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  Hawk

  Rivals & Reunions: 1

  Zoe Hart

  Contents

  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

  Read Chapter 1 from Levi, Rivals & Reunions: 2

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2021 by Zoe Hart

  1st Edition

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever including Internet usage, without written permission of the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Cover by Rachel Christley of Christley Creatives LLC

  Formatting by: Love Kissed Books

  Editing by Theresa Schultz

  Created with Vellum

  1

  Hawk

  June, Five years ago…

  I pulled down the dark gravel drive and parked near the dunes. Even from here, I could see that the place was busier than normal. There were a ton of vehicles lining the street on both sides. I strode toward the firelight and paused a moment, scanning the area. Sebastian was the first one to see me. We’d been best friends for the last few years, ever since he started at St. Thomas Academy, coming from abroad. He stood up from his spot around the fire and came over to greet me.

  “How are you doing, man?” he asked.

  “What do you mean?” I vaguely looked around the area only to realize that this was the biggest turnout ever for one of our parties. As I stared at so many unfamiliar faces, I knew why. Apparently it wasn’t just St. Thomas Academy here tonight, but Bessemer Bay High as well. And who could blame them? After all, we’d just finished high school. This was as close as we could get to freedom, and a place to hang out, since we weren’t old enough for a bar.

  “You looked pretty miserable when you were getting into the limo after leaving the ceremony. That’s all. I expected you to be happier to be done with high school.” Sebastian grinned.

  He wasn’t wrong. I thought I’d be happier too. I knew he expected an explanation, but I was still processing everything that had happened in between then and now. I wasn’t sure what to say or how to feel about any of it. I had a great plan in place, but leave it to my father to fuck everything up.

  The recruiter had called the day before to remind me that he needed a copy of my diploma for my file. I had plenty of time to turn it in to the recruiting office before I left for boot camp. Oh, but no. My father insisted we stop there before going home and changing for the graduation party they were holding for me at the country club.

  When we parked in the otherwise vacant lot, the recruiter was shocked and thrilled to see me. I’m sure there were few who showed up in a limo. There were even fewer who showed up from St. Thomas Academy. If they chose military service, they usually attended West Point Academy, and entered the army as officers. I had other plans, plans that didn’t include being in the military for my career. This was a pit stop on my life map, not the destination.

  “Glad to see you, McKenzie. The first man who walked through the door after graduation was in for a real treat. I’m glad it was you.” He shook my hand and clapped me on the back. And somehow, I knew that I wasn’t going to be glad it was me. He took my diploma, made a copy on the machine in another room, passed it back to me, and then proceeded to explain my good luck.

  “What’s the treat?” I asked. I knew I sounded ungrateful, but I was tired. I’d been up late the night before finishing the video for graduation. I’d tried to ensure that every senior was represented, that every memory of the last four years was shared in a clip. And then had to match it all to the perfect music, which was as exhausting as it sounded. I was supposed to have a team helping me do this, but like every other group project in high school, the task had fallen entirely on me.

  “Well, we had an opening. Three weeks. You get to leave in three weeks instead of waiting until the end of summer.” Sergeant Baker looked pleased.

  I wasn’t. I had plans. I knew there was a distinct possibility that most of my friends would be leaving Bessemer Bay in the next few months. Some of them I might never see again. There were those I felt completely ambivalent about, but my real friends? I wanted to make some more memories before losing them altogether. Take Sebastian, for instance. He was here on a school visa. Now that he graduated, I knew he’d have to leave soon. And since he’d been rather vague about where he came from the whole time he was here, there was little chance I’d ever see him again.

  Needless to say, I was numb by the time I entered the limo. My father looked at me. “What’s wrong?” he demanded.

  My father preferred for everything to run smoothly. He could handle any number of changes with the business, but he managed that chaos by having complete stability at home. For example, my parents hadn’t slept in the same room for as long as I could remember, but they would never divorce. Why? Change. So they made it look good. No one outside of the house was any the wiser that they could barely stand each other. And I sure wasn’t going to burst that bubble.

  “Well, thanks to dropping off my diploma now, I get to leave for boot camp in three weeks instead of three months.” I glared at him. And I suppose I thought I might see some sign that this news bothered him. Instead, he practically glowed.

  “That’s fantastic news. You’ll get out sooner. We’ll have a job waiting for you.” He even clapped my shoulder. None of this was the reaction I hoped for. At the very least, I expected this would’ve ruined some send-off party they had planned. My family found a reason to celebrate everything. And not in a good way. I nearly needed therapy for the No More Swimmers party my mother held after his vasectomy.

