Balls: A Bully Romance (The King of Castleton High Book 4) Read online

  BALLS

  King of Castleton

  #4

  E L L I E

  M E A D O W S

  Copyright © 2021 Ellie Meadows

  (Eli Constant Books)

  Cover © Wilde book Designs

  1st Edition Edits

  This book may not be reproduced, in any fashion, without the explicit permission from Ellie Meadows /Eli Constant Books. Ellie Meadows asserts her right to hold ownership of this work. The unauthorized reproduction and/or distribution of this work is illegal.

  This is a work of fiction. Any locations that resemble something in reality are used in a fictitious manner. Similarities to organizations and locales, existing now or in the past, are purely coincidental. Characters are creations of the author’s imagination. Similarities to actual persons, living or deceased, are also purely coincidental. The events in this book should not be construed as real in any capacity.

  songs to set the mood

  damage – PARTYNEXTDOOR, Halsey

  fire on fire – Sam Smith

  the remedy for a broken heart – XXXTENTACION

  right my wrongs – Bryson Tiller

  heartbreak anniversary – Giveon

  save your tears – The Weeknd

  I fall apart – Post Malone

  I knew you were trouble – Taylor Swift

  too many feelings - Ruel

  And more...

  Listen to the playlist on Spotify

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Warning

  Blurb

  Prologue: The Lordes

  Chapter 1: Tarryn

  Chapter 2: Tarryn

  Chapter 3: Drake

  Chapter 4: Drake

  Chapter 5: Tarryn

  Chapter 6: Tarryn

  Chapter 7: Byron Castleton

  Chapter 8: Drake

  Chapter 9: Tarryn

  Chapter 10: Tarryn

  Chapter 11: Drake

  Chapter 12: Tarryn

  Chapter 13: Birdie Castleton

  Chapter 14: Drake

  Chapter 15: Drake

  Chapter 16: Tarryn

  Chapter 17: Drake & Tarryn

  Chapter 18: Graduation

  About the Author

  Read more from Ellie!

  Deviant Prince Sample

  W A R N I N G

  Recommended for 17+, mature readers.

  This series contains consensual sex (All sex is consensual. If it’s nonconsensual, that shit’s called rape), underage drinking/smoking, and various scenes some readers might find inappropriate.

  B L U R B

  Drake’s used to hurting people.

  But this time’s different.

  His heart feels ripped in two,

  And he’s ready to fight to win Tarryn back.

  A King is nothing without his Queen.

  My biggest fear has come true—I can’t change, even if I want to. In the end, I hurt Tarryn, just like I knew I would. But I’ve never felt this way before, about anyone. Not even Lane. And I’ll do anything to win her back.

  Even if I might lose my kingdom in the process. Hell, I’ve already ruined so much—my reputation, my relationship, why not my future as a Castleton?

  #

  I don’t know what I expected... that mere hours spent with me could wash away his bad boy past? A stupid girl. That’s what I was... but I could never go back to the before. I couldn’t undo how Drake made me feel. Even if I wanted to.

  He'd betrayed me though. If he’d just told me the truth, we could have found a way to make it work.

  Drake’s still a bully. Still a liar.

  And he won’t get out of my stupid dreams.

  P.S. (Yes, I know a postscript should come after the note, but humor me.)

  The King of Castleton installments are on the short side (for my preference as a reader... maybe I shouldn’t be telling you that, but I like to be an open book). And there were reasons for that decision—reasons I won’t bore you with that involve chronic illness, a busy life schedule, and mounting publishing expenses. But my future books will be longer. I realized, not long ago, that they need to be to satisfy me as the author, me as a reader, and to make these pesky characters who have yelled at me each time I’ve said ‘okay, that’s enough for now, we’ll pick it up again next book’ finally shut the heck up. Seriously, they’ve been LOUD. They wanted more. I figured, okay, stop fighting it. Just write the story until it feels done. So, I hope you enjoy Balls, but know that my next release will be longer. And my next books after that will be longer too. And I hope that makes you guys as happy as it makes me. Xx

  A U T H O R N O T E

  Let’s talk. **wink**

  I have three daughters. Three supremely cool, aware of their bodily autonomy, freaking smart, bats-out-of-beautiful-hell daughters.

  Do I want them going to high school parties and engaging in drug use and sex?

  Not really.

  Will I teach them to be in charge of their actions, use protection, and always call me if they need help? Hell yes.

  I want my girls to know that I’ve got their backs. I want them to know that sex isn’t a bad thing and it’s not an obligatory rite of passage either. I want them to know that purity sure as hell doesn’t dictate worth. I mean, I do want my children to wait for love, for that deep connection with someone that makes them feel ‘ready’ (what parent doesn’t?), but I’ll never make them feel guilty for the choices of youth that inform their adulthood.

  ###

  THE POINT IS that this is a work of fiction. It’s not reality. I’m not a mother walking around wanting my daughters to fall in love with Drake-types. I wouldn’t mind…maybe a Sasha-type though.

  PROLOGUE

  -several days after the photos-

  T H E

  L O R D E S

  The Lordes’ Residence, River Valley

  [perspective, third]

  Having control and thinking before you act,

  when your heart is in pain,

  is a terribly difficult thing to manage.

