A few seconds pass and I use my arms to roll myself onto my back. My arms spread out at my sides and I have to gently sway my feet to keep me below the water. I’m not surprised when Spencer comes rushing in beside Jude and with the water beginning to calm, it’s easy to see the panic on his face.
It’s only a moment after Spencer arrives that the whole group is there. Colton and Charlie step up to the side of the pool and it makes me wonder where the hell they came from. For them to be here so soon, they must have been here while I was struggling against Jude, meaning they saw and didn’t do a damn thing about it.
I look up at Colton and somehow this goes from some kind of bullshit war between Jude and I to a challenge between Colton and I.
Who will break first?
Colton’s face remains cool, calm, and collected and I watch as the four of them talk among themselves, the only sign of his distress being his fisted hands at his sides. He never takes his eyes off mine.
My oxygen slowly begins running out, but I know my body. I know my limits. I can play this out for a little while longer.
A fifth body appears at the opposite edge of the pool and my eyes break Colton’s hold to find Milo staring down in horror. I watch as he goes to jump but Colton’s loud, booming “NO. Leave her,” is heard, even through the water.
Milo hesitates and his eyes flick to mine. I don’t doubt he’s questioning if I’m actually alive down here, so I move my arm back and forth, trying to ease his mind enough to take a backseat.
I look back at Colton. Time is running out.
Will he break, or will I?
It’s a risky fucking game, but I wasn’t taught to take the easy way out. I was taught to fight for what I believe in, though I have a feeling that mom wouldn’t quite be pleased to find that this was the way my young mind interpreted her lesson.
It’s fucking stupid is what it is. Trust me, that knowledge isn’t lost on me.
I’ve been down here for at least thirty full seconds and common sense would have him knowing that I can’t last much longer. The question is am I stubborn enough to allow myself to pass out down here or does he blow his ‘I don’t give a shit’ facade and come in here after me?
It’s a fight for dominance and right now, neither of us is willing to relent.
I’ll give myself five more seconds and then the game is up.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Colton jumps.
He dives in after me, swimming down into the deep waters and quickly grabbing at me. He scoops me into his strong arms and pushes up off the bottom of the pool with everything he’s got.
We break the surface within sheer moments and I discreetly suck in a deep breath as I hear Colton doing the same. I flop my body heavily against his as he swims to the edge of the pool.
Charlie and Spencer are there and grab my arms. They haul me out and lay me on the dirty ground.
“Is she fucking breathing?” Colton roars as I hear a rush of water, telling me he must have pulled himself out of the pool.
“I don’t know,” Charlie replies, a little too close to my face as the other two remain silent.
“MOVE.”
I feel hands on my body, cold and wet just like mine and I know it’s Colton.
“Ocean?” Milo calls in a panic, sending a wave of guilt coursing through me, but I don't respond. I’m going to see this through. If Colton wants to insist on fucking with my head, then I’m going to do the same. “If your little fucked up game has killed her, I’m coming after you, Carrington. All of you fuckers will go down for this.”
“If we go down, you’re fucking coming with us,” Jude spits at him. “You could have dived in, but you didn’t. If she’s dead, then that’s on you too.”
Fuck. My poor Milo.
He’ll forgive me, he has too.
“Shut the fuck up,” Colton roars. “I have to give her CPR.”
I feel the heat of Colton’s lips hovering above mine, ready to start saving my life and I decide that enough is enough. For him to think that he’s about to start CPR means that I’ve taken this far enough.
My eyes spring open and I grin up at him. “Well, who would have known that you cared so much?”
His face drops, realizing that he’s just been played. He rears back from me. “That’s fucked up,” he roars and I hear Milo’s breath of relief. “I can’t … FUCK.”
Colton flies to his feet and within moments, he’s slamming his way out the door with a pissed off Charlie right on his heels. Spencer meets my eyes and shakes his head before following and then I’m left with Jude staring down at me.
