Olivia and the Troublemaker: The Destiny Clark Saga, #10

By Cindy Ray Hale

He made a bet. She promised herself she wouldn't fall for him. 

 

The other day, I overheard the hottest guy at school making a bet that he could convince me to kiss him.

If I have anything to do with it, it's never going to happen.

They called me an ice queen. Whatever that's supposed to mean. 

Here's the thing. He has a reputation, and I'm not interested in his games.

But then I found out he lives up the hill from me. 

And now he knows where I live.

And he's more determined to win the bet than I first realized.

I have to admit, the more I get to know him, the less like a troublemaker he seems. 

Maybe I misjudged him. 

Or maybe I'm getting in too deep. 

Olivia and the Troublemaker is a companion story to The Destiny Clark Saga. In this Young Adult Sweet Romance, you can expect flirting, blushing, and kisses in the woods, but you won't find any swearing, nudity, or sex.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cindy Ray Hale
• Release date: Dec 26, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393024071

Cindy Ray Hale

Cindy Ray Hale loves writing Young Adult Contemporary Romance and Clean Romance. She was born and raised in the hills of Tennessee and has moved all over the United States. She's finally settled down in a small town in the mountains of western Virginia. Want to be the first to know about a sale or a new release for Cindy's books? Visit www.cindyrayhale.com to join her newsletter or follow @CindyRayHale on Twitter.

Book preview

1

Olivia

I’d done it. After spending the entire summer cooped up in my room, practicing my flute, I’d finally gotten first chair. I just found out today in band. I glanced across the school parking lot, spotting my mom’s Suburban. I clutched my textbooks to my chest and strode down the sidewalk toward it.

The double doors of the school burst open as I passed. A body slammed into me, knocking me to the ground, scattering my textbooks across the sidewalk. My bottom hit hard, and I sat dazed for a moment, disoriented.

I twisted to complain but stopped before the words left my mouth. Above me stood the hottest guy I’d ever seen, clutching a baseball cap. He had messy blond hair with determined bright blue eyes.

DeShawn Williams, a tall football player, rushed out and tackled him. The hot guy howled in protest, jerking his arms away from DeShawn. But he was no match for the much bigger guy. DeShawn ripped the hat from his hands and jammed it back on his head before saying, Nice try, bro, but it’s not happening. No one touches the hat.

The blond guy’s laugh was musical. He turned to me, and his eyes widened as though he’d just noticed I was there. Sorry for knocking you down. He bent down and gathered my books, offering me a hand. I grabbed it, and he pulled me to my feet. Are you okay?

I brushed my hands off on my pants. Yeah. I’m fine.

One side of his mouth tugged upward in an infuriating way as he looked me from head to toe. Fine? You kind of are.

My mouth opened in disbelief. Who was this guy?

As though he was reading my mind, he shoved out his hand like he wanted me to shake it. I’m Hudson Brown.

I eyed his outstretched hand but didn’t take it. Good for you, I said coolly. My ride’s here. I have to go.

Behind me, DeShawn said, Ooh. That’s gotta burn a little bit.

I looked just in time to see Hudson turn his head from me, smiling. I stared, mesmerized and then blinked to shake off the image. What was the point of even allowing myself to look? I’d just have to reject him. My parents would kill me if I even looked at a guy who wasn’t a Mormon like us. They probably wouldn’t let me date Mormon boys until I was in college.

I turned the corner to head to my mom’s Suburban and glanced down at the stack of books in my arms. My math notebook was missing. I should have put my books in my backpack, but I’d been so excited about acing my audition that I’d just kept them in my arms. I had that night’s homework assignment already mostly done in that notebook. I turned around to see if I could find where I dropped it and froze when I heard my name.

Don’t even think about it, bro. No one has a chance with the untouchable Olivia Clark, DeShawn said.

I ducked behind a large holly bush, making sure I was carefully hidden.

Oh, really now? Hudson said. I beg to differ.

DeShawn gave a fully-belly laugh. You think you have a chance? No, man. You’re straight up crazy. She’s the biggest ice queen at the school.

Seriously? Did he have to call me an ice queen? Wasn’t that a little low? And how would he know anyway? I knew I had a reputation for not being allowed to date, but I didn’t even hang out with DeShawn. It wasn’t that big of a surprise that he’d overhear something, but it still made me mad to think that a bunch of guys had been talking about me behind my back.

I guess it had gotten around school that I’d had to reject several guys who’d tried to date me. You’d think they’d just give up after being told no so many times, but some of them didn’t get the message. Hudson seemed like he might be one of those guys. The annoying persistent kind. It was too bad he had to be so hot.

You wanna bet?

Yeah, I do, actually, DeShawn said. He sounded so entertained.

You’re on. Let me think of something. Hudson paced back and forth, rubbing his jaw. I bet… I bet I can get her to kiss me… before New Year’s.

DeShawn laughed again. You think you can get her to kiss you? You really are full of yourself.

Hudson shrugged. Don’t underestimate what the right kind of attention can do to a girl.

I clenched my fists at my sides. There was no way I would let this guy manipulate me into kissing him. Over my dead body.

