Kennedy In Denver (In Denver Series Book 1) Read online

  Kennedy

  In

  Denver

  By R.Colora

  Cover Model © 2015 Shutterstock-Pedan Alexey

  Book Cover © 2015 A.R. Cousar

  Proofread by- Jeanne Becker Trinkaus

  Editors and Contributors - Kate Tetreault & Jeannie Gobaira

  Special Contributor and Editor

  C.M.Steele Clickable Link

  Important Information

  Copyright © 2015 A.R.Cousar

  All rights reserved. Except for the use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means is prohibited without the express permission of the author.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and settings are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, names, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Content Warning

  This book is not suitable for Children 14 and under

  Yes, there is SEX, VIOLENCE, and BAD LANGUAGE. The book deals with adult themes. However, if you let your teen watch Vampire Diaries or Pretty Little Liars my book is TAME.

  Who doesn’t remember sneaking to read their first naughty romance stop being so uptight we were all 14 year old girls curious about what our mothers read.

  On that note to my own 13-year-old daughter, I had better not find out you read this it is COMPLETELY not age appropriate. Just remember I am your mother I know and see everything!

  Dedication

  This book is for anyone that survived Hell.

  We may have come out battered and bruised but we made it.

  Acknowledgements

  My husband George for his unwavering support and for supplying me with endless cans of Coke and giant bags of Starburst. (Yes, he removes all the pink ones)

  Jeannie Gobaira and Kate Tetreault

  Where do I even begin...you ladies gave me the courage to share my writing. What would have just been another story thrown in the trash we turned into a book together. We started as strangers on a Facebook Author Fan Page and look at us now. My characters have been living in my mind and dreams for a long time but fear kept them trapped there. It was with your help that I was able to put them on paper. You will never know how truly grateful I am to you.

  Jeanne Becker Trinkaus

  I gave you 60,000 words with commas where they didn’t go or quotation marks all over the wrong places, you let me know everything was fixable. I wrote this story, Kate and Jeannie helped shape it, but the reason it’s on Amazon is you. No one wants to read a book with awful punctuation. Thank you so much for taking the time to fix all my awful mistakes and for never telling me I was stupid for not understanding how punctuation works.

  A huge Thank you to all the ladies and authors in The Lascivious Ladies Erotic Book Club, your words of encouragement and praise helped me so much for my ten ARC readers who so quickly gave me praise and suggestions. This is our book; this is what happens when women help each other up instead of tearing each other down. The authors below answered a million question and gave so much advice; these ladies took time from their own projects to help me with mine. I can never express how grateful I am to these amazing women.

  Click these links - Layla Frost, Jordan Marie and Sapphire Knight

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Easton's POV

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Easton's POV

  Chapter 8

  Easton's POV

  Chapter 9

  Easton's POV

  Chapter 10

  Easton's POV

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Easton's POV

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Easton's POV

  Chapter 16

  Easton's POV

  Chapter 17

  Easton's POV

  Chapter 18

  Easton’s POV

  Chapter 19

  Easton's POV

  Chapter 20

  Easton's POV

  Kennedy and Easton’s Playlist

  Prologue

  "Girls, hurry up we need to move our asses if we want to go to these parties!"

  Emma, my new roommate yells at us from the bottom of the staircase.

  We were all assigned to the fourth floor of the Channing dorm, but when we arrived on campus, we found out that our rooms had grown some kind of toxic mold over the summer break and there was no other available housing on campus.

  I instantly panicked; I didn't have a plan B. I was at Barton's on a scholarship. I was going to have to call my parents, and they were already freaking out at the fact I was in New York alone at seventeen.

  I tried to explain to the lady at the student housing office that I didn't have anywhere to go, and I only had about four hundred and seventy two dollars in my savings account. She seemed unfazed and uncaring; I was just another student in her office complaining.

  I took out my phone to call my dad when the blonde one, Whitney, snatched it right out my hand, "Where are you from, Red?