He doesn’t say a word, just starts walking away as though he never did a thing. “This isn’t over,” I call after him, glad that he’s just witnessed how fucking crazy I can be. “I’m going to take you the fuck down, Jude, and when I do, you’re going to wish you never met me.”
He slams through the door but I know that he got my message loud and clear.
“Colton was right,” Milo says, dropping to his knees beside me. “That really was fucked up.”
“I know,” I say with a cringe. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to scare you like that, but I’d already started and I wasn’t going to back down.”
“Scared?” he laughs. “Girl, I wasn’t scared. That was all acting. I saw the breath you took the second you broke through the water. You made a fool of him, but you better be armed, he’s going to come back swinging and when he does, you better be prepared.”
Chapter 21
I sit cross-legged on the sunbed while looking down at my stupid math textbook. It’s been yet another shitty week. The sun has just set on Saturday night, taking my boys away with it, though I shouldn’t have been surprised. Saturday nights are their time to shine. It’s when the Black Widows come out to play and they can hardly do it while chilling out in Bellevue Springs. I mean, who would scare the teenagers into obedience if they’re not there to do it? It’s not like Nic’s father is actually going to go out and get the job done. He’d rather send his son into shitty situations.
God, I hate that guy. It’s hard to believe someone so vile could be related to Nic. The only thing they share is their looks, everything else is completely different. He’s the type who would willingly throw his men under the bus just to save himself. He's a real asshole.
I bring my attention back to the textbook. I’ve only been staring at it for fifteen minutes, but it’s been a long fifteen minutes. Usually, my struggle to concentrate comes from my lack of interest in the work, but tonight, it’s Colton.
Lately, it’s always Colton.
He’s having a party in the main house and all of Bellevue Springs must be here. There are people lingering everywhere. It’s so not my scene. My idea of a fun Saturday night is chilling with my boys back at home. We’ve always kept away from the party scene. Bad shit always went down at parties and the more people at a party, the more witnesses there were. In our town, witnesses meant jail time.
Music thumps heavily through the property and despite how badly I’m itching to go over there and take a quick peek, I keep my ass parked on the sunbed. Hell, I don’t even care if I actually read one damn word in the textbook tonight. It’s open on my lap and that’s all I need. It’s my distraction, and if someone comes creeping out here, I have all the right to tell them to fuck off and to quit disturbing me. Though in all honesty, the textbook is more of an excuse. Without it, I’d just look like a jealous idiot who didn’t get invited to the popular guy’s party.
Tune it out. Tune it out. Tune it out.
I don’t care about a stupid party.
I'm a big girl. I can handle a night of resistance. Besides, Colton has gone out of his way to make my life a living hell. Especially in the last few days since the whole pretending to drown thing. Let’s just say he’s a little put off that I was able to pull one over on him. He makes such a show of not caring, especially in public and when that facade was challenged, he wasn�
�t happy. Since then, it’s like he’s been Colton 2.0. Everything is more. More scowls, more hate, more taunts. I've never heard ‘the help’ or ‘Jade’ so much in my life.
Colton hates me, that much is clear, but there’s also a small part of him that cares and it drives him insane. He doesn’t know why he cares and quite frankly, I don’t know either, but it makes for great entertainment.
“There you are,” comes a familiar voice sailing high over the noise of the party. “I’ve been looking for you all night. No way did I expect you to be hiding out here.”
My eyes snap up from the textbook to Milo and take in the way he sways from left to right. “Dare I ask where you thought I was hiding?” I question. “And for the record, I’m not hiding out. I’m studying.”
Milo laughs, a real belly laugh that has him stumbling forward and wobbling by the side of the pool. “Keep lying to yourself, babe,” he says, striding toward me. “You’re hiding out so bad that you might as well climb in the closet with me. It’s a tight fit in there, but I can make some room. Rent ain’t cheap though.”
I roll my eyes as he collects the textbook and drops it onto the floor then promptly steals its spot on the end of the sunbed. “Do you mind? I was reading that.”