Okay, okay. If you lose you have to… DeShawn paused like he was really giving it some thought. You have to wear a princess costume to school.

I rolled my eyes. Could he get any cheesier? But part of me wanted to see Hudson making a fool of himself. For all girls everywhere. What right did he have, exploiting our feelings like that? Just because he was ultra-hot? Well, that wasn’t going to work on me.

Hudson groaned. Ok, fine. But if I win, you have to go up to Shanice and kiss her right in the middle of the hallway without warning.

Bruh, you’re killing me. Shanice? And get slapped in the face?

That’s better than wearing a princess costume.

I felt like they both deserved what they got. Except Shanice didn’t deserve to be assaulted in the hallway. Even if she did have a secret crush on DeShawn and would probably like it.

Okay, man. You’re on, but you can’t just grab Olivia and kiss her. She’s gotta be the one to kiss you. You said that yourself.

Ha! There was no way I would ever kiss Hudson. I didn’t care how hot he was. Or how good of a kisser he probably was. Guys like that tended to have experience. Or at least, I thought they did. It wasn’t like I knew firsthand. I’d never kissed anyone before. But I got the vibe that Hudson was a very good kisser.

I shook my head. Why was I thinking something like that? The guy was scum. Scum! And I had no intention of kissing anyone, anytime soon. Especially, not Hudson.

Their voices drifted away, and I peeked around the corner. My notebook was under a stone bench next to where they’d been standing. When Hudson and DeShawn were out of sight, I ducked out and grabbed my notebook. I propped my backpack on the stone bench and put all my books and papers into my backpack where they should have been in the first place. But then again, if I hadn’t gotten my books scattered and lost my notebook, I never would have overheard what Hudson and DeShawn were plotting about me. And I definitely wanted to know something like that. The last thing I needed was some guy distracting me with his good looks and pulling the wool over my eyes. I mean, I was used to guys trying to hit on me, but I’d never been this attracted to any of them. Hudson was off-the-charts hot. Too bad he was such a jerk.

Just as I reached my mom’s Suburban, I spotted Hudson across the parking lot. His eyes met mine, and one side of his mouth pulled up just before he turned and strode toward the line of cars waiting to pick up students.

I climbed into the car and crossed my arms over my chest. If he thought that smile was supposed to make me want him, he was dead wrong.

So, did you get first chair? Mom asked.

I’d almost forgotten all about my big news. Yeah, I did. Can you believe it?

That’s great, sweetheart. High five! She twisted around and smacked hands with me and then said, How about I make you some Thai for dinner to celebrate?

That would be great! Thai was my favorite.

Across the parking lot, I spotted Hudson climbing into a black Mercedes. Mom eased the car into drive just as his car pulled out in front of us.

The entire ride home, Mom talked about how proud she was of me. I nodded and smiled as she spoke but kept my eyes glued to Hudson’s car. Every turn we made, it turned before us, and my curiosity grew stronger the closer we got to our house.

When we pulled into our long driveway, I craned my neck to see Hudson’s car turning into Walnut Ridge, the neighborhood on top of the small mountain behind our property. My jaw fell open a little. Did Hudson live up there? I had to get my mind off this guy. There was no way I was letting him win that bet. That would be so humiliating. He could wear the stupid costume for all I cared.

Olivia, since you got first chair, you shouldn’t have to help with dinner or dishes tonight. You earned this break.

Thanks, Mom.

When we got home, I raced upstairs, eager to practice my flute to get my mind off of Hudson. I went into the formal living room where I had my flute stand set up and played through several scales and page after page of sheet music until Mom came into the room to tell me to work on my homework. I cleaned out my flute and put all my sheet music back into my band folder. I took my flute apart and put it back into its case. Clicking the case shut, I grabbed my backpack from the plush rug and slung it over my shoulder.

Mom was right. I had mountains of homework. It was the beginning of the school year, and it was already proving to be tough. I wanted to get into a good college, and it wasn’t easy unless you had nearly-perfect grades.

I scooted up to the desk in the room I shared with my sister Destiny and unloaded my books from my backpack. I dug into my math homework and plowed through several assignments. Just as I completed my last assignment, Mom called out for dinner.

I put my books and papers back into my backpack and wandered through the house to the kitchen where my entire family was gathered for a big meal. Mom had the table set with fancy glasses, and steaming bowls of curry and jasmine rice sat in the center.

I took my first bite of the delicious meal. I savored the coconut curry sauce. The fragrant jasmine rice practically melted on my tongue.

So, what’s the occasion? my older brother Michael said, waving a hand from the bowl of curry to the fancier glasses.

Destiny gave me a dirty look, and I scrunched my brow at her. What was her deal? Was she jealous about the special dinner? I glanced at her plate. All she had was rice with melted butter. Oh yeah. She hated curry. She always complained when Mom made it. Why couldn’t she just eat her rice and be happy for me?

Olivia, why don’t you share your news with everyone? Her excited smile was contagious.

She made first chair, my younger brother Elijah said, rolling his eyes.

I frowned. I’d worked hard for first chair. I deserved it. Why