“All that effort? You mean orchestrating a whole host of bullying and stupid shit to run me out?” I ask incredulously, ignoring the warmth pulling in my chest.
“Yeah, well,” she shrugs, “I didn’t say he knows how to woo a woman, for fucks sake, just that he’s clearly obsessed. Frankly, I never thought I’d see the day,” she says in a bewildered tone.
“Then why all the fucking games?” I whisper, hurt taking the place of the giddy feeling from before.
She turns to me with a serious expression, her own face showing a lifetime of pain. “Sometimes, people don’t know how to love the right way, Finn, or even to be loved. You know?”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” I say softly. “Wait, did you say Colt’s here?”
“You didn’t know?”
“No! Where is he?” I ask wildly, glancing around.
If he’s with some stupid bitch I may lose my shit. I don't know how much more of this I can take.
“He’s right there,” she says, taking my shoulders and pointing me toward the stage.
I turn with complete horror and watch him turn around in a circle, with a lazy grin on his face but a grimness around his mouth and eyes I recognize from our spats.
“What’s he doing up there?” I ask, terror suffusing my system. Holy fuck.
“Getting revenge, man, I wish a guy would fight like that for me,” she mutters, but I tune her out, my confusion fading when I see his opponent take the stage behind him.
Fucking Buck, who tried to rape me in the back of his fucking SUV, which he bragged about his daddy buying for him. Colt’s dad. Shit, Colt’s going to fight his own half-brother? For me?
“Don't let him see you,” Dirk says in my ear.
Turning, I give him the evil eye, but he just shrugs, “He doesn't need the distraction and trust me, you’ve only ever been a distraction.”
“Didn’t he already beat the shit out of Buck?” I ask desperately, swinging back to watch them square off against each other.
“That was for sleeping with you. This is for trying to force you,” Dirk says calmly.
“What?! That doesn't make sense. He sent me in there for information and told me how to get it quite lewdly, I might add. Why would he care if I slept with him?”
“He’s always cared, Princess,” he says, emphasizing the name, “you’ve just never paid attention.”
Buck dances around much like I did when squaring off against Melissa not so long ago, this before we became friends, and just like I looked then, Buck looks like a little bitch.
“This is a bad idea. Someone needs to stop him,” I mutter, watching Colt stand in the corner and observe Buck with a bored expression, except his eyes, they’re dark pools of hate.
“There’s no talking Colt out of this. He’s been planning this since he beat the shit out of Ben in the parking lot. I barely managed to get him to agree to do it here, in the hopes he’ll stop before he kills him,” Dirk mutters.
“That’s his brother,” I whisper.
Buck is a fucking piece of shit who deserves to have the shit kicked out of him, but not by Colt. Not by his own brother.
“I know, doesn't matter. He lost any opportunity to mend things when he did what he did. Not that the two will ever get along anyway. Too much history.”
History. “Colt’s bid to get information via Buck wasn’t orchestrated to get back at me, was it?” I ask, my heart pumping loudly in my chest.
“Nope, that was drummed up after Colt thought you were gonna fuck Buck in that car. You think he beat Buck up because he planned it? Nope, he lost his shit when he found you squirming underneath him like a bitch in heat.”
“I wasn't-“
“Yeah, I know Finn, but nobody knew it then,” he says grimly.
“So, Colt got pissed because I was fucking Buck and decided to punish me,” I mull out loud. “What about before? He could’ve just ignored me when I started at the stupid school?”
He scoffs, “Colt couldn't ignore you if he tried. He’s been obsessing about you since he knew you existed, and it's only deepened the longer you’ve given him the runaround. The problem with Colt is, he thinks liking you makes him vulnerable. Maybe it does, I don't know. Either way, it’s too fucking late now. Everything Colt did to push you away has only made him more miserable. Hopefully, he’ll figure it the fuck out soon and put us all out of our misery.”
“And Sarah?” I ask softly, reeling under the information Dirk is spitting at me. I mean, how am I supposed to feel? Flattered? Horrified? Shit.
“Sarah was just a blip on his radar, someone fun to while away the time. He’s never given his full attention to anyone before you, which is why she started sleeping around in the hopes of grabbing his attention. She’s a fucking train wreck and dangerous. Stay the fuck away from her if you can. I wouldn’t put it past her to do some crazy shit.”
“No shit,” I mutter, “fucking crazy bitch with a knife.”
“What?” Dirk asks, but I ignore him, turning back to the ring with a shiver as the announcer calls out, “Alright guys and dolls, ready for our next fight?”
A loud round of cheers and screaming ensues. Colt glances over to where Dirk is standing, and heeding his warning, I step into the shadows. Colt spies Hayden standing with Dirk and immediately searches the crowd, easing when he doesn’t see me.
After introducing the two, a loud bell rings, and they go at it, Buck with his sleazy grin making the first punch. Colt steps easily out of his way and commences to tease Buck as he throws out punch after punch that misses their target.
I’m not sure what Buck was thinking but going up against Colt is a fatal mistake. Buck’s never had to defend himself like Colt has, like any of these people have. Looking around at