  "It's Kennedy, actually. Kennedy Brennan."

  "Well, Kennedy Brennan, where are you from?

  "I'm from Florida."

  "Do you drink?"

  "No, I'm only seventeen."

  "Do you smoke?"

  "No, once again I'm only seventeen."

  "Have you ever gone single white female on someone?"

  "I don't even know what that means!"

  "Ok, you seem normal even though you have red hair, and you're wearing a…I don't even know what the hell kind of shirt that is!"

  "It's The Green Arrow and The Flash. They're superheroes—part of the Justice League."

  I see Whitney's face go blank.

  "Never mind, I'm going to shut up now."

  "Look! My dad found a house! It used to belong to a fraternity that lost its charter, so we lucked out with an 8-bedroom house right in the middle of the action.

  "I really should call my parents," I say.

  "Grab your stuff. Emo Barbie and the Brazilian supermodel are coming too. It'll be just the four of us."

  "I can’t afford that."

  "Did I ask you to pay? No— I didn't. Now grab your weird ass green army bags and follow me."

  "I don't know you. I'm not supposed to go with strangers."

  "Oh for fuck’s sake, Red! I'm Whitney DeWitt, my father is the Governor of California, and I'm not going to molest you or sell your organs. Now let's go!"

  "Hey you, Giselle!"

  "My name is Pilar."

  "Emo Barbie!"

  "It's Emma."

  “Whatever, let’s go check out our new house!"

  Rush Week for a freshman is the most exciting thing that happens on a college campus. Imagine you're out of high school, on your own, no parental supervision going to fraternity and sorority parties, getting drunk, making new friends and meeting cute guys.

  I was out with the girls, and our first stop was the Phi Kappa Tau party. The music was great, the boys were cute and the booze was flowing freely. I'm not a huge drinker; I can take it or leave it. I’m standing in the corner, and I see a fight break out between a guy I can't see and the Paul Walker clone from a few houses over. I'm trying to back as far away as possible, but I have nowhere left to go. I'm stuck in the middle of a brawl...

  Everyone’s yelling to "Call campus police!” and people are chanting "Rapist"!

  The guy on the floor dr
ugged someone, and the partygoers are pushing and shoving. I start looking for the girls. I send up a silent prayer to Saint Michael that the girls are ok.

  I feel Whitney grab my hand. "Time to go, Kennedy, we can't be caught up in this mess, my dad will kill me," Whitney mumbles.

  I know that all of us are underage and drinking. We are not going to get a free pass if the campus cops show up. We’re all laughing as we run out the door.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  I answered the knock on my door with a coke in one hand and my giant bag of Starburst in the other. The Paul Walker clone from the party is standing there with a pile of mail.

  "Hi! I'm Tristan Cooper,” he says with a super sexy Texas drawl. “I have a bunch of your mail. No one at my house reads Italian Vogue, so I took a closer look at the address, and it's yours."

  "Thanks! My roommate, Pilar, turns into a rabid dog when her fashion fix is messed with," I added with a sincere smile.

  “Hey, the other night you were at the party. Thanks for helping that girl. You hear about it on the news, but you never believe it can happen to you or anyone around you," I said as my body shivered at the thought of it being one of us.

  Tristan looked down and rubbed the back of his neck while replying, "Yeah, Henry was a legacy, so he felt he could do whatever he wanted since his parents own Burns Markets, the whole food grocery store chain.”

  Just because your parents are rich doesn't give you a free pass to be a rapist. I can't believe they only kicked him out of Conservatory. How the hell did he not have to go to jail? Sorry, this whole thing makes me really mad ...oh sorry; I’m talking you to death without even knowing your name." Now he looks bashful, both are great looks on him.

  “I'm Kennedy. I live here with Emma, Pilar, and Whitney."

  Tristan perks up at that announcement. I started to laugh, “Aww, someone has a widdle crush!” I joke.

