A Mermaid's Kiss Read online

  Copyright

  A Mermaids Kiss is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  A MERMAIDS KISS: A NOVEL

  Copyright © 2019 by Katie Holland

  All rights reserved.

  Editing by KP Editing

  Cover design by KP Designs

  Published by Kingston Publishing Company

  The uploading, scanning, and distribution of this book in any form or by any means—including but not limited to electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of the copyright holder is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized editions of this work, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  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

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  Extras

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to several different people who helped inspire the names that made this book so much fun to write.

  To Kayleigh Buckner who won a contest, I had to be a character in a book. The female main character is based on her name and suggestions.

  To Sydney Cordiero who gave me the name for my sexy male main character, Major.

  To Jenny Beuerman who gave me the name for a kickass best friend, Karma.

  To Milissa Story who came up with the great name of Bay State University.

  To Shawna Broadstock who suggested Wes. His character became more important that I thought he was going to be.

  Thank you all!

  Chapter 1

  Kayleigh

  I stood on the sidewalk staring at one of the dorms of Bay State University. I still had a hard time believing it was going to be my home for the next four years.

  “Are you going to stand there all day, or are you going to help me?” Karma said, as she nudged me.

  “Don’t get your panties in a twist. I was just looking,” I shot back.

  “Kayleigh, we have all day to do that. I just want to get our stuff and find our room,” she sighed.

  “Fine.”

  I’d known Karma since first grade, and we’d been best friends ever since. Sure, she was bossy sometimes. Well, a lot of the time truthfully, but I still loved her to death.

  I got two boxes out of the car and followed Karma to the dorm entrance. The doors were propped open, so we didn’t have to fumble to get inside. Our room was 565. We got on the elevator and pressed the button for the fifth floor. I was glad we were on the top floor. I’d always loved being somewhere high and looking out the window. We found our room, left our boxes, and went back for a second trip. Two more trips later and we had everything in the room.

  I’d never been in a dorm room before, so I wasn’t really sure if this was a typical one or not. The room consisted of two bedrooms, complete with desks, a bathroom, and a small living area. The walls were a light grey but the highlight of the room for me was the view. When I looked out the window, I was sure I could see the whole campus.

  “Kayleigh, which bedroom do you want?” Karma asked, pulling me away from the window.

  “It doesn’t matter, you pick,” I told her.

  “I’ll take that one,” she said, pointing to the one on the right.

  That made me smile, because it meant I had the one with the bigger window.

  “Thank you,” I said, “You’re the best.”

  “I know,” she said grinning at me. “Now let’s go find some hot college guys.”

  I had to smile at that. Even though we were best friends, we were almost total opposites. Karma had bright red hair and fair skin, to my light brown hair and skin that tanned easily. One of the few things we had in common was that we both had athletic bodies. Our personalities were even more different. Karma was very social and outgoing, and I, well… I wasn’t. I’d rather curl up with a good book than go to a party. How we’d managed to stay such good friends was beyond me, but I was grateful for her every day.

  We decided on a compromise; we got our rooms in order then we went out to explore the campus. Orientation wasn’t until tomorrow, so we had the rest of the day to do what we wanted. Bay State University sat in between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean so it was quite a change from our home in Tulsa. It was a beautiful campus. There was a mix of old and new everywhere we looked. But the best thing was the palm trees. That’s not something we saw on a daily basis and I loved it.

  We’d been wandering the campus for a while and had already seen our fair share of cute college boys. Karma was sure to wave at all of them.

  “I’m so looking forward to college,” Karma said, winking at a tall, blond guy we passed.

  “You’re terrible,” I said with a laugh.

  “What? I have a healthy sexual appetite and by the looks of it, I’ll be able to have my fill here.”

  “I’m so glad our dorm room has two separate bedrooms,” I said. “At least the sounds of your sexual conquests will be muffled.”

  Karma just laughed at me. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t a prude. I just didn’t sleep around. I had a serious boyfriend in high school who I’d lost my virginity to. I thought he was in love with me, but when I got the scholarship to Bay State, he decided that a long distance relationship wasn’t for him and he broke up with me. Karma was ready to claw his eyes out, but I decided he wasn’t worth it.

  We finally found the building we were really looking for, the Davenport Swim Complex.

  “Let’s see if the doors are open,” I said. “I’d love to have a look around.”

  Karma agreed and tried the door. It was open. We walked in and I smiled at the smell of the chlorine radiating off the pool. It was my second home, and the place I truly felt like me.

