“Alright,” Hendrix says, looking down at the shot of vodka in her hands. “I can’t drink another one of these or else I’m going to end up throwing up all over Colton’s place and I’ll never live it down. What do I have to do?”
A grin pulls at my lips and I slam my hand down on the counter that I’m sitting on. “You need to climb up here, flash those perfect titties of yours while swinging your shirt above your head like a helicopter and screaming ‘Spring Break, baby!’”
Her eyes bug out of her head, absolutely mortified by the challenge that’s been thrown down, but she doesn’t strike me as the type to bitch out. “You’re fucking kidding me?”
I shake my head. “It’s fine. You don’t have to do it, just take another shot instead.”
Hendrix groans before handing me her shot and climbing up onto the counter. I throw her shot back, more than capable of handling another few shots before I pass out. Hendrix gets to her feet and I can’t help but look up at her as she starts pulling her shirt above her head.
She gets the attention of the many guys in the room and by the time her shirt is swinging around above her head with her tits bouncing softly as she moves, every last eye in the room is staring.
“SPRING BREAK, BABY!” she squeals.
Hands are thrown up in the air and excited cheers flow through the room, begging for more. People laugh, assuming she’s so drunk that she doesn’t realize that we’re not even close to Spring break, while the other half are probably just assuming that she’s on something, and way too wasted and fucked up to know what the hell is going on.
Hendrix jumps down with a renewed confidence that has her chin held high. “You didn’t think I was going to do it, did you?”
“I have to admit,” I tell her, a grin stretching wide across my face. “I thought you were going to chicken out.”
She shakes her head. “Not me, baby. I’m the fucking man around here. You better watch out, I know you’re a bad bitch, but baby, I just got badder.”
“I don’t even think that makes sense.”
I roll my eyes as she grabs her empty shot glass and gets busy refilling it. “I don’t care,” she tells me. “All that matters is that you just stepped up the game and I’m meeting you there. Ain’t no more bullshit challenges for you.”
Damn it. I should have known she was going to throw it back at me.
“What do I have to do?”
Her eyes scan around the room and stop on Colton. My stomach sinks as I follow her gaze and find his eyes already on mine, narrowed and clearly aware that whatever we’re doing has something to do with him. “See that lap of his?” she questions, looking at me as though I’m a chicken shit. “It looks very lonely. I bet he could use a dance.”
I meet Hendrix’s eyes. “You want me to give Colton Carrington a lap dance in the middle of a fucking party?”
She shrugs. “I mean … you could always take another shot.”
I look back at Colton and his gaze is like two hazel pits that have me drowning with need. “Fine,” I say, grabbing the shot and taking it anyway.
Hendrix laughs as though she just won this round, but when I jump down from the marble counter and start making my way around it she calls out after me. “That’s not how the game works.”
I turn back to her but keep walking toward my target. “You think I’m about to skip out on a chance at getting wasted and rubbing my coochie all over Colton Carrington? I don’t fucking think so, babe.”
She shrugs her shoulder while howling out a laugh. “It’s your funeral,” she tells me, spinning around on the marble counter so she can watch the show without having to crane her neck.
I turn back to Colton, seeing him clearly through the throng of people, and as I grow closer my eyes become hooded. I don't know what it is about this man, but the more time I spend with him, the more attractive he becomes. He’s like my kryptonite. I’m the moth and he’s the flame.
The closer I get, the more suspicious he becomes, but when I start unbuttoning my shirt, he grows wary. I let the fabric slide down my arms and watch as hunger flashes through his eyes. Colton licks his lips, liking what he sees as I stride toward him in my black string bikini top, wanting it more than maybe even I do.
I step up before him and slip in between his legs, feeling like an absolute goddess as his fingers twitch with the need to touch me. “What do you think you are doing?” he questions, his tone low and cold as if someone had flipped a switch.
My brows furrow. “What do you mean?”
A wall slams down behind his eyes and it instantly puts me on edge, especially as he watches me like a child who’s about to break.
A silence settles between us and it’s as if he’s willing me to figure it out so he doesn’t have to be the one to say the words.
What the hell is his problem? He’s been more than happy to have my body rubbing all over his since the moment I arrived in Bellevue Springs. What’s the difference between those times and now? He was more than into it when we were standing in the library.
It hits me like a fucking wrecking ball. The people. He’s more than happy to have me in private, but he’s too ashamed to be seen with the help in front of his rich friends.
That fucking bastard.
Everything inside of me shatters. How could I have been so stupid?
I pull back from him and stare into his eyes as every little fiber within me breaks. “So, I’m just going to be your dirty little secret then?”
“Come on, Jade. It’s not like that,” he says, sitting up so he can get a bit closer.
“Oh, really?” I grunt, watching as his eyes harden, realizing that I hit the nail on the head. “Then please tell me what it’s like because I’m fucking dying to know.”
Colton stands and looks down at me as a frustrated groan pulls from deep within him, making it appear as though dealing with my drama is some kind of chore. “Jade,” he murmurs, trying to keep our conversation private as he reaches for me.
