When Milo doesn’t respond straight away, I turn my gaze up to meet his only to find him gaping. “Umm … are you okay?”
His brows shoot up. “Girl, you’re living with Colton Carrington?”
I roll my eyes. “Geez, thanks for the reminder.”
He seems to go somewhere far, far away for a slight moment and it’s damn clear that I’m not the only one affected by the startling good looks of Colton Carrington. “Damn,” Milo mutters under his breath. “What I wouldn’t give to be the salami in that guy’s sandwich.”
I scoff out a grunt. “You’re into Colton?” I laugh. “Damn, I know you rich kids are fucked up but surely you have better taste than that.”
Milo’s eyes go wide as his head whips around to me. “Holy fuck, I just said that out loud.”
“Umm … yeah?” I ask as he frantically starts looking around at the students passing by, but while they’re all looking this way, none of them are paying any attention to him, they’re all enthralled by their shiny new toy.
“Fuck. You don’t think anyone heard?” he questions, his voice low. “I’m not exactly out of the closet here.”
“Bullshit,” I laugh. “My gaydar pointed you out from a mile away. How could you still be in the closet?”
His eyes swivel away. “It’s complicated,” he says, his voice taking on a strange, hurt tone. “Around here, being gay isn’t accepted. We’re born to be upstanding citizens of the community and then one day take over our father’s businesses, marry and have children who will then do the same. I go against the grain and not to mention, this is an all-boys school. If even a whisper of my sexual orientation was to get out, I’d have the shit beat out of me every fucking day.”
My mouth drops. “Are you kidding? In this day and age?”
“Yup. These guys are old money. They’re set in their ways. They don’t listen to what the rest of the world is telling them. All that matters is pleasing their grandaddies and hoping they don’t fuck anything up before they’re given access to their trust funds.”
“You speak as though you’re not one of those trust fund babies.”
“Oh, I am,” Milo says, a grin spreading wide over his face. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
I shake my head but for some reason, I can’t help laughing. There’s something about this guy that I like. I don’t know what it is, but I feel as though I can trust him. He's still one of them but he knows a little something about being different in a man’s world and for that, he has my respect.
“Are you ready for this?” he questions after we’ve completed the whole loop of the school.
“Ready for what?”
“The last thing on your tour is finding your locker and this is where everyone is going to be. You thought those hallways were bad, just wait until you walk in here.”
My eyes bug out of my head as he starts turning the corner. “Really?”
Milo nods as we take one final step, putting us at the head of the corridor swarming with man-boys. “Welcome to hell.”
Within seconds, the corridor goes silent as hundreds of pairs of eyes turn my way. “Oh, shit,” I mutter under my breath.
“Yup. Let’s go. The longer you stand here looking like a deer in headlights, the weaker they think you are.”
Fuck.
I force my feet to move beneath me, feeling like I'm not just walking into the lion’s den, but as though I'm strutting right into it and pissing all over the lion’s territory. My eyes bounce around and I do my best to appear as though I have my shit together, but the fear begins to rattle me.
I shouldn’t be here. I should be chilling with the chicks, getting bleach thrown over me, and listening to girls claim I’m a slut for living in the Carrington mansion. Chicks are predictable, but dudes … nope. I’ve spent years trying to work out Nic, Eli, Sebastian, and Kairo, but still to this day, they’re a mystery and now I have a school full of mysteries staring back at me.
I hear their comments as I pass.
“Fresh meat.”
“Who the fuck is this?”
“Dibs.”
Milo steps in closer to my side, his tall frame brushing up against mine. “Ignore them,” he murmurs, glancing down at my papers in his hand and nodding off to the left of the corridor. “Here. Locker 367.”
Milo and I step into my locker and he scans the paper once again for the code. “I give it about three seconds before the rumors start,” he tells me. “Prepare yourself.”
I hardly have a second to respond before a heavy shoulder slams into the locker beside me. “So, you’re the famous Jade I keep hearing about.”
I groan knowing this guy could have only heard that name from one place. I turn to face the guy as Milo grunts behind me. “You’ve got the wrong chick, Spencer. This is Ocean. She’s starting today. Don’t be a douche.”
