Always Mine: An Enemies to Lovers Romance Read online

  Always Mine: An Enemies to Lovers Romance

  Natalie Lux

  Always Mine

  Natalie Lux

  Copyright © 2020 Natalie Lux

  All rights reserved

  This is a work of fiction. All characters and events reside solely in the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual people, alive or dead, is purely coincidental. All characters are eighteen years of age or older.

  No portion of this work can be reproduced in any way without prior written consent from the author with the exception for a fair use excerpt for review and editorial purposes.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  1. Eva

  15 Years Earlier

  2. Reid

  3. Eva

  4. Reid

  5. Eva

  10 Years Earlier

  6. Reid

  9 Years Earlier

  7. Eva

  8. Reid

  9. Eva

  10. Reid

  8 Years Earlier

  11. Eva

  12. Eva

  13. Reid

  14. Eva

  15. Eva

  16. Eva

  17. Eva

  18. Reid

  19. Eva

  20. Reid

  9 years earlier

  21. Eva

  22. Reid

  23. Eva

  24. Reid

  25. Eva

  7 Years Earlier

  26. Eva

  27. Reid

  28. Eva

  Epilogue

  The End

  Mailing List

  Untitled

  Excerpt from Double the Sin

  1

  Eva

  Tears stung my eyes as I flew down the highway, trying to erase the memory of what I’d just seen. I should have known it was coming. Colton was young, the up-and-coming lead singer of the biggest rising pop group in LA, and was the apple to every teenage girl’s eye. I should have known our relationship wouldn’t last.

  I wasn’t good enough for him. I wasn’t good enough to satisfy him the way that random bimbo could. I was one of the busiest young actresses working right now and people loved me. But I wasn’t good enough for the pop star sensation that young girls everywhere worshipped and revered. He’d rather have some platinum blonde, barely 18-year-old slut, than me.

  Unbidden, the image of catching him inside whichever groupie he’d picked this time floated back into my mind. I’d just gotten done my first big photo shoot with GQ Magazine and I didn’t have to show up to set for an entire week. I had stopped by his mansion early to pick him up for our flight, and maybe get some action before we left.

  But the only one getting action was him. I remember seeing the fancy, light-blue Porsche outside parked in front of his garage, foolishly thinking it might have been his mom’s car or something. I’d walked in, a big, stupid smile on my face, practically ready to jump on top of him. I’d been so busy with my latest movie that I’d been too tired to even have sex for the last week or so, and I knew he was home today, so I was excited.

  Stupid me, I even noticed all the women’s clothes all over the stairs and didn’t even put together that they weren’t mine. I must have forgotten them going to bed the night before or something, no big deal. I pushed the door open and froze, my entire body sinking through the floor and into the ground in an instant.

  There he was, his back towards me, pumping away furiously at some blonde whore with big tits. Her eyes were closed as she was moaning, hair flying everywhere. Neither of them noticed me at first and it seemed as though time stopped. I might have been standing there ten seconds or ten minutes. I couldn’t take my eyes off them.

  I should have rushed into the room and smacked the shit out of them. I should have screamed something at him or broken one of the precious TV monitors he kept in his garage (who collects TVs anyway?). I should have done something. But I was a coward.

  I backed out of the room silently, closing the door behind me to muffle the thumps, screams, and grunts of pleasure. I walked down the stairs and out the door in a daze, my only thought that I was eternally grateful that we hadn’t pulled the trigger on marriage yet.

  I remembered when I’d first met him at the Oscars last year. His group had been nominated for something like “Best Original Song” and he was in the middle of getting blacked out with some other actress when my agent introduced us. My first impression of him blackout drunk trying to hit on me should have turned me off right away, but I stupidly gave him a chance.

  For the first few months, it was a lot of fun. We’d go out to clubs together, got drunk, partied, fucked, and that was our lives for a while until I got cast in my first TV show, Red Rock Canyon. He’d become a little more distant after I started working on it and we’d go days or even weeks at a time without sex due to my busy schedule.

  But when I did get time off, it was non stop partying as if I had all the time in the world. It was fun, but it had been getting a little old for me over the last few weeks, especially with my shooting schedule as tight as it was. I wanted something a little more mature, with less partying and booze, something more permanent. But Colton wasn’t interested in any of that apparently, as evidenced by what I’d seen earlier.

  And now here I was, in my car, on a solitary road trip across the country. A weird mixture of feelings had built up inside of me over the last three hours I’d been driving. After telling my agent I wasn’t taking any calls for the next week, I turned my phone off completely. I didn’t want to hear anything Colton had to say to me ever again.

  I was stung, jealous, and angry. I was more annoyed at myself for not being able to see it coming from miles away, but my ego had gotten in the way. You’re on the list of top 30 actresses under 30, surely no one would ever dream of cheating on you! Reality check, Eva. You aren’t even good enough for some stupid drunk pop star. My self-esteem was wounded.

