Barbie B*tch: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Rejects Paradise Book 3)

by Sheridan Anne

  Yet, here I am still staring at him as though he holds my whole freakin’ heart. I shouldn’t trust him. I should be running out the exit and scrambling away until he finally leaves me alone but the fact that I'm sitting here, considering jumping off this stupid table tells me that I never learn from my mistakes.

  I have Colton in my life, do I even need Nic? I should walk away. I should tell him to fuck off and never come back. Why do I have to love him like this? Why is it so hard to stop seeing him as my best friend?

  A strangled moan comes from beside me and I glance down to find Drix fanning herself at the sight of the man-meat scanning the room with his dark, dangerous gaze. “Fuck me,” she breathes. “Who the fuck is that? I’d let that guy bend me over every fucking tabletop in this cafeteria and destroy my whole damn life.”

  I clench my jaw, not about to get on board with Drix fucking Nic because that’s exactly what would happen. I think I’ve had more than enough of knowing about Nic’s sex life for now. I don’t need to be hearing about how fucking awesome he is in bed every day by someone who wouldn’t understand how much it would kill me. Besides, when it comes down to it, Drix couldn’t handle Nic. He really would destroy her and she'd break. She needs someone with a heart too big for his own good.

  Taking a breath, I jump down from the table and look back at Drix. “Trust me, you need to stay far away from this one.”

  I start walking toward Nic and he catches my movements immediately. His jaw clenches as I tune out the shocked gasps coming from Jess and Drix behind me. Though, if the girls at BSP haven’t already figured out that this guy is here for me, then there is something wrong with them. The girls here are clean-cut and would never be seen with a guy like this, especially in public. But me? I’m different.

  I walk right up to Nic, keeping as close as possible and keeping my stare heavy on his. I don’t dare stop. There’s no way in hell I’m about to have this bullshit conversation in front of my whole school let alone Colton’s bratty twin sisters.

  I step right past him, slamming my shoulder into his on the way. His jaw clenches and a soft groan comes out of him, but there’s no way a hit like that would hurt Nic. His shoulders are the size of fucking trees. The groan was purely out of frustration and the fact that I made it happen swirls in my gut and makes this moment just a little more bearable. After the shit he did, he doesn’t deserve for this to go smoothly, he deserves hell to rain down over him.

  I step out of the cafeteria and Nic silently follows behind, knowing damn well not to say a single word until I tell him to start talking. I can’t believe it was only yesterday morning that I was sitting in his apartment and we were talking everything through. I felt like we finally had everything back on track, at least almost back on track. We were making progress and our relationship had the potential to be something special again and within the space of two seconds, it was destroyed.

  What he did … fuck, it’s worse than lying to me about my father. He had people attack us, attack the place which is quickly becoming my home, attack Maryne. She’s gone because of him. I’ll never forget that he did this and our relationship will never be the same.

  A direct attack on Colton is a direct attack on me, and I don’t intend to sit back and let him get away with it.

  I make my way out to the parking lot with him a little too close for liking. It’s a risk. There’s no eyes or ears out here and Nic could grab me at any time and overpower me. He could take me back to Breakers Flats and force me to hear him out, but he’s smarter than that. He knows if he wants even the smallest chance of making things right between us, he needs to do things my way, and that’s not something he’s ever been able to do. Hell, that’s clear by the way he showed up here today.

  I’ve been ignoring his texts and calls for a reason. I don’t like people forcing their timelines on me and deciding for me when I should be ready to talk things through and Nic is the worst for that. I like to sit and stew for a few days, figure out exactly what I want to say and how to say it, figure out how to make it hurt the most. This … this just feels like a trap.

  I stop in the middle of the parking lot and spin around. He only just catches himself before slamming into me and the second his eyes seek out mine, his expression changes, and I see the real Nic, the one who has been plagued by guilt over what he has done.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I demand.

  “You weren’t answering my texts and you’ve silenced every fucking call that I made. You left me no fucking choice.”