  The Lordes stared, once again, at the beady-eyed private investigator. Randall Cummings. He’d properly introduced himself this time, handing a card to the Lordes. Maybe he felt guilty, Tabitha thought, for being the Castleton’s watchdog. She wondered how many small people he’d crushed under his boot heel, all in the name of a Castleton paycheck.

  Despite her bad thoughts, her ill feelings, her broken heart, Tabitha was sitting in the corner of the room quietly, her shoulders slumped, and her head hung low. They'd all warned her. Her parents had reminded her multiple times since Mr. Cumming’s first visit, that she needed to steer clear of Drake. But their warnings, their urgings to leave the Castleton boy alone, had been little good. Arrows against an impervious wall, not even scratching the surface of her obsessive resolve.

  She’d not been able to help herself. She wanted to be wanted by him, so badly it hurt.

  People got love confused with lust and obsession. Love wasn’t supposed to be damaging. Sometimes, you had to deal with pain because of love, if someone got ill or died or... but it shouldn’t be the direct cause of agony. It shouldn’t be a fight to receive care and attention.

  Yesterday, the Lordes had received a personal letter from the Castleton Matriarch detailing her dissatisfaction with recent events, as long as a second visit with the PI. Cummings.

  He hadn’t been privy to the innards of the letter, but he had a good idea what it said. He’d delivered similar letters in the past, by hand, to those who crossed Birdie. It had been a bit odd this time that she’d chosen to send the letter via snail mai
l instead of using him as her personal delivery boy. Which is something he wouldn’t do for other clients. But Birdie Castleton sent his kids to college. She’d paid off his house.

  He didn’t mind taking a few dirty clothes to the dry cleaners every now and then.

  “Mrs. Castleton is prepared to take legal action against Tabitha, Mr. and Mrs. Lordes. You should prepare yourself for, at the very least, a restraining order. At which point, once it has been served, Tabitha will no longer be able to attend Castleton Highschool. Not and abide by the guidelines of the restraining order.” Randall spoke firmly, clearly. He had given the young girl the benefit of the doubt before, only warning her off and destroying the video. Destroying her ability to act as the vengeful agent of her own busted up heart and hurt Drake. Well, he’d thought he’d destroyed the tools of her revenge. He’d been wrong.

  The photos were bad. Thankfully, they didn’t really show Drake’s face. But that poor girlfriend of his. He seemed to actually care for her, unlike the string of girls he’d bedded since the teacher left town.

  How could he have missed photos? He’d been so focused on the video. But a girl like that... he should have known there would be more than a single video on a cell phone. He was slipping. Getting too old for this shit. And that was on him, and he was damn lucky Birdie Castleton wasn’t engaging in a personal vendetta against him for letting her down. She’d burn his reputation, and he’d never work as a P.I. again. And he couldn’t go back to law enforcement. She’d shut him down, slam the door on his future and he’d end up retired in Florida doing nothing but trying to figure out what old fart was cheating during bridge.

  It would be as easy as snapping her frail looking fingers.

  Though there was nothing frail about Birdie Castleton.

  But... Birdie would want him splayed on a spit over a damn fire if he didn’t sort this mess out now. Especially since, somehow, he’d missed the past affair with the teacher. That was transgression number one in her book. He was already on his third strike. If he’d been anyone else, Birdie likely wouldn’t have allowed him this chance to make things right.

  Randall Cummings was angry with himself. Not only for disappointing Birdie, but for his part in letting what Ms. Tabitha Lordes did happen in the first place. An innocent girl had been damaged. Drake had been abused...

  Drake had confessed to his grandmother over how the young girl had extorted sex from him by threatening to release the photos. It was… pathological. The girl needed help, real honest-to-god therapy for a long damn time, or she’d continue down this destructive path.

  He'd seen it before, obsessions leading to ruin.

  Oh, how the mighty did fall for want of a woman or a man. Over his investigative career, and distant past as a Detective, he’d watched businesses crumble. Marriages devastated. And when children were part of the picture, they were nearly always the worst victims of the fallout.

  But this was his first case in which a child was the perpetrator. He didn’t like the taste of it. He’d not seen such a wreckful personality in such a young person. Most of his jobs were middle agers desperate for change, desperate to feel something.

  He cleared his throat, speaking again. “As an act of good will, Mrs. Castleton has chosen to bring your mortgage up to date and advance your pay for the next year. The funds will not need to be paid back. Your company is now a subset of Castleton industries, thanks to a recent merger, and she’s worked the situation out with your current employers. In return, she expects that there will be no more issues between Ms. Lordes and her grandson.”

  “That’s so generous. We...we--” Becky Lordes, Tabitha’s mother, began stuttering. Her husband flashed her an angry look. He’d never wanted money from the Castletons. He’d flat-out refused last time, and now despite his desires, they were beholden to the richest family around. And that wasn’t a good thing, not in his mind.

  But what was the alternative? Kicked out of town, coupled with financial ruin...