Ahh … so this is Spencer. The moronic fourth friend who had disappeared while Charlie was trying to get in my pants. I can only imagine the kinds of things Colton has told him about me.
Spencer’s eyes flick up to Milo over my shoulder and the look he gives him is nearly enough to chill me to the bones, but it doesn’t hold that same deadliness that Colton’s glare does. “Fuck off, Milo.”
Milo scoffs. “Yeah, right. Like I’m about to leave her with you.”
Spencer rolls his eyes and as they drop back to mine, I can’t help but take him in. He’s just as charmingly attractive as the rest of the guys around here but there’s a certain level of douchiness to him, and I can’t work out if it’s there because he’s team Colton or if the guy is simply just a dick. What I do know is that he has some wicked jawline action going on, mixed with his mousy brown hair and tall, ripped frame, I don’t doubt that he’s a heartbreaker. You can just tell he’s all about the games.
“Well, well,” he says, pursing his lips into a smug grin. “If it isn’t the illegitimate love-child of Charles Carrington.”
Okay. I was expecting all sorts of shit to come from today but I can guarantee that wasn’t one of them. My mouth drops open. “Excuse me?”
His brow shoots up. “Oh, you’re going to take the denial route. That’s cool. I had you pegged as a tough bitch who’d face it front on. Apparently not.”
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. I’m no one’s love-child.”
Spencer scoffs, his eyes sparkling with excitement. “You know, I always took Charles for being the clean-cut type, but your mom must really have something special about her to get him to admit to your existence and move you in. No wonder Colt has his panties in such a twist. I’d have the shits too if my inheritance just got reduced by billions. It’s bad enough he has to share it with his bitch twin sisters, but now you too.”
All I can do is stare. “Did Colton say that?”
Spencer laughs as people start to crowd around, wanting to know exactly what’s going on so they can run home to their country club mothers and tell them all about it. This bullshit is going to spread far and wide.
He shakes his head. “As if he’d admit to that. He didn’t have to tell me, it’s fucking obvious. Why else would Charles move you into his home? Carrington has strict rules about fraternizing with the staff and though Colton calls you the help, we all know it ain’t true. You’re staying in the main house, aren’t you? If you were ‘the help’ you’d be out back with the rest of the leeches.”
I hardly have a second to respond before he continues. “Did you get the DNA results back yet?” he questions before shaking his head at himself. “Obviously. Charles wouldn’t have moved you in if he hadn’t, right? Fuck. No wonder Colt’s been so fucking pissy. This is hilarious.”
“Dude,” Milo cuts in, but Spencer is on a roll.
“You know,” he says, leaning in closer, his eyes becoming hooded as he looks me up and down, laying on the charm way too thick. “Charles Carrington has an empire bigger than anyone else on this side of the country, just your inheritance alone is going to outweigh
any one of the pricks here. You and I could make a deal. I know you're trailer trash but stick with me and I can make you a presentable young woman of society. We could get hitched and combined with my inheritance, we’d be unstoppable.”
What. The. Actual. Fuck?
I laugh at him, loving how his eyes darken at my mockery. “You’ve got to be kidding, right? You know, I really am just the help. At least my mom is. We’re just waiting for the old live-in to move out of the pool house.”
“Yeah, right. Like I’d believe that.” Spencer laughs, taking a step back with his hands buried deep in the pockets of his expensive uniform slacks. He winks and it’s lethal. “Offer still stands, babe, but if I were you, I’d be taking on the Carrington name. It’ll open all sorts of doors.”
With that, he walks away, taking his confidence with him, a confidence that is so strong that it has me questioning my sanity. His theory makes sense but it couldn't be true. Why else would Charles have gone to this effort though?
I spy Colton down the end of the hallway, and as if sensing my gaze his eyes snap to mine, a deadly glare full of hatred. Maybe Spencer is right. Maybe Charles is my father and my dad … no. I refuse to believe it. My dad and I were like peas in a pod. Not to mention, I have his dark hair and sea blue eyes, though mom’s genes are pretty damn strong too.