“No,” I say, pulling out of his reach. “If I’m not good enough to have in front of your pathetic friends, then I’m not good enough period. Whatever this is, it’s through. Nic was right. You’re just looking for some bitch who’s going to bend to your will, but that’s not me. I don’t get hidden away.”
I turn and go to walk away but he catches my wrist, pulling me back to him. “Jade, come on,” he urges, staring down into my eyes but keeping a distance between us that makes it look somewhat professional. “You know what the fuck I’m facing with the board. If they knew we were … you know?”
“If we were what, Colton? Friends? Together? Screwing around? What would it matter? You’re the fucking boss, if they don’t like it, they can fuck off, but you’re choosing your precious reputation over everything else, just like your father always did.”
His stare hardens and anger pulses through him, his hold tightening on my wrist. “That’s not fair.”
“No?” I question, tearing my wrist free. “Then prove me wrong. Kiss me right fucking here for the world to see.”
“I can’t,” he whispers, silently begging me to give in, the way he’s so used to the rest of the world doing.
I shake my head. “I don’t come second place to anything, Colton. Just forget about it. I’m done.”
I walk away and find myself back in the kitchen wearing my heart on my sleeve. I grab what’s left of the vodka bottle and throw it back, feeling the burn as it travels down my throat. “Uh oh,” Hendrix says. “Trouble in paradise? What happened?”
“Nothing worth mentioning,” I tell her, tearing open the door to the private bar and welcoming myself in as my heart sits heavy in my chest. I grab the first bottle I can wrap my fingers around and walk back out, holding it out to her, “Now, are you going to be a little pussy or are you ready to get really fucked up.”
Hendrix takes the bottle from me and uncaps it with a tight smile. “You better fucking believe it.”
A body steps in behind me and I’
m crowded against the counter, a hand on either side of my hips keeping me caged. “Are you alright?” Charlie murmurs in my ear. “That looked rough.”
Fuck.
I turn in Charlie’s arms and look up into his caring eyes, knowing damn well that a man with such a pure heart is way too good for me, but at the same time, if he wants to play with fire and ignore the warnings, then that’s on him.
I push up onto my toes and raise my chin so my lips hover just in front of his. “Dance with me, Hot Sauce.”
Charlie's eyes narrow as he stares down at me. He knows there’s only one right answer and that’s to tell me no. He knows that Colton’s going to be pissed and he knows that he’s going to come after him the second he steps out of my arms despite the way he denies that there’s anything between us. Hell, Charlie even knows that I’m using him just to make Colton jealous, but damn it, he’s not pulling away.
“I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”
“So fucking much.”
“Then you better give me all you’ve got.”
Chapter 17
The afternoon sun streams through my bedroom window and I groan, wondering why I had to go and prove some ridiculous point to Colton last night.
Charlie and I practically screwed on the dance floor while I watched Colton’s eyes get darker by the second. Charlie sure as hell wasn’t too ashamed of me to show me off in front of all his friends. Though, knowing Charlie, having a rumor attaching him to me would most likely be the perfect ‘fuck you’ to his dickhead father. After his third time asking me to slip out to the pool house with him, I decided enough was enough.
It was cruel really, knowing how he feels about me and playing on that just to get at Colton. I kinda regret it, but I kinda don’t. They all knew the game we were playing and when you play with fire, you’re bound to get burned. In Colton’s case, that fucker got obliterated. Fingers crossed that he’s learned his lesson about playing with my heart. Oceania Munroe doesn’t play fair, she plays to win.
I don’t know why his rejection bothered me so much. It’s not as though I didn’t see it coming. At least, I should have. I’ve always known deep down that Colton was never going to take it any further with me. I’m the goddamn help. He’s destined to date Victoria Secret models until he finally gets past that stage and marries one of his friends' little sisters in a bid to close a billion-dollar deal. Dating the help was never in his plans, and fuck, it really hurts.
Nic keeps telling me that he’s going to hurt me one day and while I knew that he was right, I thought I was strong enough to have it sail off me like water off a duck’s back.
This is killing me. I must have looked so fucking pathetic, walking across the room to a man who pushed me away without a second thought. I must have looked desperate.
Pitiful.
Inadequate.
All this time, I've been pretending. I've been going to their fancy schools, making fancy friends, joining in on their fancy lifestyles, but this isn’t who I am. Colton’s rejection is a reminder of that. What have I been doing? I should have been working out how to find myself in this godforsaken town, how to live day by day without losing myself to their world but I got caught up. That can’t happen again. I won’t allow it.
I let out a heavy sigh and throw the blanket off me. The clock up on the wall is telling me that it’s just after one in the afternoon and I instantly start hating on myself. It was only a few weeks ago that I made a promise to myself to really try with my schooling so I can graduate and not have the shadow of Breakers Flats looming over me. Then I go and do something like sleeping through the day after allowing myself to get fucked up. I’m not going to lie though, that party was fucking epic … you know, until Colton went and screwed it up for me.
I had every intention of getting up early and taking my sorry ass to school. It would have been a shitty day but I feel as though it would have been a step in the right direction. It would have served to remind me that I’m a strong independent woman and despite the shit going on in my life, I’m still capable of making the right decisions.