  “There are plenty of fucking choices,” I shriek, “but coming into my school, in front of my friends who know nothing about you or what you stand for is not the way. Hell, the fucking guidance counselor is a Wolf for fuck’s sake. You need to leave. I don’t want to see you and I don’t want you coming around.”

  “We need to talk about this, O. Don’t fucking dismiss me. There’s too much bullshit between us. Too much history to just let it go like that. I won’t let you do it.”

  “I don’t give a shit what you want, Nic. You sent five fucking lunatics to attack us. Maryne was killed because of you.”

  “I didn’t send them to fucking kill anyone. That wasn’t part of the deal. We need to talk about this. You have all your wires crossed and you’re just thinking whatever the fuck you want to think without giving me a chance to explain my side.”

  I glance down at my phone before looking back up at his pleading face. “So, talk,” I demand. “You have three minutes before the bell sounds and I won't be wasting a single second more.”

  He swallows hard. “Come on, O. Just give me a proper chance to get this out. Let’s go back to your place and we can talk properly.”

  I prop a hand on my hip and raise an unimpressed brow. “Like hell I’m going anywhere with you. You’re fucking insane if you think I’m about to invite you back into Colton’s home after the bullshit you did. Your time is ticking, so I suggest you start talking, otherwise you can fuck off,” I tell him, not in the mood to be standing around in the lonely parking lot while he grovels for forgiveness.

  Nic lets out a sigh and realizing that he has no other choice, he tells me what he came all this way to say. “Three years ago, Kian and I cut a deal with Vincent DeCarlo. All their bullshit ran through the Widows. Their drug runs, their dirty fucking money, the gun smuggling, everything. It kept DeCarlo looking clean on paper while my father didn’t give a shit how we appeared. He was un-fucking-touchable and he knew it. When shit started going south with the cops, dad pulled back and put all that weight on me to deal with and when I wasn’t prepared to take the same deal, I cut them off. Told them to find some other gang to run their bullshit through, but they needed us so we re-negotiated the terms and I tripled the premium. It’s fucking risky, but I couldn’t make big changes while I wasn’t in power yet. If I flaked on it, the Widows would have seen me as weak so I took the deal and the DeCarlo’s owed me a fucking favor.”

  “And an attack on Colton was what you decided to use that favor for?”

  “Not exactly,” he says with a cringe. “You have to understand that I wasn't dealing with you being away and moving on very well… I’m still not. I want you home where you belong.”

  “Oh,” I scoff. “So, you want to blame this bullshit on me wanting a better life for myself?”

  “No. Fuck, Ocean. Just let me get it out,” Nic growls, stepping back and pacing the parking lot, trying to calm himself. “Is it too fucking hard for you to have a proper conversation without your bullshit sarcasm coming into everything?”

  “Really? This is the way you want to play this right now? I’ve got one clue for you, Dominic. You’re in the fucking dog house right now. I’ll say whatever the fuck I want to say and you have no fucking choice but to deal with it, otherwise, you can fuck off. I'm not interested in wasting my time listening to your bullshit story if you’re going to continue throwing bullshit attitudes back at me.”

  He clenches his jaw and takes a few more p
aces while pumping his fists. He visibly calms himself and finally turns back to me. “What I was trying to say was that I had a lot going on and I wasn’t coping very well. You’d just sealed the deal with that bastard, and I saw our future slipping further away, but he shouldn’t have touched you, especially so close after what happened with that fucking Carter kid.”

  I silently fume, hating that he brought that shit into it. “If I wasn't ready to allow a man to touch me, I wouldn’t have. What happens between me and Colton is none of your damn business.”

  “I know that,” he snaps back. “I wasn’t fucking thinking. I was just so … angry. A smarter man would have saved that favor for something else, something big. The DeCarlo’s have a huge pull and I could have benefited from that but as it is, I was too fucking selfish to see past my own needs.”

