Third Strike Read online

  Third Strike (Chances #3)

  Copyright © 2018 by BJ Harvey

  Edited by

  Lauren Clarke

  Cover Design by

  BJ Harvey and Najla Qamber Designs

  Cover photo sourced from

  www.depositphotos.com

  Interior Formatting:

  Integrity Formatting

  ISBN: Epub—978–0-6484477–0-2

  ISBN: Mobi—978–0-6484477–2-6

  ISBN: Print—978–0-6484477–1-9

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the above author of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Dedication

  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

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Other books by BJ Harvey

  To the hopeless romantics in the world, never change.

  Present Day

  Picture this: it’s dusk in the beautiful French Riviera. The sun is slowly setting, coloring the sky a rusty orange. On an almost empty sand-covered beach my best friend stands to my right, holding the hand of his beautiful soon-to-be wife, having just vowed ‘till death do us part.’

  I never thought I’d get the chance to share this day with him and the woman he loves. Since I kind of dated his girl, Millen had every right to cut me out of his life forever, and he did for a spell. Kenzie could have held a grudge against me that lasted an eternity, but she’s been pivotal in helping repair the friendship between Millen and me.

  The other person who almost ruined their lives is thousands of miles away in Sacramento, living in my house. What else was I supposed to do when she turned up on my doorstep three months ago needing a place to stay? She’s my consequence from a night of drunken stupidity when my ego led my dick astray. She’s carrying my child—a baby she used to manipulate Millen, a baby she’s definitely using to manipulate me.

  I know I’m on thin ice with Millen though. Another fuck up, and I’ll lose the man who’s more of a brother than a best friend. And the person who’s going to be the final nail in my friendship’s coffin is standing just twenty feet away from me, her blonde hair shining in the fading light, her blue eyes shimmering with happy tears as she watches her brother get married.

  Ashley Ross: the girl who had a high school crush on me. The girl who gave me her virginity. The same woman who came into my hotel room, told me she loved me, and claimed me as her own all last night and well into this morning.

  “You may kiss the bride.”

  A loud cheer erupts followed by even louder applause as Millen wraps his arm around Kenzie’s bare back, dips her low, and kisses the living shit out of her, both of them laughing as they go.

  Then it happens—that hammer lowering toward the nail. My phone rings from my back pocket.

  “Shit!”

  All eyes swing my way.

  “Sorry, sorry!” I say, digging my hand in my pants to grab the offending object.

  Pulling it out, I see Lana’s name on the screen.

  “Fuuuuckkk,” I groan, waving Millen off as both he and Kenzie stare at me with wide eyes and high brows in equal measure. My gaze darts to Ashley, who’s wearing a dress that matches her sexy devil within. The temptress who has become more of a constant than I ever intended in the beginning. The woman I can’t ever imagine being without again.

  “I’ve gotta answer this. I’m sorry,” I say to the group by way of an apology.

  “Who could be that important, dude?” Millen asks.

  I freeze, my phone still vibrating in my hand. “You don’t want me to answer that. Not here and definitely not now.”

  The flash in his eyes and Kenzie’s surprised gasp tell me no further explanation is necessary.

  “She just can’t help herself, can she?” Kenzie snarks, shaking her head as she burrows deeper into her husband’s side. Kenzie’s best friend Gaby, and her fiancé, Bruno, Kenzie’s dad, and Ashley are now circled around us.

  “Just ignore it,” Millen urges, but his expression is tight.

  “I can’t.”

  “Why the fuck not?” he asks, his terse voice grabbing everyone’s attention now.

  “She’s pregnant. Something could be wrong.”

  “I fucking know she’s pregnant, Drew. Surely she’ll leave a message if it’s that important? She’s not due yet, so she’s probably ringing because she’s hoping to interrupt the festivities.”

  The phone stops ringing, and the decision to answer is taken out of my hands. Millen’s shoulders relax, the tension visibly leaving his body. I’m torn between responsibility and denial.

  Responsibility wins out. “I better call her back.”

  “Drew…” he growls. “Lana Mason already took enough from me. She doesn’t get to exist, today of all days.”

  My phone buzzes with a text and my eyes drop to it.

  It stops me in my tracks.

  “She has to fucking exist, Millen. I don’t get a say in that. Especially not now.” Probably not ever.

  “She’s your baby’s mother—that’s all.”

  “If only,” I mutter.

  Millen goes deathly still at my reply. I feel the blood rush from my face, my eyes darting to Ashley, taking one last look at her before I drop the bomb none of them could’ve seen coming. The one that’s going to obliterate any chance of the future I want with Ashley. The future I was finally ready to let myself have.

  “I’ve gotta go.”

  Millen’s head jerks back. “What the fuck? Why? You haven’t even given your speech yet.”

  Fuck it. There’s no escaping now. I may have kept this secret for the past few months but there’s no way I can keep doing so now.

  “Because you’re not the only one who’s fucking married, and as of an hour ago, she’s in labor” I state matter of factly.