I fall back against my locker, zoning out and ignoring the whispers that continue to surround me. I knew today would be weird, but illegitimate love child and marriage proposals before 9 am wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.
I feel a devilish grin pulling across my face only to realize my eyes are still locked on Colton’s. He tears his away and I hear the slam of his locker door all the way up here before he stalks off with Jude on his six.
A chuckle pulls from within and a strange excitement begins to pulse in my veins. I can only imagine what other bullshit today is going to bring, and for some oddly fascinating reason, I can’t wait.
Bring it on Bellevue Springs Academy, you can’t break me.
Chapter 7
I sprint up the stairs of the Carrington mansion, taking them two at a time. I’m going to piss my fucking pants. Surprise, surprise, Bellevue Springs Academy doesn’t come equipped with female bathrooms. I’ve had to hold it all day long. If I was a betting woman, I would have used the guy’s bathroom during class but I’m a smart woman, and I know a losing bet when I see one.
I would have been alright if my maybe half-brother wasn’t so douchey and had offered me a ride home, but apparently his babysitting duties finished as soon as I was in school and had made it before the bell. Stupid prick. I’d do anything to get my hands on him and tear him limb from limb.
It was the longest twenty-minute walk of my life. There’s something about the way you have to walk, squeeze, and clench all at the same time that’s somewhat humiliating. By the time I reached the long-ass driveway and had to wait for someone on the other end to open it up, I was as close to dying as I’d ever been before.
I fucking ran. I wasn’t going to make it.
Tomorrow morning, I’ll be getting there early and speaking to the woman in the student office. Surely she can work something out for me. I mean, I doubt she holds it all day long. Maybe I could share with her. On second thought, she was a bitch. I doubt she’d offer up her bathroom to a desperate student.
I slam through my bedroom door and race to my bathroom. I've never been so happy to be in a skirt in my life. By the time I reach the toilet, my skirt is somewhere around my head and my panties are dangling around my ankles, threatening to send me toppling over and smacking my head into the toilet seat. God, that’d be a great story for paramedics.
My ass drops to the cold toilet seat and my world suddenly feels so much brighter.
Holy hell. I will never put myself through that same torture again. That was horrendous. I don’t think I’ve ever been envious of a penis in my life but right now, knowing a man can just whip it out and take a piss wherever he wants is kind of lucky, while also fucking disgusting.
I finish up and as I’m dragging my panties back up my legs, I can’t help but notice the bidet. “What the hell are you looking at?” I grumble, feeling as though it’s staring at me, daring me to squat my sweet ass over it. “It ain’t ever gonna happen, buddy.”
I get my panties back into position and pull my uniform off before dumping into the dirty washing hamper and striding back out to my room.
I find my door wide open and curse myself for being so careless, especially now that Jude is hovering in the doorway, staring at my nearly naked body. “You need something?” I grumble with distaste. This guy has been giving me the creeps ever since I met him yesterday, not to mention, he stares all the time. It’s fucking weird.
His eyes travel over my body as though I’ve purposefully walked out of the bathroom in my underwear just for him. He steps over the threshold of my room. “You wanna fuck, don’t you?”
I freeze for a moment as he grabs the back of my door and goes to slam it shut. Shit. This isn’t a position I want to be in. “Get the fuck out of my room,” I say too loudly, hoping there’s someone around who can hear me.
“Come on,” he says, the bang of the door making me jump. “I’ve seen you watching me all fucking day. You want me. Just say the word and I’ll give it to you.”
“You’re fucking kidding me, right? I haven’t been watching you. You’re delusional. I wouldn’t fuck you even if you were the last man on earth.”
His eyes darken as he starts making his way toward me. “Then I guess we’re going to have to do this my way. Better prepare yourself because I like it hard.”
My door swings open and I jump while Jude’s eyes slice around to the door with venom. Colton stands in my doorway looking bored as hell, his gaze heavily on my body and filled with lust and for a moment, my panic worsens.
