His phone ringing between us cuts our little moment in half and he pushes me aside to get into his jeans pocket. We both look at the screen of his phone to see Kai’s name looking back at us.
Nic hits speakerphone. “Kai. You better have good fucking news for me.”
“How’s my girl?”
“She’s my fucking girl,” he scolds, spoken like a true possessive asshole.
“I’m fine,” I tell Kai, ignoring Nic's alpha douchiness. “A little banged up and I feel a little drowsy from whatever was slipped in my drink, but I'll be okay.”
“You better be okay,” Kai tells me. “I swear, we’re going to get him for this. I’ve got you.”
“Kai,” Nic snaps, done with our conversation. “Tell me you got the fucking kid?”
“Nope. The fucker’s gone missing.”
“Missing?” I question. “Who? Are you talking about Jude?”
Nic nods but it’s Kairo who responds. “Yeah, pretty girl. Carrington said he left him in the guest room last night coz he was pretty fucked up but he wasn’t there this morning. I’ve checked his place and his parents confirmed that his car was still in the garage. He couldn’t have gotten far.”
“Fuck,” Nic roars, sitting up in bed, the sound penetrating my head and making it pound, though all I can think about is the terror Jude’s parents must have felt at being faced with someone like Kairo when he’s looking for answers.
Nic looks at me as I place a hand over my face, trying to dull the ache. “Do you know where he could be? You knew the fucker better than us.”
My lips twitch at the way Nic already refers to him in the past tense. I shake my head. “No, I only ever saw him here or at school,” I explain, leaving out the whole boat thing though I think it’s obvious that he isn’t hiding out on the Carringtons’ boat … though is it really such a long stretch? “Check the marina,” I tell Kai. “There’s a shitload of boats out there. He could be hiding out in one of those. He’d be stupid to think you guys weren’t coming for him. I told him that much.”
“Alright, pretty girl,” Kai says. “I’ll call you when I’ve got something.”
The call goes dead without so much as a goodbye and I’m left watching Nic as he slides out of bed. “If the fucker is running, I need to go out and help the boys find him,” he tells me. “Will you be alright here? I’ll come back as soon as I can.”
I nod, knowing that at some point today I’m going to have to get out of bed, find some pain-killers and go and thank Colton for saving my ass yet again. “Yeah,” I tell him, knowing he’s not about to walk out that door if I give even the slightest hint that I need him. “I’ll be fine. I want to shower and I need to go up to the house and see Colton.”
Darkness seeps into Nic’s eyes. “I’d prefer if you didn’t.”
“Didn’t what?” I question. “See Colton?”
He nods and I narrow my eyes waiting for an explanation. Nic sighs and turns away, collecting his keys off my set of drawers. “You’re into him, O. I see it all over your face so forgive me for not wanting my girl to go and throw herself at the guy who brought that fucker into her life.”
I stare at him, not sure what to say. “I’m not your girl anymore. It’s okay for me to be into someone else.”
Nic walks up to me and leans down on the bed until his face is hovering just in front of mine. “Baby, just because you say something, doesn’t make it true. You’re my girl and one of these days, you’re going to come to your senses and come home to me.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” I grin.
Nic rolls his eyes and drops a feather-soft kiss to my lips before turning and walking out of the room. “I’m glad you’re alright, O,” he calls as he walks out through the pool house. I listen out as he walks away and I hear the familiar sound of the door shutting behind him.
I let out a soft sigh as I’m left with nothing but my thoughts. I have to get out of here. If I sit in bed for much longer I’m going to drive myself insane. I know Nic is going to find Jude and put an end to my suffering. It's a fact. It’s as true as saying that the sky is blue or that I have a stubborn streak, but it doesn’t change the fact that it happened and it certainly does nothing to ease the torturous memories that have continuously sailed through my mind since I first woke up.
I peel myself out of bed and get up to my feet. I’m not going to lie, it’s not the first time I’ve been drugged but that time was by accident and possibly a little self-inflicted. Sebastian and I were screwing around with some pills that we’d found and apparently, it wasn’t the good stuff. I’d taken the wrong one and Nic, Kai, and Eli were quick to let Sebastian know what they thought of that. The poor guy couldn’t walk for a week.
I was taken care of and in safe hands, nothing at all like what happened last night. The next morning had sucked. I was wobbly on my feet and my mind was foggy until I could sleep it off and I’m assuming today is going to be the same.
I push up to my feet and hold onto the wall. My legs feel like jelly but for the most part, I think the drug is out of my system. I slowly start creeping toward the bathroom, silently thanking whoever lives above that Nic decided to go. I don't want him to see me like this. He would have stayed and insisted on helping me with every tiny little thing.
Holding onto the glass of the shower, I somehow manage to lean in and turn on the taps and after stripping off my clothes—clothes that certainly don’t belong to me or Nic—I search through the bathroom drawers for some pain-killers.
As I stand under the hot water and scrub the feel of his hands off my body, my mind wanders. It doesn’t make sense to me that Jude has run, not after the beating he took from Colton last night. He must be some kind of superhuman to have woken early and run out of here before Nic found him. From the sound of it, Nic’s been here all night and if Jude was there when he arrived, he wouldn’t be out searching for him now. It’s a two-hour drive from Breakers Flats and assuming Colton called him right after I passed out, that gives Jude two hours to regain consciousness and make a run for it.