“No you weren’t,” he scoffs. “But just to be clear, I thought you were more exciting than this. I checked all the upstairs bedrooms, hoping to find you in the middle of a gangbang sandwich. When I couldn’t find you, I thought maybe you’d be handcuffed to your bed and was stuck. I only came down here because it was my last option and I’m sorry to tell you, babe, but finding you sulking out here with absolutely no dicks flying around your face is really killing my Ocean Munroe is a bad bitch vibe.”
My brows pinch. “I am not sulking.”
“You’re right. You’re not sulking. You’re butthurt and jealous.”
“You better take that back before I give you a gangbang sandwich with my fist, then trust me, you’ll be the one butthurt.”
A crooked smile stretches across his face and my eyes are rolling before he even gets a word out. A lousy chuckle pulls from within before a hiccup comes up and surprises us both. “Damn, Ocean. You know, I think I might have had just enough to drink to let you try it, but serious question though”, he says, leaning forward and taking my hand. His thumb runs over the top of my hand before curling my fingers into a fist. “How soft are your hands and just how pointy are your knuckles?”
I tear my hand out of his grip and scrunch my face as I glare. “Stay away from my hands, you creepy perv.”
Milo shrugs his shoulders. “Then don’t offer to shove them up my ass. Now hurry up, I need you at this party so I can finally start enjoying myself. You’re my entertainment, you know that, right?”
I shake my head. “I’m really not feeling a party right now. I’d rather just stay here.”
“Stay here and mope? God, you’re so boring. When a man adopts a girl from the hood, she’s supposed to be fucking wild. You’re letting me down, Ocean. You’re giving all the girls from Broken Flats a bad name.”
“It’s Breakers Flats,” I say with a snobby groan.
“I don’t care if it’s Pervert Hills, you’re coming to party with me. I’ll keep you away from Carrington, pour shots down your throat, and encourage bad decisions. Besides, Jude is already passed out and Spencer is finger fucking some skank from BSP in the spa.”
I raise a brow. Why do I want to see that so bad?
My eyes slide up to meet Milo’s, and on seeing those big puppy dog eyes and pleasing smile, I cave. “Fine, but just know, if he comes at me, I’m not holding back.”
Milo grins wider and throws himself to his feet, grabbing my hand and hauling me up behind him. “Good. Now, you’re going to need a bikini.”
Fuck me.
Half an hour later, I sit around the pool with hundreds of bodies partying around me and I have to admit, I’m kind of having a good time. There are too many people that Colton hasn’t been an issue for me, and just as Milo had promised, Jude is passed out while Spencer is grinding against some chick in the spa.
Milo has already managed to shove two shots down my throat. I hadn’t even finished dressing and he’d already found a bottle of Vodka. I thought he was drunk when he came to get me, but it turns out I didn’t really understand the true meaning of the word because now he is absolutely wasted. I mean, damn. He’s a mess, but a good kind of mess.
He goes off to who knows where and I realize that despite his many promises about partying with me and encouraging bad decisions, I'm probably not going to see him for the rest of the night.
A girl who looks vaguely familiar walks up beside me and drops down onto Milo’s vacated sunbed and instantly falls into a chatty conversation. I don’t hear a word she says as all I can think about is how I know her. She seems so familiar. Usually, in these situations, I like to say that I probably know the person from school but in this case, I really can’t. You know, considering that she has the most perfect pair of tits staring back at me. It’s not fair. I mean, mine are great. I absolutely love them and wouldn’t change them for anything, but hers are … wow!
She’s been here for nearly ten minutes chatting before it hits me—the boat. This was the girl who came and chatted to me and made that day just a little more bearable. It’s crazy to think just how much has happened since that day.
Now confident that I know who she is, I’m able to relax back into the sunbed and listen to her chatter and just like on the boat, I find that she’s really not too bad. It's a shame I can’t remember her name but when I think about it, I’m not sure she ever offered it and after all this time, it’d probably be considered rude to ask for it now. I’ll check with Milo later.