  “Maybe I don’t want to leave in three weeks. Maybe I wanted more time with my friends,” I explained. “And maybe I don’t want to work for the company.” The minute I said that, I knew I’d gone too far. Of course, if there was anything I’d learned in all my years of being a McKenzie, it was that we didn’t back down, no matter how big a mistake we were making, no matter how much we regretted what we’d said. From the look on his face, I knew I was about to feel his wrath.

  My father leaned closer. This was worse than being hit, I imagined. I knew what he was going to do. He’d speak through gritted teeth and make me regret all my life choices. “Listen up, you little sniveling ingrate. You picked the Marines. You could’ve gone to West Point like your cousin. You could’ve had a cushy job in the military, come back and consulted with the family business, raking in tons of money.” His nostrils flared and I knew this was about to be the big punch. “Instead, you chose the Marines and combat. It’s like you want to die. And that’s what it will take to get you out of the business. Understand? Like marriage, this family is till death. Got it?”

  I merely nodded. We rode the rest of the way home in silence. I’d caught the eye of the driver once and he gave me a sympathetic look, but I didn’t want sympathy. I wanted out. I wanted to live my life my way. And the four years away in the Marines was about deconstructing Hawkins McKenzie and becoming the man I was really meant to be. No matter what he claimed, I’d be my own person one day. And no one would determine my fate but me. In the meantime, I merely had to survive the next three week
s with my family.

  The party at the club was as long and boring as I expected. In truth, it was for the adults, my parents’ friends and business associates. None of my friends had even been invited, not that they would’ve come. The party tonight was for us. And I couldn’t really complain about this one either. Every man who came over to congratulate me and shake my hand also passed me a card. After we returned to the estate, I opened them and tallied. There were roughly fifty cards, and I’d been given thirty-seven thousand dollars. Not bad.

  Two weeks ago, when I turned eighteen, I opened my own account at the bank. That had been a smaller, more intimate party, only family and friends. As my first act of adulthood and defiance, I’d made sure I had a place for my money, since my father loved to hold my trust fund over my head. This money would be mine alone. At least this gave me some satisfaction as I readied myself for the crazy night ahead.

  Now, here, I realized I still had yet to process everything, but Sebastian needed some kind of explanation. “Yeah, it looks like I’m going to boot camp sooner than planned.” I tried to shrug and act like it was no big deal, but somehow, I knew that leaving in three weeks instead of in three months was going to change the trajectory of my life. And I’ve never been known for being dramatic. This time, however, I just had a nagging feeling that this early departure was completely wrong.

  “Let’s go hang out with our friends. Forget about it for tonight. And for the next three weeks, we’ll just have a really good time.” Sebastian made a lot of sense.

  He was one of the few people who seemed to really understand me. When I talked to him about duty and family obligations, he truly seemed to get it, not like most of these other trust fund babies that we went to school with. They’d go off to their Ivy League schools, return to their cushy lives, and be none the wiser that I had become a cog in the machine. No wonder I counted so few friends.

  We trudged toward the beach. Soon we were surrounded by all of the guys from the football team. I played all the full contact sports, much to my father’s chagrin. He had hoped that I would have been more involved in clubs, like debate. He made no secret of his desire for me to become the company lawyer. Of course, all of this was to come after the military.

  Since my family had military contracts, we were all expected to serve in one branch or another in some way, shape, or form to prove ourselves. Our way of giving back. This understanding that all male McKenzies would enlist stemmed from contracts signed years ago, dating all the way back to World War II. And ever since World War II, the male members of the family had served in nearly every branch. Most chose the National Guard or the Air Force. I had one uncle who had been in the Army. Me, I decided to become a Marine. I hadn’t really decided what I wanted to do after my four-year contract ended, but I knew that I wanted to go infantry. Maybe I was naïve to think that I was practically immortal, but I had led a pretty charmed life so far. There was no reason for me to think that would end anytime soon.

  We made our way to the various groups, saying our hellos. We did the usual BS about how the parties were. Some friends were even comparing the new vehicles that they had been given for graduation. They were looking forward to driving them off to college.

  Sebastian and I exchanged looks. Wherever he was going after this, he’d have to fly. And where I was going, I stood a better chance of driving a Humvee than I did a new sports car. To be honest, I thought a Humvee fit me better anyway. I wasn’t like the rest of them. Not like my friends, not like my family. They loved having money, they loved having nice things. I still wasn’t convinced any of that equated to having a nice life.

  I must’ve been quiet for too long. Sebastian was giving me a look. And even before he spoke, I knew what he was going to say. He grabbed my shoulders and rubbed them hard.

  “Time for a drink,” he insisted.