Not fucking possible. Not after that beating. Jude would have been out for hours.
Something doesn’t add up here.
My mind takes me back to the fogginess of last night. I remember Colton coming and looking for me and I remember the way his eyes had locked onto mine, the fury, the jealousy, the rage. I remember it all.
He nearly killed him and then he took me away from my nightmare. He held me in my arms and murmured, begging for me to be okay, but then he said something else just as my world was fading to black.
‘Spence, I need your help.’
They know something. They know where he is. It’s the only thing that makes sense.
I fly out of the shower and pull Colton’s shirt back over my head before curling my hair up into a big clip. Underwear and sweatpants go on and a second later, I’m storming out the door to the huge mansion that still baffles me.
The clean-up crew is here and busy and resentment settles within me. I was supposed to enjoy that party and I was supposed to earn a shitload of cash helping these guys clean it up. Instead, I'm cleaning up a different mess entirely. A mess that should never have been made.
By the time I reach the stairs that lead up to Colton’s bedroom, my legs are starting to feel the burn. The pain-killers and the hot shower certainly worked their magic but there’s only so much they can do, but I’m not stopping. I don’t even care if I have to sit at the top for ten minutes before slamming my way through Colton’s door. I will be getting answers and I don’t care how I have to get them.
It’s some kind of miracle that I get to the top and find the will to force myself to the end of the hallway until I’m standing in front of his door.
I don’t wait.
I barge through the door, throwing it open, much like Colton had done last night. I fly into his room just a moment before his ensuite door opens and he strides out in nothing but a white towel wrapped dangerously low around his defi
ned hips.
He comes to a standstill, staring at me in shock, clearly not having expected me to come barging in here first thing on a Sunday morning. “What ar–”
“What did you do?” I demand, cutting him off.
His brows crease and I try not to get distracted by the drops of water that slowly trail down his strong body, dripping from his hair, and making his skin look good enough to eat. “What the fuck are you talking about? I didn’t do anything.”
“Jude,” I snap, watching as he walks around the room as though I'm not even here. “I know you stashed him somewhere so Nic couldn’t get to him.”
Colton stops walking and turns to face me, his eyes hardening at my accusation. “Get this straight, Ocean. I don't give a shit what happens to the mother fucker after he put his hands on you. Dominic can have him for all I fucking care.”
I swallow at the intensity of his stare but it doesn’t go unnoticed that he didn’t exactly answer my question. I can’t stop staring. It’s never made sense why he cares so damn much but there’s something real there, something honest and downright raw.
I swallow my pride and walk toward him and with each step I take, the intensity grows until I’m standing right before him. Instinct has his hands falling to my waist as I claim his bare chest just as I had last night on the dance floor.
My skin burns under his touch despite the thin shirt that acts as a barrier between us and I can’t help but wonder if I’m about to be met with the overprotective amazing guy I was with on the dance floor last night or if I’m about to see the Colton that tears me down, the one I've become so accustomed to over the past month of being in Bellevue Springs, the one I’ve learned to despise.
“Why did you want me at that party, Colton?” I murmur, letting him see the real me, the one who has been plagued with this question, the one who won’t dare stop fighting for answers.
He watches me, his eyes roaming over my face as though I’m some sort of mythical creature that’s completely bewitched him. “You’ve showered,” he comments. My brows pinch in confusion but he’s quick to explain himself. “You put my shirt back on.”
My eyes drop to my body. To be completely honest, my morning has been a little too fucked up to think too much about the shirt but now that I see it for what it is, I can’t help but like the way it feels on me and the way it screams of possession. My chin raises and I meet his eyes again. “Colton,” I whisper. “The party?”
His chest drops as he exhales and I find myself spreading my fingers out over his damp skin. His eyes soften and I watch the exact moment as he decides to finally be real with me. “There’s something about you, Jade. It drives me in-fucking-sane but when you’re not around, I crave it. I need it more than you could ever fucking know.”
“Then why are you such a dick to me?”
He shakes his head, not prepared to answer that knowing that a question like that is a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode. “Hearing you with Charlie … fuck, babe. You’ll never understand how fucking close I was to storming in there and tearing that mother fucker off you but I knew you wanted it even though I know a part of you was only with him to get at me.”
My lips press together and although I don’t say a damn word, it’s the clarification that he needs.
“Understand something about me, babe. I don’t get jealous, but hearing that … I’ve never been so fucking jealous in my life.”
“But …”
He continues as though I didn't say a damn word, desperate to get it out before this moment passes or one of us fucks it up again. “After Charlie, you pulled away. The snarky comments stopped, the attitude started to fall away but I craved it. I needed it from you and so I pushed you and it only pushed you further away.”
“So, what? The party was just some desperate attempt to reel me back in?”
“No, Jade. The party was a desperate attempt not to lose you. I saw you in the parking lot with Milo and I’m not even going to try to understand that shit, but I can’t watch you move on to another guy and fall further away.”