  “This place is great,” Karma said as we walked in.

  The main pool was the one I was most interested in. It was
a standard Olympic size, great for competing. Karma had her eye on the other one. With its 3m springboard and 10m platform, it was strictly for diving.

  “Can I help you, ladies?” A male voice said, and we turned around.

  “We’re just admiring the facilities,” Karma said.

  “I’m sorry, but this is for our competitive swimmers and divers only. The recreational pool is in the Phys Ed building,” he told us.

  “Then we’re in the right place,” Karma said. “I’m Karma Webster and this is Kayleigh Mills.”

  “How nice to meet you in person,” he said shaking their hands. “I’m Coach Cross, the coach for the women’s swim team, so I guess that makes me your coach, Kayleigh. Karma, Coach Everett is in her office if you’d like to meet her.”

  “Sure,” Karma told him.

  We followed him to a hallway that held the change rooms and four offices. Coach Cross took Karma to her coach, and then he took me on a tour of the facility. It was state of the art. It had been built with Olympic trials in mind, so it had everything I could have asked for in a pool. I was ready to jump right in and start practicing. The pool was the one place I stopped thinking and just felt alive.

  After only knowing Coach Cross for twenty minutes, I already liked him. I could tell he was the kind of coach I could go to for anything, but that would still push me hard to do better. I was really looking forward to the start of the season.

  I met up with Karma and we left the swim complex. I could tell she was just as excited as I was. We had plenty of daylight left, so we decided to drive to the beach. With the help of GPS, we found our way to the nearest one. We left our shoes in the car and walked to the water.

  “This is great,” I said, when the first wave hit my feet.

  “Yep,” Karma agreed. “We definitely made the right decision in coming here.”

  We stood there for a few minutes, then walked up the beach a little ways and sat in the sand. It was blue as far as I could see. The light blue of the sky and the darker blue of the ocean went on forever. The sun on my face made me smile. The smell of the sea air was new, but I think I liked it. I found it very relaxing to listen to the waves on the shore.

  “Look over there,” I said, pointing out to the water. “Surfers.”

  “Cool. I wonder if they’re hot,” Karma said with a grin.

  Sitting on the beach we watched a group of four guys swim out and surf on the waves. I’d never seen anyone surf before and I thought it looked like fun, but then again, I loved everything to do with water. I know if I lived closer to the ocean, I would be surfing too.

  The guys we’d been watching made their way to the edge of the water and picked up their boards. They were laughing and joking with each other. It looked like they were picking on each other and that made me smile. I guessed that they were good friends.

  Karma was elbowing me to get my attention, like I didn’t see them walking right toward us.

  “Ladies,” one of them said with a nod.

  “Nice surfing out there,” Karma said, in her voice that always got guys attention. If she kept it up they didn’t stand a chance.

  “Thank you. Hey boys, looks like we might have two new fans,” he said.

  I snorted out a small laugh. I didn’t mean too, but this guy just seemed so full of himself and I found that funny. Karma gave me a dirty look. I couldn’t help it, and I wasn’t sorry for it either. I’d never been a fan of guys who thought their shit didn’t stink. I might be a quiet person, but I still had my own opinions.

  “Something funny?” he asked.

  I just shook my head. I didn’t want to say anything that I’d regret later.

  “I’m Karma,” she said, standing up and brushing the sand off her ass.

  “Major,” he said. “The rest of these assholes are Bodie, Chad, and Zach.”

  They each winked in turn. Wow, it seemed like all four of them were the same, but I kept that thought to myself.

  “This is Kayleigh,” Karma said to them.

  I nodded and stayed sitting. These guys were way more Karma’s type than mine, so I was going to let her have all the attention. Never say I’m not a good best friend.

  I had to smile at the interaction between them. Karma was putting on her best flirty self and the guys were eating it up. Yep, she was going to have no trouble finding guys here. I was doing my best not to look at them, but I was curious by nature and I mean-- they were hot. So, when I did chance a look in their direction, the one who called himself Major, always seemed to be looking at me.

  I told myself to stop looking. Besides, he’s probably just trying to figure out why someone like Karma was hanging out with someone like me. I tuned out their conversation, and closed my eyes, enjoying the sun on my face.

  “See you around,” a voice said in my ear causing me to jump.

  I opened my eyes to find Major’s head next to mine.

  “Uh, yeah, sure,” I said. Very intelligent Kayleigh. I watched them walk away wondering what that was all about.