Apparently not.
I screwed that up when I fell into bed at three in the morning and then slept right through my alarm, snoozing it for over an hour before throwing my phone out the window and instantly regretting it. I’m going to have to go out there at some point to find it but knowing my luck, it’s probably fallen down a drain or been stolen by Colton to use as a weapon against me.
As I lay in bed staring up at the ceiling, I can’t help but think over everything that happened at the party. It was supposed to be a celebration of how Colton and I had conquered Jacqueline Vanderbilt. We were supposed to get fucked up together and enjoy our night before screwing on every surface of the house until we finally passed out on the couch, but I guess things never really go to plan in Bellevue Springs. Just ask Charles Carrington, he sure as shit learned that the hard way.
A few good things came out of the party though so I guess it wasn’t a complete waste. I mean, Milo certainly had a little unintended fun. I’m going to have to check in with him at some point and get a run down because after he disappeared with Jess, I never saw him again. As for Hendrix, I feel as though I saw another side of her and I think that I actually like it. I’ll stick with her from now on. She doesn’t seem like the rest of the girls I’ve come across in Bellevue Springs. She seems sincere while the rest are sheep. They’ll show their true colors soon enough and when they do, I’ll be ready for them.
After somehow managing to peel myself out of bed, I trudge out to the kitchen and grab myself an orange juice. There’s nothing quite like a hangover, but then it honestly beats getting up at 7 am and getting myself ready for another horrendous day at my new school. I’d take sleeping in and a headache any day. After all, it’s nothing a quick throw up and pain killers can’t fix.
I grab the bottle of orange juice and as I close the fridge, the bright pink sticky note staring back at me steals my attention. I recognize Mom’s handwriting immediately and a weight drops in my stomach. It’s never good news when Mom goes to the effort of leaving a note.
*No school = working. You have a HUGE mess to clean up. I am not happy!*
Shit. I guess my good day of lounging around the pool house just went to shit.
Now knowing that there’s a big mess being left for me, I bypass the whole drinking out of a cup thing and just lift the bottle to my lips, cringing at mom’s voice in my head threatening to kill me if I was to keep doing it. The bottle gets jammed back into the fridge and I dawdled into the bathroom before madly searching through the drawers for some painkillers.
I get myself through a hot shower and after dressing and finding my phone, I push through to the staff quarters to find both Mom and Maryne staring back at me. Scowls instantly spread over their faces and guilt pours through me. It would be so easy to say that party was Colton’s idea but they know me well enough to know he wouldn’t have done it without the idea being pushed into his douchey little mind.
I press my lips into a tight line and scurry past them before either gets a chance to curse me out. I can only imagine the string of curses that would come flying out of my mother’s mouth. It’d be enough to make even the devil blush.
I grab one of the maid’s cleaning carts, knowing damn well that the mess in the kitchen, living room, and pool area is going to need all the help it can get. I start pushing and get out into the main part of the house before finding myself following the murmured voices coming from one of the informal living spaces.
Colton’s low rumble sounds through the room and I stop just short of the door. I'm all too curious about what the hell is going on in there. “I’m sure he’ll show up,” Colton murmurs. “He’s disappeared without a word before.”
Disappeared? Is he talking about Jude? I’ve been doing a good job of pretending that fucker doesn’t exist, but Colton’s words have the memories from last Saturday night flooding back to the forefront of my head. My hands are s
haking as anger begins pulsing through me.
“Not like this,” a woman responds, her tone full of panic. “He’s always left a note or at least sent a text when he’s going to be gone for a few days.”
“It’s only been a week …”
“A week and a half, Colton. It’s been a week and a half. Something is wrong.”
Colton lets out a heavy sigh. “I really think he’s alright, Mrs. Carter. I would have heard if something had happened. He probably just took a trip down south with some friends or maybe he’s met someone who’s keeping him away. You know how he gets. He probably hasn’t even realized that he’s worrying everyone back home.”
Worrying them? The fuck? No one is fucking worried about him. He’s a fucking rapist. He should be slaughtered, not searched out because mommy and daddy are desperate to get their little boy home.
Mrs. Carter lets out a heavy sigh. “I guess,” she says as I hear the familiar sounds of someone raising off the couch. “He’ll come home to me. He always does.”
“I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”
“Thank you, love. You’ve been a great help in easing my worries, though unfortunately, my fears are still there.”
“I know,” he says.
I hear them walking out of the room and anger pulses through me. That’s it? Colton isn’t going to tell her how her precious son sexually harassed me for weeks until he finally found the courage to drug and rape me? He’s just going to let her walk away?
No. I can’t let this happen.
“I wouldn’t if I were you,” Harrison murmurs so softly behind me that I practically jump right out of my skin.
“And why the hell not?” I demand, narrowing my eyes as Colton steps out of the living room with Mrs. Carter and leads her to the front door.
“I’m not going to pretend to know what that boy did to you, but the staff talk, and I can only assume that it was horrendous. But think about who you are and what that boy has gotten away with. Do you think they’re going to believe the poor girl from Breakers Flats?”
Cocky F*ck: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Rejects Paradise Book 2) Page 18