He falls silent but words are lost on me. I haven’t got a clue what I’m supposed to say to that but I feel it right down in my gut. The pull between us is too strong, too real.
I push up onto my tippy-toes and as I do, his face drops and our lips meet in the middle. His arms curl more securely around me as mine wrap around the back of his neck, holding him close and refusing to let go. The kiss is short, nothing like the one we shared last night but it’s so full of power that it cripples me.
I pull away and drop back to my feet, needing a moment to collect myself and as his forehead drops to mine, I’m reminded of that perfect moment on the dance floor before the night turned to shit. “I shouldn’t have walked out last night,” I tell him. “I was safe with you.”
Colton’s fingers come up and brush the hair off the side of my face before his fingertips gently trail over my skin. “You’re always safe with me, Ocean,” he says, his voice thick with emotion. “Even when it doesn’t seem like it, you’re my priority. Since the second I first saw you.”
His words are my undoing and I can’t help but raise my chin and brush my lips over his once again. “Thank you for last night,” I whisper. “For everything. Saving me, the party, the gown. It was perfect until it wasn’t.”
He doesn't respond, just nods and to him, that’s as good of a ‘you’re welcome’ as I’m going to get. My eyes drop and I focus heavily on his wide, tanned chest. “He destroyed my gown.”
His fingers tighten on my body, holding me closer. “I’ll buy you a new one.”
I shake my head. “No, please don’t do that,” I tell him. “I don’t want any more reminders of how he tore it from my body. I just …”
“It was your first gown.” I nod, loving how intune he is with me. “Are you okay, Jade?”
“No …” I say, looking up. “I don’t know. Maybe. I haven’t really had a chance to process everything.”
He watches me for a moment before slipping his hands down my body and lifting me. My legs automatically wrap around his waist, holding on as he strides across his bedroom. He sits down on his bed with his back pressed up against the headboard and my knees on either side of his thighs. “You’re strong, Jade. You’re going to be alright.”
I pull back and rest my weight on his legs while refusing to release my hold from around his neck. “Why do you call me Jade?”
A soft smile pulls at the corners of his lips and it blows me the hell way. “Have you ever seen a sky blue jadeite crystal?”
I raise my brow, wondering how a guy like Colton knows anything about crystals. “Do I look like the kind of girl who’s seen a sky blue jadeite crystal?”
He laughs and raises a hand, brushing his fingers over my brow and circling under my eye. “It’s the same color as your eyes.”
My mouth drops as butterflies sweep through my stomach and make my heart race. “So, all this time I’ve been pissed with you for calling me the wrong name when in reality …”
“It’s the perfect name.”
“You should have told me.”
His soft smile turns into a wicked grin. “As if I was going to do that. Do you have any idea how entertaining it is watching you get your panties in a twist over things you don’t understand?”
My hand smacks out but his reflexes are on point and he catches it with ease. “You’re an ass.”
Colton tugs on my hand and I fall into him. He catches me so that I don’t crash headfirst into his chest but a part of me kinda wishes I had. My face hovers in front of his and I catch my breath, feeling the tension rising between us.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” he murmurs low, his eyes glued to mine.
I can’t resist him a second longer and fuze my lips to his. The hunger builds within each of us and he curls a strong arm around my back and pulls me in close. My body plasters against his and every last thought, every problem, every insult flies out the fucking window. All
that exists is him.
I rock back and forth over him and feel him harden beneath me. After the night I had, sex should be the furthest thing from my mind. I should be running for the hills but the need continues to grow within and if I don’t do this now, I might not survive.
I need Colton Carrington and I need him now. I don’t know when I might ever get a chance like this again.
He reads my body and reaches for my shirt, pulling it over my head and dropping it to the bed beside him. His lips fall to my neck and I turn my face away, giving him as much room to explore as I possibly can all while his hands roam over my bare skin, trailing over my back and claiming every inch of me.
His hands find my jaw and he forces my gaze back to his. I see nothing but a pure, raging desire and I know he sees the same reflected in mine. “Are you sure about this?” he questions reluctantly as my chest rises and falls with rapid movements. “I can wait …”
“But I can’t.”
His gaze heats and his lips come straight back to mine. My underwear and sweatpants are ripped down my body as the towel around his narrow waist is pulled off.
The hunger intensifies and his fingers dig into my hips, moving me exactly where he wants me. I flinch at his forceful nature and know that any other time, I would love it but not now, not so soon after …
“I need you to give me control,” I tell him, panting heavily and dropping my head back as his lips return to my neck and fingers trail over my nipple, lightly pinching and sending bolts of electricity shooting through me right through to my center.
His hand curls back around my neck, bringing my eyes to his again. He shakes his head. “I don’t give up control.”
My eyes sharpen and for a brief moment, we fight for power, we fight for control, and we fight for our place in this twisted relationship. The need within him takes over and just like that, I see that he wants this more than his need to be in control and I know he will give me what I need even if he doesn't know it himself.
A grin pulls at my lips and I raise my chin, showing him who holds the power here. “You can and you will,” I tell him before reaching down between us and curling my hand around his hard cock.
Tough Sh*t: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Rejects Paradise Book 1) Page 33