  Ashley’s shocked cry turns heads. I meet her eyes, and my heart shatters into a million pieces at the pain I see written all over her face. She spins on her heels and runs up the makeshift aisle toward the hotel.

  Millen’s gaze jerks from me to his baby sister and back to me, his eyes harder than stone “Oh, no… oh, fuck no,” he growls, his voice low and menacing as he obviously puts two and two together.

  Kenzie and Gaby gasp in unison before shrieking as they scramble into action, Gaby going after Ashley, Kenzie grabbing Millen’s arm, but it’s too late.

  I don’t
see his fist coming until it’s slamming into my face. My head snaps to the side, stabbing pain slicing through my jaw. It’s the second time he’s punched me. Coincidentally, both times have been at weddings, but I’m too focused on Ashley’s retreat and the tears in her eyes to deflect his shot or fight him off.

  Thankfully Bruno steps in, holding Millen back. He struggles against him, clearly wanting to have another go. Millen’s glittering eyes pin me in place, his next words cutting me to the bone. With the finality in his tone, I’m in no doubt that the hammer has not only dropped, but that the coffin is well and truly buried.

  “Kenzie, Lana, and now my sister? Third strike, motherfucker. We’re fucking done.”

  Twelve years ago

  Drew 20, Ashley 17

  As a twenty-year-old man at my prime, I’m highly appreciative of the female species. It’s in my DNA. It’s ingrained in my blood. Even so, I didn’t expect to go to San Francisco for Easter with my best friend, Millen and get knocked on my ass by the one woman in the world I definitely shouldn’t appreciate.

  A few steps into the backyard of Millen’s family home and I come upon the most beautiful girl—woman—I’ve ever seen. She’s one of three scantily-clad bodies lying out by a huge in-ground pool. It’s skin, skin, and more skin, covered by bikinis and floppy sun hats, all three heads turning my way the moment I walk outside.

  I know one of them is Millen’s baby sister, Ashley. I can’t ask him which one she is because he went to drop our bags off in the guest suite above the garage after telling me to make myself at home and find us some beers in his father’s outdoor bar.

  My gaze glides over the three women in front of me from my elevated position above the large, sweeping pool deck. I know I shouldn’t look for as long as I do but the moment my gaze lands on the woman at the end, there’s an honest-to-god buzz traveling over my skin, coursing through my body and leaving a wave of warmth in its wake.

  She dips her chin and glances at me over the top of her designer aviator glasses. When ice-blue eyes lock with mine, and unapologetically slide down to my feet and back up again, I know that whoever she is, she’s trouble. Especially if she’s Ashley.

  Waves of honey-blonde hair frame her face, brushing her shoulders. Her scarlet bikini covers a sun-kissed California tan, her legs going on for miles.

  I fight against going hard and decide distraction is best. “Hey. I’m Drew, Millen’s fr—”

  “Hi Drew,” all three reply in unison. I was hoping one of them would speak up and introduce themselves as the sister. No such luck.

  I rub my hand behind my neck, suddenly feeling awkward—and strangely aroused—at the scene playing out here. “Ah, is one of you Ashley?”

  “Maybe…” the petite redhead says from beside my blonde-haired goddess.

  “You can call me Ashley, if you want…” replies a platinum blonde with a toned, svelte, athletic body covered in a blue bikini.

  The honey-blonde Lolita-wannabe at the end—the one I really hope isn’t the woman I should be avoiding—smiles wryly at her friends before looking up at me. “Or maybe all three of us are Ashley.” She looks down at my hips and back up again, biting her lip before replying, “Maybe you’d like that…”

  Holy shit. How do I get myself in these situations?

  Seriously. Women are definitely from a whole other planet. Maybe a completely different galaxy.

  Thankfully, Millen returns to save me from the torture that is working out which girl—out of the two I’ve narrowed it down to—is, in fact, his sister, and therefore completely out of bounds for me.

  “Hey, brat… Lisa… Lucy…” Millen calls out, standing beside me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and rough-housing my hair before letting me go.

  “Hi Millen,” two out of the three reply with a breathless whisper. You’d think Johnny Depp had just graced them with his presence. He chuckles and pins his eyes on the girls. “Ash, you think you can stop sunbaking long enough to meet Drew?”

  All breath escapes me as the woman I don’t want to be Ashley swings those spectacular legs of hers to the side of her lounger. Dammit. I grit my teeth to hold back my curse as she stands and moves toward us.

  “You mean your ‘man-whore in arms’ from Texas?” she says with a smirk, eyes firmly fixed on mine. She doesn’t bother to cover herself up, seemingly not having any issues with displaying her body in front of a stranger.

  It’s hard to miss her hips swinging in a way no seventeen-year-old girl should know how to do. I’m definitely no saint, but arriving here, I had every intention of not looking at Ashley as anything other than Millen’s sister. But fuck, she’s making it hard—literally. “I’m from Sacramento.”