  But even though he’d hurt me, there was a small part of me that felt relief. I knew Colton and I weren’t going to end up growing old together or anything, he just wasn’t that type of person. He always liked to have fun, pick fights, and get drunk. He was a kid trapped in a man’s body. He loved the attention he got from his fans and we only really started as a thing because my agent had decided it was a good idea if I found someone to settle down with.

  Now I had no excuse to stay with him anymore. I had never wanted a celebrity as a partner even though I was one of those “rising stars” you see plastered all over the magazines. There was a big part of me that was still that little small-town girl who enjoyed acting in the school plays where only 30 or 40 people showed up and you’d go out afterward to celebrate with a pizza and movie night with your family or friends.

  And each mile I drove made me more and more excited to see my old friends and family back in my hometown of Evendale, Illinois. The original plan was to catch the plane in a few days for my father’s wedding to my new stepmom. I wasn’t thrilled with his choice because she’d been such a massive bitch to me the four or so times we’d talked on the phone, but I loved my dad and wanted to be there for him on his special day.

  But I knew going back, I’d there’d be some problems. Not just with my stepmom, but others I hadn’t seen in all those years I’d lived in LA. It had been seven long years since I’d been back in Evendale. Seven years since I’d been with the first and last real love of my life. Seven years since I’d been in the same town as the biggest bastard in the entire damned country: Reid Mannix.

  15 Years Earlier

  “Don’t tell Miss Montgomery,” said my best friend, Morgan. “But I asked Kyle and his friends to come sit w
ith us today!”

  “You can’t do that Morgan!” I exclaimed immediately, shocked. “Why’d you invite boys to our table? You know the rules!”

  Morgan just shrugged and adjusted her glasses.

  “We need more friends,” she said simply, looking around at all the full tables. It was the first day of school and her, Tracy, and I were sitting at our little lunch table eating peanut butter sandwiches.

  “Besides,” she continued, grinning. “No one even cares about the boys and girls lunch tables. Look at Sydney’s table!”

  I turned my head to see Sydney surrounded by her cheerleader friends and a bunch of other eighth grade boys.

  Sydney was the prettiest girl in the seventh grade and always had the older boys going crazy over her. She was a couple of years older than me and she seemed to take that as an excuse to make my middle school life absolutely miserable.

  She was a complete peach to everyone else in the entire school, but for some reason would always say mean things about me, especially my weight. Oh, and she loved spreading rumors about my mom, who everyone seemed to know was gone for weeks at a time. But those didn’t bother me as much as she thought.

  Morgan and Tracy had been my best friends since kindergarten and they were the only friends I needed. It sucked being on the receiving end of a mean bully, but I could take it.

  I glared daggers at the three boys as they joined us. Who the hell did they think were joining us? I didn’t care if Morgan invited them, I didn’t trust them. I never trusted any of the boys at our school.

  Two of them looked like brothers, and Morgan had said they were both in her English class. They were taller than us, had matching buzz-cuts, and laughed at everything Tracy and Morgan were saying.

  “So, did you hear about Eric and Sydney?” Tracy was saying to our new friends. “I heard they kissed under the bleachers yesterday!”

  I rolled my eyes and went back to eating my sandwich in silence. As much as I loved my two friends, I didn’t want to hear about Sydney or any kind of boy she was dating.

  I’d already forgotten the boys’ names and I was getting bored quickly. I turned to the other boy, eyeing him warily. He was noticeably quiet.

  This boy was much quieter. He had long, unkempt hair and a serious expression on his face. He seemed to be loosely following the conversation and looked as though he didn’t know what he was doing here.

  “Who are you?” I asked the boy, against my instincts, remembering my mom always said to be polite to strangers.

  He turned a pair of piercing green eyes to me and smiled. I didn’t know why, but my heart started to pound when his eyes met mine. I wasn’t scared of him though. I didn’t know why, but for some reason, I felt nervous. I hadn’t felt nervous since my first day of kindergarten. What was going on?

  “I’m Reid. Reid Mannix,” he said with a wide smile, as though I’d made his day just by talking to him.

  “Hey, aren’t you in Miss Montgomery’s science class with me?” I asked, suddenly recognizing him.

  He nodded enthusiastically. He seemed glad that someone was finally paying him some attention since Morgan and Tracy were busy being entertained by the other two boys.

  “Yeah, I was the one who got sent to the office for drawing dirty pictures on the board,” he grinned.

  “Miss Montgomery looked like she was gonna have a fit!” I said, laughing with him. He was a cute boy, I decided. I knew boys weren’t supposed to be cute, but I liked this one.