  He lowered his face again, “Emma and I have musical theatre together. I think she amazing, but she is so focused it's like I don't exist". Damn, is this cutie shy?

  "Well, Tristan, I can't get her to notice you, but you seem like an alright guy. We're gonna order pizza tonight and watch Frozen and the new Fast and Furious since Pilar has a thing for Paul Walker, which I'm sure you've already heard you could be his twin."

  Tristan is turning crimson now. "...Pilar is beautiful, you ALL are. It’s the most popular topic of conversation around here, how so many hot girls live in one house. But, I only have eyes for Emma." Oh, he's looking up at me, must be serious for him to throw caution to the wind.

  I shrug, "Well, Tristan, if you wanna come hang with the ladies, be one of the girls so to speak, be here at 7, and you can get your Emma fix."

  Chapter 1

  When sophomore year rolled around, we decided to stay in the house. We liked the privacy of not being squished in a crowded dorm. By this time we were more like sisters, you know the type the whole sister from another mister thing. Yeah, well that's us. During the breaks, we’d often spend them together with one girl’s family or another. I got to see how the super-rich vacationed, and they got to see what life on a farm was like. All our parents knew that if they couldn't reach their own daughter on her phone that all they had to do was call one of the others because where one of us went you surely would find the rest.

  Junior year was the most difficult. On top of a ton of coursework, we settled into our majors. Even though they were somewhat similar in studies, they would lead us down different paths in life. I was playing a lot of guest appearances, Emma was in workshop every weekend, Pilar was busy taking extra diction courses to help with her accent, and Whitney was constantly flying back and forth from LAX due to her agent having her do test readings. We slowed down to enjoy senior year, but that was all the time we’d have left together.

  Four years later....

  "Hey, Tristan, are you riding with us to the Last Kangaroo or are we all meeting there?"

  "No,” he says. "I'm riding in with the guys, so I'll see you there."

  "Pass me the glue gun," Pilar says.

  "This is bullshit," Emma grumbles. "I'm the only one without my Random Partner Random Song Ribbon. I'm going to be so mad if I have a blank space on my cap come tomorrow!"

  "Just put any blue ribbon no one is going to look on top of your head to make sure you have four different ribbons."

  "Listen here, Kennedy. You have five Random Partner ribbons, I have none. I always get the worse partners, not to mention the worst songs. Of course, I’m not going to win first place singing ‘Ace of Bass.’” Emma throws her arm over her eyes dramatically. "I need a great song and a great partner if I'm going to get that blue ribbon tonight! Whitney, I need you to distract the DJ."

  "Oh hell no! Emma you aren't roping me into any of your shenanigans tonight. I need to graduate without a black eye or scraped up knees and elbows and every time you try to draw me into one your half-baked schemes I end up at the student health center!" Whitney replies.

  "Pilar!" Emma cries.

  Pilar yells back, "Nope chica! You are on your own; you have to earn it fair and square.”

  "You bitches totally suck right now!"

  "I know! Kennedy will help me, won't you?"

  "I will help you on one condition.”

  “Anything! I will give you my first born, name your price!"

  "I want you to give Tristan a kiss tonight. Just one, with tongue."

  "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND, KENNEDY?"

  "Nope, that’s my price take it or leave it."

  "What is this obsession you have that if Tristan and I kiss we will realize we are soul mates? Soul mates don't exist. We don't live in one of the sexy romances on your iPad. This is real life,” Emma huffs.

  "Well, if you aren't worried about him being your soul mate, you won’t have a problem kissing him. It's just a kiss! What are you scared of?"

  "Fine, you hag. I hope all your hair falls out you, evil bitch!"

  "Hey now! If I'm going to help you win I need you to be a little nicer to me, you ungrateful wench!" I yell back.

  "I better have that beautiful blue ribbon in my clutches! Anyone want anything from the kitchen?"