  I cross my arms over my chest and desperately try to bite my tongue. The bell will go any minute now and despite how much I want to hate him right now, I really want to hear what he has to say. “Go on,” I tell him.

  “Everybody knows about the bullshit between Carrington and DeCarlo. It’s been going on for twenty-odd years. All I had to do was call Vincent and tell him that I wanted Colton to hurt. That's all I said, and the rest was left up to him. He fucking jumped at the opportunity and when I saw what was going on, I knew instantly how badly I fucked up. I was never going to get there in time. They ignored my fucking calls when I tried calling it off. It was their fucking show. I thought they were just going to go in there and terrorize Carrington, make him shit his pants as a way to scare him into giving up the company, but what they did … I didn’t expect that at all, and that’s on me.

  “I should have known that they’d take it too far. Vincent’s sons are … Ocean, they’re fucked up, twisted bastards and you have no fucking idea how sorry I am that I sent them to you like that. I saw the way they terrorized your friends and destroyed your home. I saw you running down the hall and then trying to go back for your mom when you realized what was going on, I saw Colton do everything he could to keep you safe, and I saw the fucking terror in your eyes babe. That is all on me. I will never forgive myself for sending that to your fucking doorstep.”

  The bell sounds loudly through the school and I look back up at the campus, watching as the students begin moving around but I find myself rooted to the spot. “Please, O. Say something,” Nic says, reaching for my hand.

  I hastily pull away from his reach and take a hesitant step back. “I have to go.”

  “Babe, no. Just talk to me for a minute. I need to know that we’re alright.”

  “Alright?” I cry. “We will never be alright. Maryne is dead. You sent murderers to my home because you were too fucking jealous over the fact that Colton means something to me. What kind of messed up shit is that, Nic?”

  “I know it’s messed up. I didn’t know they were going to hurt anybody. I figured you’d be safe in a place like that.”

  “You figured wrong,” I tell him, taking another step back. “I think you should go.”

  “No,” he says, shaking his head. “We need to sort this out.”

  “It’s not going to get sorted out today, Nic. I’m too upset and hurt. I’m still in shock that you could even do something like this, let alone process the hurt you caused with your misguided need to get me back. I just … I need time. I need time away from you to clear my head and if you want any chance at all of fixing what you broke, then you’re going to have to give me that.”

  “Babe …”

  “No, Nic. You need to go. I’m late for class and I just … I can’t do this right now. I need to think.”

  He takes a heavy breath and meets my eyes with regret shining so fucking brightly that it hurts. “I’m sorry, O. Please know that it wasn’t my intent to hurt you, I just wanted to rattle Carrington a bit. If I knew … I never would have done it.”

  I nod and we hold each other’s gaze for a minute too long before he reluctantly steps back. “Time,” he murmurs.

  I nod and he takes another step followed by another until he finally turns and walks away, leaving me a fucking mess of emotions.

  Chapter 14

  I walk through the door of the Carrington mansion completely deflated. Today sucked, like really sucked. I went to school thinking I could forget about everything Nic had done. What a joke that was.

  Sure, there were a lot of things I expected to happen today. A million phone calls, text messages, hell even the odd email or two. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine Dominic Garcia storming through the cafeteria of Bellevue Springs Private School and forcing my hand in front of the entire student body. Then after that, I had to spend the rest of my afternoon dodging questions from Jess and Drix, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

  I wasn't ready to see him. Not in the least, but I should have known. That was stupid of me. This new version of Nic is unpredictable. He's wild and out of control. I should have known that he'd shit all over the limits I'd put in place. I’ll be better prepared next time because, with Nic, there’s always a next time.

  I don't even know who he is anymore but one thing is for sure, the old Nic no longer exists, at least, I don’t think he does. Seeing the look in his eye today told me that maybe he’s still in there, buried deep, deep below the surface, but it’ll take a miracle to find it. Someone needs to save him and I’m not sure I have the power to do it anymore, especially now that the Widows have completely taken over his life. He's changing by the day, by the second, constantly getting darker. He needs someone who can balance that out.

