “We have something we need to tell you.” Something in her voice causes fear and worry to make me feel as if I’m underwater, submerged. Are one of them sick?
My gaze drifts between her and my father. I swallow hard while my heart pounds in my chest. “Okay.” I barely get that one word out as my lips begin to tremble. I blink several times to try to push back the tears I don’t want to spill. If something is seriously wrong, then I need to be strong. Slowly and carefully, I sit on the edge of our beige loveseat opposite the matching couch they are sitting on.
My father’s head hangs low until he runs his hands over his face and lifts his blue eyes to mine. I can’t miss the black circles under his lower lashes, the dimness in his stare, or his sunken cheeks. He looks tired. Maybe he’s the one sick. This is the first time I’ve really looked at him in I don’t know how long. We usually just say hi and love you as we’re passing each other in the mornings—him going to work at the law firm he owns, me going to hang out with my friends since it’s summer. “The law firm is closing.”
“Why?” I hesitate to try and grasp what he just said. “Daddy, are you sick? You don’t look well. Is that why it’s closing?”
He shakes his head. “No.” He takes a deep breath. “I’m not sick, Merick. I made a mistake, and now, we’re losing everything.”
My head snaps back as if he just slapped me. “Losing everything? What are you talking about?” My stare cuts from him to my mother next to him. “What is going on?”
She takes his hand in hers. Her glossy orbs gaze into mine. She stays quiet while he continues, “A lot of people lost a lot of money. I have been trying to pay back what I can, but it’s too much, and I have nothing left to give. We’re bankrupt. They’re coming to take our house, the cars, everything we own.”
I’m trying to listen, but it keeps getting worse and worse. My world is imploding as we speak. My pulse pounds frantically and wildly. I clutch my chest to try and calm the tightness. “What about Cloud? Where are we going to live? My car?”
He sighs heavily. “I’m so sorry. I had to sell her. Your car will be seized along with everything else.”
My mouth drops open while my heart sinks into the pit of my stomach. “My horse!” I jump from the couch. Tears fill my eyes. I have never raised my voice at my father. Never until now. “You sold my horse? You didn’t even give me a chance to see her one last time!” I don’t even care about my car; I just want to know where Cloud is. “Where is she? I want her back. I will get rid of everything; just let me have her back,” I plead, with trails of tears running down my cheeks.
His fingers rub along his crinkled forehead. “She was sold to someone in Cape Cove. I’m sorry.”
My head falls back as I stare at the ceiling. Did he…? No, he didn’t…. “Cape Cove!” I shake my head back and forth, sure to give myself whiplash. “No. No way! Who did you sell her to?”
“I had no choice, Merick. If I had allowed you to see Cloud again before selling her, you wouldn’t have let her go. If I tell you who I sold her to, all that would do is hurt you more. You would want to go see her knowing she is no longer yours. I’m not going to do that to you.”
He’s not going to do that to me? He thinks it was better that he sold her and shipped her off without me knowing? He thinks that hurts less than if I was to be able to see her again? Maybe I could talk to whoever bought her, and they would let me still see her, ride her, take care of her. I grit my teeth. “Where are we moving?”
He sighs heavily once more. “Cape Cove.”
I angrily wipe the tears cascading down my cheeks. “How could you do this to me? You sold my horse, you won’t tell me to whom, and we’re moving to the one place I despise, which happens to be the sam
My mother intervenes, “Your friends are only going to be an hour away. You can come back on weekends.”
“Oh, weekends.” Manic laughter erupts from deep within my belly. “You think they’re still going to want to be my friend and hang out when I’m the slum of Cape Cove?”
She nods as if it’s a simple answer. “If they are your real friends, then yes.”
Shaking my head, I purse my lips. “I don’t know how you could do this!” I stomp away before I say anymore and storm up the staircase to my room.
I slam my bedroom door shut and fall onto my California king bed. I stare up at the ceiling. London and Britney have been my best friends for as long as I can remember. We’re on the cheer squad, and I’m the captain. Nothing will change between us. Matt…oh God, Matt, my boyfriend! How do I tell him I’m moving? Will he still want to be with me? Of course, he will. We’ve been dating for two years. He wouldn’t just break up with me because I’m moving an hour away. But Cape Cove? Out of all the towns and cities here in California, why does it have to be Cape Cove?
Flipping onto my stomach, I push my face into my pillow and scream while tears continue to fall. Cloud, where is she? I can’t believe my father took her away from me. Is she warm? Does she have food? Does she have a stall to sleep in, and is it clean? I will find out where she is, and I’m going to get my horse back.
CHAPTER 1
AXEL
FUCK YOU! I scream in my head as my alarm clock blasts Disturb’s Down With The Sickness. Rolling over, I hit my alarm, knocking it off my nightstand. Finally, it shuts the hell up. I hate mornings, and I hate school. It’s pointless. How much of the shit that they try to instill into our brains am I really going to use outside of that building?
