Tens - The Invitation

TENSTHE INVITATION JAYE PRATT & JENNA DARING CONTENTS BlurbA note from the authorsChapter OneChapter TwoChapter ThreeChapter FourChapter FiveChapter SixChapter SevenChapter EightChapter NineChapter TenChapter ElevenChapter TwelveChapter ThirteenChapter FourteenChapter FifteenChapter SixteenChapter SeventeenChapter EighteenChapter NineteenChapter TwentyChapter Twenty-OneChapter Twenty-TwoChapter Twenty-ThreeChapter Twenty-FourChapter Twenty-FiveChapter Twenty-SixChapter Twenty-SevenChapter Twenty-EightChapter Twenty-NineChapter ThirtyJenna Daring Stalker LinksJaye Pratt Stalker LinksAbout the AuthorAlso by Jaye Pratt & Jenna DaringAcknowledgements Tens: The hottest, wealthiest, and most elite at Grand Ridge University. Grand Ridge University is run by four men: Forrest, Apollo, Riggs, and Darwin. They’re spoiled, entitled, and have no idea about real-world struggles. But if I’m not careful, they’ll suck me into their lifestyle, and I’m not interested in becoming one of them. Yet that doesn’t stop them from inviting me to become a Ten. They want me to join them and to accept my family’s legacy, except when I find out the rules, I have no intention of taking a reigning crown. And rejection isn’t something they’re expecting. If they think I’ll submit, they’re sorely mistaken. They can try to break me and teach me a lesson, but they better be prepared for a fight because their silly games don’t scare me—they just make me want to get even. They’d better watch their backs because I’m coming for them. Tens - The Invitation is the first book in the Grand Ridge University series. This book is a why choose series and contains light bullying. Expect some dark themes throughout. A Note from the Authors Please note, this series does come with a warning and a list of triggers that can be found on Jaye’s website: www.jayeprattauthor.com. While Tens book one is fairly tame and not high on the dark side, some scenes could tiptoe over the line, especially as the series progresses. Jaye and Jenna do not condone the behaviour in this book. If you do not like dark romance of any kind, we suggest checking the TW before reading. Tens is set in Australia and uses Australian/UK spelling, except in the case of our FMC. Her parents were Australian, but she was raised in the USA. In her chapters, you may see a switch for certain words. Example: Mum/Mom. We felt some words needed to be changed for her because of the way she would pronounce them. The Rolls-Royce pulls up at the black wrought-iron gate, the security waving us through instantly. I gasp in disbelief with my nose pressed to the glass of the window, staring at the massive homes that pass by, waiting and wondering which one belongs to the Taigums. I never expected to be here my senior year of high school. I always thought once my mom passed on that I would move in with my best friend Leesha and finish off my senior year, but my mom had other plans. She always told me that to get ahead in life, you need to rub shoulders with the right people. So here I am, not entirely against my will, though it’s not the path I would have chosen if she didn’t add it to her damn will. She came from money but chose love—with my father, who turned out to be a deadbeat and left her once her money ran out. Her parents disowned her the second they found out she was pregnant by a Five—not willing to look that far down from their own Tens’ status—and that included me by default. But here I am in her hometown of Grand Ridge, about to move in with one of her best friends, Jennifer Taigum, who Mom claims was smart enough to choose money over love. I’ve never met the woman, but Mom told me lots of stories about her, and we received Christmas gifts every year from when I was about seven. I did ask her once why she never went back, and she said it was mainly her pride stopping her. But when you’re shunned by family and friends in that world, no one wants anything to do with you. Now I’m joining those same circles to fulfil her final wishes for me, in which she fully detailed what was to happen following her death in a letter I received after her funeral. I wasn’t happy when I read it, but I respect her wishes enough to follow them through. I know it’s unconventional, and most parents would tell you to marry for love, but love doesn’t pay for chemo treatments or pay the bills. Though, if Jennifer has so much money and is such a good friend, why has she never helped? I don’t believe in handouts, but when it’s a matter of life and death, something has to give. So now I’m halfway across the globe with two suitcases. One full of my clothes and the other all the things of my mom’s I couldn’t part with. Old photos. A cardigan that still smells like her. Her ashes and some other odds and ends. Nothing of value besides a ring. One I keep hidden in a locket around my neck. She said it’s the only piece of her old life she owned, so I handmade this necklace to fit the ring inside. The car slows as we pull up in front of a set of large matte-black double doors. I sit up, peering through the tinted window. Green hedges surround the property as far as the eye can see, hiding the house away from prying eyes. When we drove through the security into this private estate of about five houses, I knew they were rich. Beyond rich. How on earth will I fit in here? A row of stepping stones leads through to a well-manicured garden of flowers and hedges. A modern, uber-rich home stands beyond the pathway. It actually looks more like a damn hotel—that’s how big it is. Three stories high, bordered by perfectly manicured lawns, and situated on a large peninsula of land surrounded by the ocean. I have always loved the ocean, and now it’s a place to escape