His eyes drag lazily over my breasts and stomach before coming back to mine and when they do, they're filled with disgust. “Put some fucking clothes on,” he snaps. “What are you trying to achieve? Hoping to get knocked up by one of my friends and get your dirty claws into their pockets too?”
“Fuck you.” I stride across my room to my luggage bag only to realize all my clothes are gone. Knowing mom, she would have snuck in here during school and put them all away. I slam the lid back down and make my way to the walk-in closet, pissed off that now they both have a perfect view of my ass in my Brazilian cut panties.
“Both of you get the fuck out of my room,” I say, looking out through the closet door, aiming my glare at Jude. “Thanks for stopping by, but I’ll have to decline your offer. Unfortunately, I’m not in the mood for being raped by some dick who probably doesn’t even know what a fucking G-spot is, let alone what to do with a vagina if he ever got one. Which by the way, I'm sure is never.”
“You fucking bitch,” Jude spits, coming at me, making fear rattle through me as my hands shake by my side. I’m all for putting on the tough girl act, but deep down, I’m fucking terrified.
Colton’s domineering voice comes shooting through my room, demanding attention. “Jude,” he says in a tone that sends shivers spiraling down my spine. “Get the fuck out of her room. You know the rules about fucking with the help.”
Jude pauses almost like Colton’s tone had pierced right through him, anchoring him to the spot, the same way an alpha would to his pack. Jude glares, his eyes promising payback before spinning around and facing Colton. A silent message passes between them and a moment later, Jude is gone, leaving Colton standing in my doorway, staring at me with the same disgust.
“Feel free to walk your ass out any time now,” I snap at him.
“How about a thank you for saving your ass?”
“How about not inviting rapists into your home, dickhead? I shouldn’t have to thank you because it shouldn’t have happened in the first place. I wonder what daddy dearest would think if he knew all his staff were at risk because of your bad decisions.”
“You’
re fucking impossible.”
“And you’re a fucking over-privileged asshole who thinks the world owes him something. News flash, it doesn’t. Without your buckets of cash, you’re just like the rest of us. Now please, get the fuck out of my room so I can change.”
Colton scowls one more time before finally stalking away, making sure to slam the door extra hard as he goes. I let out a heavy breath and start pumping my hands, trying to make the shaky feeling go away as I race to the door and flick the lock.
That was too close. I knew I could sense creepy vibes from the guy but I was way off the mark. I never thought in a million years that I'd be unsafe in this house. How fucking stupid was that? From now on, I’m playing it smart. I can’t have that happen again because next time I might not have Colton there to save me.
I hurry back into my closet, feeling way too vulnerable to be walking around in my underwear despite the door being locked. Who knows what other ways into this room there are. After all, the house is filled with secret rooms and passageways. I’m kind of excited to go hunting for them, but now I don't exactly feel so safe to do it on my own. Perhaps I can convince Milo to come exploring with me.
Milo was great today. He stood by my side at every chance he got. He introduced me to a few of his friends who most likely won’t try to rape me in a supply closet and I was grateful. Though to be honest, they were kind of nerdy and panicked at the thought of speaking to someone who came fully equipped with tits and a vagina.
I think Milo and I could be good friends. He seems like the girlfriend I’ve never had while also giving me all the benefits of having a guy friend. Have I mentioned how much I despise having girlfriends? They’re so … needy. Ugh. I hope I wasn’t like that to my boys.
Having Milo and his friends to talk to made the day a little more bearable and helped me to tune out the whispers, comments, and rumors. By the end of the day, I think the rumors were that I was Colton’s fuck-buddy sister and there was some disgusting incestual thing going on. Yet among those rich people, the rumor didn’t seem as scandalous as I had imagined it’d be. Back home, if someone suggested that, people would be hurling in gutters, gasping, wide-eyed and horrified. Here, they’re more like ‘Yeah, okay. It happens’ and it makes me wonder if it’s a common rich person thing who all have similar skeletons in their closets, or if it has more to do with wanting to idolize Colton Carrington so bad that any indiscretion can be excused.
Tough Sh*t: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Rejects Paradise Book 1) Page 7