  "No thanks!” we all reply.

  "What do you have up your sleeve, Kennedy?” Whitney chuckled.

  "You know the DJ, Ryan? He was one of the students I tutored this semester so I asked a favor. I asked him to pair Emma and Tristan together for the Random Category. I told him to pick ‘Time of My Life’ from Dirty Dancing as the song choice."

  "You are such a geek, Kennedy!" Pilar says laughingly.

  "No, listen! I have a theory, if those two kiss they will fall madly in love, and they will go on to have musical super babies! I'm doing the world a service."

  "Stop trying to play matchmaker, Kennedy. It hasn't worked in 4 years,” Whitney asserted.

  "No, this is going to work, Whitney, I can feel it in my bones."

  "What do you think?” I asked Pilar.

  "I think Emma is right. You read too many romance novels! I don’t know what goes on in that strange little mind of yours, but one kiss is not going to give them their happily ever after." Pilar replied.

  "We all know you love Tristan. You two have been attached at the hip for four years. Jesus, the boy picks out all the pink Starbursts from the bag for you. Why haven't you made a move on him?"

  "First off, Whitney, that's gross! Tristan is like my brother! Plus, my dream man will have black hair and blue eyes. He will be brooding and serious, but soft and sensitive, and he will have dimples. Deep, deep, deep dimples.”

  "So your dream man is Ian Somerhalder?” Pilar chimes in.

  "Pretty much, but he needs to be way taller than I am so probably six three or taller, and I need him to be lumberjack big.”

  "You know you live in a fantasy world!” Whitney adds.

  "So what! It's better than letting any of these gross, STD infested college boys hump my leg and tell everyone how amazing at sex
they are! I'm waiting for my prince."

  "Come here, Kennedy. Give me a hug," Pilar says. "You girl, are something special."

  “It feels so strange. This is our last night together, our time is over at Barton, but we will be the September 4 for the rest of our lives. I couldn't imagine not having you guys in my life.”

  “I'm serious let make a promise that no matter what's going on we won't ever not have time for each other.” Pilar and Whitney nodded.

  “Come on it's time to get ready ladies. Let’s go out with bang!” Emma chimed in.

  "Can you hand me the flat iron?” Pilar was shaking her head. “You know, Emma, Coop looks like my dream man and you friend zone him. The sad thing is, in four years he hasn't looked at anyone else. What a sad waste of man candy."

  “Look, it's not that I'm not attracted to him. I would have to be blind and crazy not to be, but the reality is he wants the same thing I want, to be in a national touring group. The chances of us getting cast in the same productions all the time is like one in a million.”

  “Tristan is an amazing guy, and I do have feelings for him, but he is also the kind of guy that makes you want forever and the white picket fence, two and a half kids, kind of life. I want to live a little before I settle down. It was better to be his friend then for us to break each other's hearts cause trust me, Tristan Cooper is the guy you never get over,” Emma concluded.

  Chapter 2

  We call ourselves the September 4. We are young, beautiful and talented, so of course we are all roommates at the Barton Conservatory for The Performing Arts in New York. Starting with freshman orientation until the day Henry Lloyd Burns entered our lives, we were inseparable. I knew people would often look at us and try to figure out how four such random people could possibly be friends.

  I was the only working class kid out of the group. My dad, Cian, worked in a union factory and my mother, Moira was a pre-k teacher’s aide. I got my mother's wild, curly red hair and my father's green eyes. I definitely heard my share of Harry Potter/Ron Weasley jokes growing up, but I loved my Irish heritage, and so did my parents. That's why they named me after their favorite Irish family. You can't get more Irish than Kennedy Brennan. And, here I am attending Barton on a full scholarship plus a stipend. I just completed my dual majors of a Bachelor of Music Education (BME) that would allow me to teach music to grades Kindergarten-Twelfth Grade, and a Bachelor of Music (BM), an intensive program that prepared me to be a professional musician.