  Given how my day had gone, I wasn’t interested in arguing. Sure, I was driving my father’s car, which seemed to be my one big perk for the night. I knew he didn’t care if I came home, or when I came home. All he cared about was that I left for boot camp in three weeks and made the family proud. I wasn’t even sure he cared if I ended up deployed and died. He’d just stick my casket photo on the wall in the office like so many family members before me, all lined up to bring credibility and honor while distracting from the truth that we profited from war.

  We made our way over to the keg. Normally, I would question who brought it, and how the hell they managed to carry it all the way out onto the dunes, but tonight I didn’t care. I was just grateful we were drinking beer instead of some father’s stolen liquor. Then we made our way over to the fire, took a seat on the sand, and sipped our beers out of Solo cups while we chatted.

  “You know what would take your mind off of all of this?” Sebastian elbowed me just to make sure I was listening.

  “More alcohol?” I guessed. I took a swig before he could push the issue, even if my heart wasn’t in it.

  “No, getting laid. When was the last time you did that?” He tilted his head and studied me. “Oh, I remember. You don’t kiss and tell. That’s really admirable. I’m not asking who. I’m just hoping that this melancholy isn’t all because you’re going off to boot camp without a pretty little pen pal to distract you and swoon over you in your absence.”

  I snorted. “Are you kidding me? The last thing I need is a girl. They’re such a distraction. I need my head in the game. The Marines are no joke.” I frowned. “Plus, look at Fallon over there. He was the debate club champ. You’d think he’d be more of a smooth talker. He’s not. I could never understand why he was perpetually single, but now I think he might have the right idea.” I shook my head.

  “He’s single because he doesn’t have game, or because he wants to be a bachelor. He’s single because he lacks confidence. He’s single because he’s always acutely aware that he’s only at St. Thomas because of a scholarship. And because these other guys are assholes, all they care about is how much money his family has, which is apparently practically none.” Sebastian sighed. “I almost feel sorry for the guy, except that he tends to have a chip on his shoulder because of it. And I don’t have time for that.”

  “That’s right. So let’s forget about girls and let’s focus on drinking tonight and making plans for tomorrow. I need to make sure that every minute of the rest of my three weeks I’m so busy that I don’t even think about going off to boot camp.”

  2

  Taryn

  Five years ago…

  We hadn’t had a pool party at my place in a really long time. In fact, I think it might’ve been my birthday, when Peyton lost her suit. I thought she would never recover from the humiliation. I was surprised she ever returned. I was even more shocked when she agreed to the pool party after graduation. After all, she had boobs now and the same bad luck.

  We planned a barbecue and only my closest friends and their families were invited, which meant there were at least thirty of us, between the kids and the adults. The grown-ups were drinking, while we mostly indulged in soft drinks and sweet tea. We knew that later on when we all snuck off to go to the dunes that we would have a real party then.

  I’d never been to the dunes before. Of course, my boyfriend Drew had been there many times. He was a boy and his parents let him do what he wanted. My parents used every opportunity to remind me that I was a girl. That if I ended up pregnant, I was on my own. That’s why they were strict. And yet now that I’d graduated, they promised to give me some leeway. I earned it by being the salutatorian in my class. You can bet my brother, Braxton, never had my kind of grades, or my kind of restrictions.

  In the fall, I’d be attending Saginaw Valley State University. They had given me a full scholarship. And by the time I was done, I’d be a veterinarian. This had been my dream for as long as I could remember.

  Even now, while we lounged by the pool, I could hear my mother talking to Liz Ryan about how I’d always been so devoted to my pets. “I can’t believe our little girl i
s about to go off to college. I hope she knows how lucky she is. I mean, look at us. We never had that opportunity.” My mother shook her head and glanced across the pool at me to see if I was paying attention.

  Peyton and I were sitting with our legs dangling in the deep end. “They do love talking about how they’ve suffered for us, don’t they?” Peyton asked. “I swear they blame us for never doing more with their lives. And I’m pretty tired of owning that.”

  “I know. I’m just glad that I have things all figured out.” I glanced down at my ring finger. It was naked, for the moment. Tonight, I expected that to change.

  Peyton’s eyes widened. “Oh my God. Do you think he’s going to propose tonight?”

  I gave her the look, the one meant to silence her, since I figured my mom could probably hear every word we said if she were paying attention.

  The whole time I was growing up, I was reminded to never be dependent upon a guy. It wasn’t that this came from anything she said. I just watched her with my father and knew that even though he was a good guy and she was a great mom, that she never felt fulfilled. I’d made the mistake of trying to make her feel better about things once, explaining to her that we do have a really nice house with a pool in the backyard. We lived within a few miles of the beach. Honestly, for most of my friends, this was living the dream.

  I’ll never forget what she said. “Yeah, it’s a really pretty prison, isn’t it?”