  “We understand,” Mr. Lordes spoke, his voice betraying his inner turmoil. “We’ve contacted Tabitha’s Uncle in Ithaca. His family is willing to let her live there and finish the school year. Paying our mortgage was unnecessary. Please inform Mrs. Castleton that I will see every penny returned to her.”

  Tabitha still sat quietly, the world happening around her, as if she couldn’t see it or hear it or process it.

  “She won't accept your money,” The investigator shook his head. “She’s done given chances, or dealing with your family, Mr. Lordes. Please understand that she can make life... very difficult for you in this town.

  Becky Lordes blinked. Henry Lordes could read between the lines.

  They were being, not so gently, pushed out of town.

  “As I said, Tabitha will be going to Ithaca shortly. My wife and I were thinking of a change of scenery anyways, and my brother has an opening with his company.” Henry Lordes spoke slowly, fighting back the quiver in his words. He’d worked hard to get away from New York. To build a life here. His family had never fully accepted his choice to marry Becky.

  “You're letting her win! That rich witch!” Tabitha, struck violently out of her pouting fest by the news that not only was she having to finish high school somewhere else, but also that her family home would no longer be in River Valley, stood and yelled at her father. “I’m not the only one in the wrong here. I’m not! Drake led me on, over and over again, for years. But here it is, blown to fucking kingdom come, and only the girl is being punished. And what? You’re going to sell our house and move away, just because I gave a boy a taste of his own medicine?!”

  “Tabitha,” Henry Lordes looked up at his daughter, face drawn in resignation, eyes sharply focused. The little girl he used to call Tabby Cat wasn’t in front of him right now. Maybe she hadn’t been for a long time. “Because of your actions, you are having to leave your high school. Your mother and I are going to sell the house and move. Actions have serious consequences.”

  “You mean,” she snapped off each word violently, “that because I pissed off a family with money, we have to give up everything. That’s what poor people do. And Drake, womanizing asshole, gets to live his life perfectly happy and head off to Yale like his bastard father?”

  Randall sighed, and looked up at the damaged, heartsick kid, speaking before her parents could respond.

  “Drake isn’t escaping punishment, Ms. Lordes, believe me. But the fact of the matter is that you blackmailed a boy into…” his voice trailed off and his gaze flicked to the girl’s parents.

  How much did they know? How much had Birdie revealed in her letter? Did they know the heart of it? If he revealed the full truth, would things go harder for the girl? Not his problem, he decided, and took a deep breath, his eyes fixing back on Tabitha Lordes.

  “The fact of the matter is that you blackmailed a boy into having sex with you, Ms. Lordes. Drake is no saint, I’ll give you that, but your actions were inexcusable.” Randall Cummings hated saying the words. And was struck, yet again, by the truth that this child needed real help. Maybe someone to teach her about real love, about loving herself, so she could get over this thing she had going with the Castleton boy.

  Tabitha shuffled, looking over at her parents with tears in her eyes. Her mother and father looked shocked. They obviously hadn’t known the depth of her obsession with Drake.

  It was the mother who spoke next, standing with her hands clenched into pale fists. Becky Lordes wasn’t a strong personality, that was easy to see from only a few interactions with the family, but something about this revelation had steeled her resolve enough to stand up and take center stage. “Please tell Mrs. Castleton that Tabitha will be leaving this weekend. She won’t have anything more to do with the Castleton boy. For her own good, and for his.” She walked over, fingers uncurling to grip around Tabitha’s upper arms. “Start packing, young lady. Now.”

  Randall Cummings had been a private eye long enough to see that something about the situation had triggered
Mrs. Lordes now. He had a hunch that a quick inspection of the mother’s history would reveal boy trouble in her past.

  Tears streaming down her face now, Tabitha turned quickly and jerked from her mother’s grasp. “This isn’t fair,” she moaned as she headed towards her room.

  “Life isn’t fair, Tabitha. But I won’t have you screwing up your future over a boy who’s not worth his weight in water.”

  You don’t know him, Tabitha thought as she stomped away, moving down the hall angrily and slamming her door shut brutally, He is worth it. He’s worth it.

  But what could she do?

  Her uncle lived a thousand miles away, and she knew there would be no changing her parents’ minds.

  Falling onto her bed, scowling at the three suitcases her mother had put into her room yesterday, she picked up her phone and dialed Drake.

  He didn’t pick up on the first try.

  Or the second.

  Or the third.

  And Tabitha clutched the phone wearily, curled into a ball, and cried herself to sleep.

  She loved her uncle, and her cousins. She even genuinely loved Ithaca. She’d begged her parents to let her go stay in New York for the entire summer she turned thirteen. But that was before Drake... before he was all that mattered to her.

  Now the thought of seeing the waterfalls and Cayuga Lake made her chest tight Because it meant leaving here... it meant leaving him.

  It won’t be long before they can’t control me anymore. Tabitha thought to herself, opening her creaking closet door and snagging out the faded ruby hard suitcase she hadn’t used in over a year. And then I’ll come back, and Drake will be smart enough to see that I’m the only one that loves him like this, the only one that would hurt myself to keep him happy. That’s love. They just don’t get it.