Slowly, I climb out of bed, not even bothering to turn the light on, and walk to my dresser and grab the pile of clothes I’d laid out last night: loose denim jeans, a black T-shirt, a blue plaid flannel, and a clean pair of socks. On my way out of my room, I bend down to pick up my black combat boots and head to the bathroom. After getting dressed, I brush my shoulder-length light brown hair and pull it back into a man bun, keeping it in place with my hair tie. I go through the rest of my routine to get ready for school: brush teeth, put deodorant on, and roll up both sleeves on my flannel before attaching my black leather cuff bracelets to each wrist.
Strolling into the kitchen, I grab a piece of buttered toast my mom has waiting on a plate with a glass of orange juice next to it. “Are you going to sit and have breakfast before your first day of your senior year?”
“Sorry, Mom. Gotta run.” I quickly grab my keys off of the kitchen counter and race out the door toward my midnight blue Ram truck with windows tinted so black they’re illegal. That’s according to the sheriff, who pulls me over every chance he gets, but he knows I’m not going to change them. I don’t give two fucks what he says or how many warnings he writes me. He knows it, too. Maybe one day he’ll give up, but it is a fun little game we play for now.
My dad opens the screen door and shouts, “Come home right after school and do your goddamn chores.”
Lifting my hand to my head, I give him a salute to let him know I heard him. Even though I hear him, it doesn’t mean I’m going to do it. I turn the key in the ignition and hit the gas.
I pull up next to my best friend’s house. Maddox jogs out and climbs into the passenger side. "Ax, my man! It’s senior year! How much trouble are we getting into this year?” He has his own car, but ever since we were young, we’ve always gone to school on the first day together. Even when we both started driving, it didn’t change, and this year, we’re graduating. It hits me like a ton of bricks that this is our last year. This is the last first day we’ll ride together. Our last year, and we gotta make it fucking count.
I laugh instead of replying because of the lump stuck in my throat. Pressing on the gas harder, I head toward Cape Cove High. Why the hell am I getting emotional? I have a cold dead heart that doesn’t know what emotions are. Axel Hartly doesn’t feel anything but anger.
Maddox and I have the same first period class, English Lit—probably the worst class ever invented. Mrs. Jules is the most boring teacher. I glance around the classroom, and there are two empty desks. One by…who the fuck is that? She’s sitting next to the desk that will now be mine. Her posture is straight as a board, and I wonder if she knows that it puts her tits on full display. She keeps her head forward like her eyes are fixated on the best thing she’s ever seen, yet they’re narrowed. She bites her bottom lip, and my tongue glides along my own bottom lip, making me feel as if I have this overwhelming dryness in my mouth. It’s as if I could drink a gallon of water, and it still wouldn’t quench my thirst. Her bleach blonde hair is pulled tight into a straight ponytail, and her makeup is subtle, unlike the girls around here. Her outfit looks expensive. It’s plain black satin material, a one-piece outfit. I don’t know what the fuck girls would call it. Who wears shit like that? No one from Cape Cove, that’s for damn sure. People here go shopping for clothes from second-hand shops and “Wally World,” otherwise known as Walmart.
My ogling continues as my gaze falls to her smooth tan legs and travels down to the black ankle-high boots that match her outfit. Shocks of electricity shoot straight to my dick. Maybe this class won’t be fucking boring after all.
I hold my fist out to Maddox. “We’re getting into so much trouble this year, and it’s going to be a hell of a good time.”
“Hell yeah.” He laughs and bumps my fist. I stalk toward the empty desk next to hers and fall into the seat. Maddox takes the only other empty one, which is next to mine.
Where did she come from?
The bell rings, and Mrs. Jules turns away from the chalkboard to face us. She reminds me of the little woman from that kid’s movie The Incredibles with her ear-length straight black hair and thick-framed black glasses. I’d be surprised if she was five feet tall because she looks shorter. She may be little and quite possibly in her fifties, but the authority she possesses in class makes up for what she’s lacking in size. “Hello, everyone. Welcome back. I hope you had a great summer vacation.” She grabs her attendance sheet. “Let’s tell each other something fun and exciting we did this summer. When I call your name, please stand.” She begins reading the names, and one by one, they stand, talking about their exciting summers, but I don’t hear a word they speak because I’m enthralled by the girl sitting next to me. That is until Mrs. Jules says, “Axel Hartly.”
I stand up and smirk. “No one wants to hear about boring old me, Mrs. Jules. Face it, we’ve all known each other our entire lives. What I want to know is about her.” I point at the girl sitting to my right. “Let’s find out about the new girl.” Her cheeks flush pink, probably from everyone turning to gawk at her.