  “You didn’t say you’re not a man-whore though,” she says, waving her hand in the air.

  I shrug and shoot Millen a smirk before turning back to Ashley. “It seems my reputation precedes me.”

  Ashley juts a hip to the side and puts her fist to her waist. “Or maybe I know my brother’s M.O. and can spot a player a mile away. You guys all stick together.” Her lips twitch, and her eyes dance with amusement.

  A quick glance over her shoulder shows her friends watching this exchange with avid fascination.

  “Jeez, brat. When did you get so smart?” Millen says with a laugh, grabbing hold of his sister and pulling her in close.

  “When you left home?” she replies, her smile wide and blinding as she looks up at her brother.

  Any visceral reaction I’m having to her must be straight up basal instinct. It’s a normal physical reaction. Maybe pheromones or some shit. It’s me, a red-blooded male, noticing an attractive female.

  Millen’s sister has to be firmly put in the ‘never to be touched or fantasized about’ category.

  It’s just unfortunate that the closer she gets, the more my brain disengages and another part of my body springs to life. It’s not just that gorgeous red bikini that appears to be painted onto her sinfully curved body. No, it’s the snarky gleam in her eye and the suggestive twist of her hips. It’s the sunlight dancing with her yellow hair and a smile that could drag even the most strong-willed man to his knees.

  “Hi, I’m Ash,” she announces, holding out her hand to me. I relish the feeling of my hand sliding against her palm, even more so when she tightens her fingers around mine when I go to pull it back. If she has any kind of reaction to me, she doesn’t give any inkling of it. Turning her attention to her brother, she grins widely, still not letting me go.

  That smile could sink a thousand ships. It’s a temptation not worth the pain she’s got written all over her. She’s all heartbreak and out-of-this-world orgasms. A body that could tempt the most strong-willed man. I thought that was me, but she’s proven me wrong. One look at Ashley Ross and you know the guy who gets in there will quickly realize he’s the luckiest son-of-a-bitch on earth.

  I start repeating a much-needed new mantra in my head. “Best friend’s sister. No-go zone.” Actually, a ‘never, ever even consider’ zone. Thankfully she releases her grip and I can—as tactfully as possible—drop my hand to my side.

  “Mom said you were home for a few days,” she says, breaking the silence.

  “Yep. So you better tell your boyfriend to watch his back,” Millen warns with a menacing grin.

  “Whatever.” She rolls her eyes, shaking her head. “He’d kick your ass if he got the chance.” Her lips twitch, as if anticipating the rise she’s trying to get out of her brother.

  Millen quirks his brow. “He’s a douche, Ash. You can do—and deserve—a whole lot better.”

  Ashley’s eyes dart from Millen to me, her back straightening as she returns her gaze to her brother. “I know that. He knows that too. But now is so not the time, brother.”

  Millen narrows his gaze. “Why not? Drew is family. He’s not going to stand by if that douche tries to prove how big his dick is by having a go at me. Are ya, Drew?”

  I silently watch their exchange with fascination. Millen is b
eing Millen and his sister… well, she almost seems embarrassed.

  “Millen!” she stage whispers, her gaze now flashing with anger as she scrunches her forehead. Her cheeks flush red, and she looks down, no longer the strong-willed, confident girl I met when I walked in. How many sides are there to this girl, and why do I wanna discover them all?

  “Okay, but we will talk about it. It’s part of the big brother job description.”

  “Scaring off potential boyfriends?” I add with a laugh.

  “He’s done it my whole life. I swear to God, I breathed a sigh of relief when he chose Texas Tech for college. It meant there was at least a small chance”—she holds up two fingers close together—“that I might finish high school without my V-card.” The fact she says that with a straight face, no hesitancy or embarrassment, should have warning bells sounding in my head.

  “Ashley,” Millen growls. His sister rolls her eyes and turns her attention back to me.

  “I’m just saying. Besides, I’m dumping him after prom. I haven’t got time for a boyfriend, not since I’m moving away in the Fall anyway.”

  “You’ve made a decision then?” Millen asks, stepping forward and bracing his hands on Ashley’s shoulders. “You know I’ll talk to Mom and Dad if they’re pressuring you. I want you to go where you want to go, not where they tell you to go.”

  Ashley’s eyes lock with her brother’s, a genuine, loving smile gracing those beautiful lips that I should not be looking at right now.

  “Harvard. I’m gonna do what I want, big brother,” she says softly with a gentle smile. Millen pulls her in for a hug, and she wraps her arms around him in return, not before turning her head and staring at me as she does it. Those blue eyes were stunning from a distance; up close and wet with tears—happy ones—they’re like the most exquisite sapphires you’d ever see.

  Fuck.

  Once they’ve pulled apart, she asks, “So when are you guys going back again?”

  “Jesus. We just got here, and you’re already trying to get rid of us,” he says with a sigh. “We’ll go back Monday morning. But don’t worry, brat, I’ll be back in May for the party, and to see you off to prom. I might even drag Drew along for that trip too.