Soon enough, girls start gravitating toward us and for some reason, they’re all fawning over the tattoo that sits over my shoulder. I guess in their clean-cut world, seeing a girl with visible tattoos isn’t something they come across every day. They’re always covered or hidden away. I don’t doubt that a handful of these girls are hiding little tramp stamps and love hearts.
One girl tells me how she wishes she could get one and before I know it, I’m racing through the massive house, collecting a bowl of things and showing them all how to DIY tattoo, doing the good old stick and poke with India ink, thread, and a needle.
Hours pass before my stomach begins growling and I go searching for food. I still haven’t spoken to Milo but I’ve been keeping an eye on him. It’s impossible not to. He seems to be everywhere. He’s so damn loud, but I don’t care because it makes watching him a shitload easier.
I wander into the house, following the smell of pizza and grin as I find the many arrays of boxes spread out over the kitchen counter. All my favorites are here and as I dig in, I’m happy to find them still warm.
Taking a bite, my eyes roll into the back of my head. This is life right here. Whoever made this pizza deserves a fucking medal. Knowing I won’t be going anywhere for a while, I grab a plate and load it up before jumping up onto the kitchen counter and watching the party as I eat.
I’m halfway through my third slice when the douche squad comes rolling through the kitchen and I groan to myself. It’s all four of them and I silently curse the stupid bitch who woke up Jude, though he seems content with ignoring my presence which I’m more than alright with. Spencer looks over me with interest while Colton just glares, looking as though he’s about to have some kind of tantrum because I had the nerve to show up at his party uninvited.
Charlie’s eyes instantly fall to my bikini top and instead of walking straight past, he pulls himself up and gives me a flirty smile. “I was wondering if you were going to make an appearance tonight.”
I can practically hear Colton’s eye roll, but knowing how much it annoys him, I play along. A flirtatious smile tears across my face and for a moment, Charlie looks dumbfounded. “What are you talking about?” I say with a fake giggle, lightly smacking his chest. “I’ve been here for ages, silly.”
His jaw drops a fraction and I take all sorts of satisfaction out of it, watching how a guy like Charlie who would have girls constantly throwing themselves at him is affected by the one chick his parents wouldn't approve of. Don’t get me wrong, that thought sucks and only serves to remind me how I don’t belong here, but it’s also kind of thrilling.
“You have? Nah, it’s not possible,” he says, dropping his eyes over my body again. “I would have noticed you the second you walked through the door.”
I lean forward and trail my fingers over the front of his shirt before twisting them into the material and pulling him in. He steps in between my legs and his hands instantly fall to my thighs. “You see, that’s just it,” I whisper into his ear, my breath tickling against his neck. “I came through the back.”
Colton turns his back on us and focuses on grabbing a slice of pizza. “Don’t fall for her bullshit, Charlie. She's just playing you.”
His eyes linger on my mouth and I watch as his tongue pokes out and trails over his full bottom lip, completely enraptured by me. “Nah,” he says, his voice low and tortured, choosing not to believe his friend when in reality, he’d be smart to. “She wouldn’t do that. Look at her eyes. She’s down.”
Colton turns and watches the show while Spencer pushes up onto the counter beside the pizza boxes. A lazy grin plays on his lips as he watches his friend about to strike out while Jude happily sulks and walks away, making life a little easier for us all. Though hopefully, he’s not about to go and search out some poor girl to assault.
I can’t help but look up and meet Colton’s eyes across the kitchen. Why are they always on me? They burn so dangerously. It’s so intense and alluring and if Charlie wasn't standing between my legs right now, I’d be clenching my thighs.
Charlie raises his chin, welcoming me in and I find myself dipping my face down toward his. Knowing Colton’s watching closely has my courage skyrocketing and I brush my lips over Charlie’s. He catches them in his and kisses me deeply, but allows me to take control. My tongue pokes out as my eyes close in satisfaction.
Tough Sh*t: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Rejects Paradise Book 1) Page 23