  Karma sat back down beside me. “Oh my God Kayleigh, I’m in heaven here.”

  I had to smile at her enthusiasm.

  “You know you don’t have to be the same shy person you’ve always been,” she told me. “We’re in a new place with new people, you can be anything you want here.”

  “I know Karma. But I’m not shy, because I’m from Tulsa. I’m shy because that’s just part of my personality. You know that goes away when I get to know someone.”

  “Yes, but you never get to know people because your shy. You have to actually talk to people to get to know them.”

  This was an old conversation between us. She’d always had a hard time figuring out why I didn’t like talking to people. But, she was also right. I was in college now, maybe it was time for me to come out of my shell, well a little bit anyway.

  “Okay, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll really try to talk to more people if you stop giving me a hard time about it.”

  “Deal,” she said, with absolutely no hesitation and a cocky grin on her face.

  I wondered what I was getting myself into.

  Chapter 2

  Major

  The guys and I walked back to the parking lot, secured our boards, and got in the truck. Sometimes it was great having rich parents. They’d made me work all summer for this truck, but it was worth it because I loved it. It almost made up for the fact that they were making me go to college, almost.

  I dropped the guys off and headed home. I punched in the security code at the gate and pulled up in front of the house. It was the same house I’ve lived in for eighteen years, and this was the last night I was spending in it for the next eight months. As part of the deal, I had to live on campus in one of the dorms. My bathroom was bigger than I was sure my whole dorm room was going to be. I was positive it was going to fucking suck.

  “Hi honey,” mom said to me, as I walked in the kitchen. “How was surfing?”

  “Great as always,” I said, grabbing a water out of the fridge.

  “Are you ready for tomorrow?” she asked.

  I shrugged. It wasn’t exactly that I was opposed to going to college, I just didn’t understand why they wanted me to go, when we all knew I was going to join the family company. I planned on being CEO when dad was ready to retire. In my opinion, I should be starting to learn the business, not going to college. But apparently, to be a CEO they liked you to have a college degree. That, and I wasn’t allowed to touch my trust fund until I had that little piece of paper that said I was a college graduate.

  I downed the bottle of water and reached for another one. I was always thirsty after a good day on the waves.

  “Do I really have to do this?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

  “We’ve talked about this, Major. You know my answer.”

  “Just thought I’d ask in case you changed your mind since this morning.”

  Mom smiled at me. I might have been a pain in the ass at times, but she loved
me.

  “You’re going to have a good time in college. Just think of all the girls you’ll meet.”

  She knew the right thing to say to me. That was the only thing that kept me from complaining too much. Hot girls shouldn’t have been my main reason for going to college, but at least I had some motivation to go to class.

  I took my bottle of water and went to my room. Since I wasn’t getting out of it, I’d better get some stuff packed. I’m sure mom had taken care of all the stuff I needed for my dorm room, so all I had to do was pack what I wanted.

  I started throwing clothes in my bag and thought about the girl from the beach. Not the talkative one, but the stuck up bitch. They were both hot and it might be fun to hang out with the redhead, but the other one really got under my skin. She acted like she was better than the rest of us, not even bothering to talk to anyone.

  I could tell they weren’t from around here by their accents. I wasn’t sure where they were from, somewhere Southern though. If the brunette hadn’t been such a bitch, I would have asked them to hang out with us tonight. Why was I even giving it any thought? I was a love ‘em and leave ‘em kinda guy. I could get my pick of any chick I wanted, so why was I still thinking about her? I pushed her from my thoughts and found the rest of the stuff I wanted to take.

  Later that night, the guys and I sat on the beach behind my house and passed around a joint. It may have been legal now, but we were still all underage and had to get it from Bodie’s cousin. If I was college bound, tomorrow I was getting high as possible tonight.

  “Looking forward to tomorrow?” Bodie asked me, as he took a hit.

  “The only thing I’m looking forward to is bagging some hot chicks.”

  “That redhead was smokin’ hot,” Zach said.

  “Her friend was pretty hot too,” Chad said.

  I couldn’t disagree with them. “I bet I could have the redhead’s panties off in no time,” Zach said, wiggling his eyebrows.

  We all laughed. It wasn’t that funny, so we must have been pretty high. Bodie’s cousin always got us the good stuff.

  “I’m just glad you losers are going to college too,” I told them. That was another reason I had agreed to go. We all came from well-off families who insisted their children go to college. We would have been happy to be international playboys for a couple of years. But that wasn’t in the cards for us.