  Heartache sits heavy on my shoulders as I make my way through the mansion, searching out the one person who could effortlessly put a smile on my face. I go by his office first and for the first time since taking over for his father, he’s not in there.

  My face scrunches up in confusion. For Colton not to be busily reading over a contract or in the middle of a business deal means that something is up.

  I hope he’s alright.

  I start searching the mansion, starting with his bedroom and then the kitchen, because why not take a nap or stop for a treat every now and then? Not finding him, I look a little deeper, checking the living spaces and all of the meeting rooms.

  Damn it. Is he even here? Maybe he headed out for the afternoon.

  Giving up, I start heading out to the pool house, pulling my phone out to send him a quick text when a soft grunt comes from down the hall.

  My brows furrow as I spy the entrance to the home gym.

  What the fuck is he doing in there? Not once since being here has he ever worked out in the afternoon. He's a morning guy. He’d prefer to skip a good sleep-in and spend torturous hours working out in the gym, getting all sweaty, and making his body ache. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the occasional exercise, but if I’m going to get sweaty at six in the morning, it’s going to be from nasty, wild sex.

  Stopping by the entrance of the gym, I peer through the open door before propping myself against the frame as my mouth begins to water. Colton hangs, shirtless, from the pull-up bar with his back to me, slowly lowering himself with a practiced control that has his strong muscles bulging to perfection.

  With ease, he pulls himself back up and everything in his back squeezes, causing a waterfall of epic proportions to form in my panties. His tanned skin shines with a sheer layer of sweat and I do everything in my power not to walk in there and tear him down from the bar and screw him senseless.

  After finishing his set, Colton releases the bar and drops to the ground, silently landing on the balls of his feet as though he’s some sort of cat. I stare in wonder. Anyone would be fucked if Colton was sneaking up on him. He’s silent and deadly, and hell, from where I’m standing, it’s sexy as fuck.

  He turns to grab his drink bottle and in doing so, finds me loitering in the doorway. His brow shoots up. “How long have you been there?”

  “Long enough to know that I’ll be sneaking into your bedroom and taking advantage
of you tonight.”

  A cocky smirk plays on his lips and he strides toward me, his eyes growing more and more hooded by the second. His hands fall to my waist and he pulls me in flush against his ripped body. “You really think I’m the kind of guy to just lay there and allow you to take advantage of me?”

  I push up onto my tippy toes and hover just in front of his face, close enough for him to close the gap but he won’t dare as he waits for me to make the move. “If you know what’s good for you, you will.”

  “Well, damn. How could I resist an offer like that?” he says, his smirk stretching wide across his face. “But for the record, if this is the way we’re playing it, I want to be wined and dined first, then I’m going to need you to spank my ass, choke me a little, beg me to call you daddy, and afterward, I’d like to cuddle, you know, as the little spoon.”

  I scrunch my face in distaste, teasing him just as he’s teasing me. “Well, shit. If I knew you were this high-maintenance, I would have stuck with Charlie.”

  “Fuck off,” he laughs, nudging me away and walking back over to the pull-up bar. I follow and make myself comfortable on the bench so I can get the full view during this set. “Charlie really would want that shit. He’d be a clingy motherfucker and you know it.”

  I can’t help but laugh. He’s not wrong. “For the record,” I tell him as he jumps to catch the bar. “I wouldn’t mind a little ass-spanking and choking, but since you’re apparently the bitch in this relationship, I’ll have to make some changes.”

  Colton slowly lowers himself from the bar and I instantly get distracted by his washboard abs that lead down into his defined V that’s staring right at me. My hands twitch at my side, desperate to reach out and touch.

  How did I get so lucky to be able to call all of that mine?

  Colton narrows his eyes at me. “Call me the fucking bitch of our relationship one more time and I’ll have you down on your knees, begging for forgiveness.”