  “Hey, we should do homework together sometime, what do you say?” he asked.

  I stared at him in surprise. The only one who had ever offered to help me with my homework was my dad even though he was getting busier and busier with work.

  “Okay, how about after school today? I’ll walk home from the bus with you,” I said, smiling. I was glad Morgan had decided to invite the boys over to join us for lunch. I was even more glad that one of the boys had turned out to be nice.

  2

  Reid

  Present Day

  “You gotta be fucking kidding me,” I muttered, taking a swig of water as sweat poured off my brow, pacing back and forth in the mercifully cold locker room.

  I’d just got done the most grueling practice yet, no doubt in part because it was one of the last ones before the big championship game. It was also one of the last practices of the summer and one of my last at Evendale University since I was an outgoing senior this year.

  But right now the only thing I could think about were those soft lips that had weakened me all those years ago in high school, those gorgeous creamy legs that spread open for me under the bleachers, those smooth, silky fingers racing up my back as I popped her cherry that unforgettable first time…

  “Can you believe it? Her dad ended up staying here and I guess he’s getting married or something,” said my buddy, Dom, as he changed into his tank top and shorts.

  I could believe she was coming back, sure. Even a rising star has to come home eventually. What I couldn’t believe is that I may get the chance to see her again. But what would I do? What would I say? We didn’t exactly part ways on the best of terms.

  It didn’t feel real. There was always something there between Eva and me. Always. Ever since we were kids in grade school and I used to pick on her after class. Or during. Or before. I was kind of the biggest asshole in the school to her.

  And then things got hot and heavy as we got older. I was the one to take her for the first time. Even after I took her virginity, the teasing never stopped. And I was also the first one to break her heart.

  But now she was single. And maybe it was time to reconnect…

  She’s changed, I try to tell myself. And I’ve changed too. Maybe she’ll give me a second chance. But I knew she wouldn’t be able to stand the sight of me. I can’t see her again. Not now, not ever. It would crush her and I could never let that happen again.

  As soon as the town began talking about Eva’s father getting married, I knew she’d come back. Ever since Dom told me, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her. She was and always has been a drug to me. I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the cute little smile that lit up her face, or her warm curves pressed against my chest, or how her gorgeous blue eyes never failed to suck me in and drain all the self-control from my body.

  I wanted to hold her, touch her, apologize for everything that happened the last time I’d seen her, all those years ago. I wanted to make her gasp and moan just like I’d always done so well, her body entangled in mine, her nails scratching my back, begging me to fuck her harder and harder. I missed the sound of her voice and the way she’d laugh at my stupid jokes.

  But that was impossible. I couldn’t let myself hurt her again. I couldn’t. The resentment was too strong on both ends. Sure, I’d done damage to her, but the way she left…

  Don’t get me wrong, I’d had a ton of fun since I’d moved here back in middle school, away from home at least. Being the star wide receiver on a top-four team in the country for four years straight, I was a bit of a star myself around campus and the little town that surrounded us. It was almost hard to believe Eva had gone on to drop out of college and become an even bigger star than me out in California.

  And even though I’d been with plenty of girls since Eva ghosted me, there was never that spark that I was looking for. Sure, I’d have plenty of opportunities with models, actresses, and starlets if I made it into the pros next year, but there was always something missing with every girl I’d been with. No one gave me the thrill the way Eva had all those years ago.

  “You hear about the boyfriend?” asked Dom. We’d just had probably the toughest practice of the season and it didn’t help that coach had been riding us ever since he’d heard we’d be playing our rival in the bowl game on New Year’s.

  “What do you think?” I said, pulling my shoes on with unnecessary force.

  The whole town was going crazy after they heard the news Eva was going to be in town for her dad’
s wedding. And TMZ couldn’t shut up about the ‘scandal’ with her singer boyfriend. Typically, we avoided that shit, but now and again I would get curious to see how she was doing. And by curious, I mean I still followed her on social media and had seen every single one of her movies.

  “You know I can’t see her,” I said, shaking my head.

  “Oh, I know. She’d probably beat the hell out of you the second you entered a mile radius,” said Dom, grinning.

  “Should be pretty quiet over at the Watering Hole tonight, what do you think about a drink to get your mind off her?”

  I glanced at him sharply. We both knew each other so well we could usually tell what the other was thinking: she could be there. And if she was there, I couldn’t miss her. I knew the risk and I knew about a potential scene. But my buddy and I were just in there for a drink. What was the worst that could happen?

  3

  Eva

  “Oh my God, don’t turn around,” giggled my childhood friend, Morgan Wexler, a grin spreading across her face. Her, Tracy Evans, and I were sitting inside the local bar enjoying a few drinks. We were having a good time reminiscing about the good old days over the free liquor Ron, the head bartender had decided to give me for giving them “publicity.”