“Whatever,” I say, rolling my eyes. “What do you think you can do to me that you haven't already done? What more could you possibly do? Sink the knife in my chest, Colt, that’s the only thing left. I don't care anymore. You want to fuck Sarah, fuck her. You want to fuck the entirety of the school, do it. You want to get the whole damn school to hate me and pick on me? Do it. You want to pull me into some stupid game with Buck, give it a shot. You’ve got nothing left to play. There’s nothing left here,” I say, pounding my chest harshly.
Gazing at my hand intently, he smiles grimly and leans forward, cupping my cheek and whispering, “Maybe, maybe not. But you’re fooling yourself if you think I can’t have you anytime I want. And I think, Princess, that maybe you’re lying to yourself when you insist there’s nothing left here.”
Sliding his hand from my cheek, he runs it down the side of my neck and places it over my heart, where my pulse is pounding at the contact. Need courses through me in waves, leaving me weak-kneed and shaky, but I’ll be damned if I let him in on that fact.
“Nonsense, as you said, love is for the weak. If I’ve learned anything from you, it's that,” I say through dry lips.
He chuckles, but the sound is dark, his eyes icy. “If that’s the case, then you won't mind a little game.”
My heart lurches, ice traveling down my spine. After all this, he still can’t fucking let it go. Annoyed by my fucking hormones and his asshole grin, I clench my teeth and smile grimly.
“Bring it. Because Colt...I still hate you,” I whisper, ducking under his arm and walking away.
Slipping out of sight and into a restroom, I lock myself in the stall and breathe deeply. Get your shit together Finn, you don't care about him, you don't want him, and you definitely don't feel tingles every time he steps into your presence.
He’s your enemy, and nothing can change that. Nothing.
Colt somehow managed to enroll in every single one of my classes, and by the end of the day, I’m both admiring of his power and annoyed. I’ve had no chance to relax. He’s been giving me glares every chance he gets, a promise of what's to come, but I meant what I said. What could he possibly do after everything he’s already pulled?
I don’t trust a single one of his friends. I don't trust him. I’ll never be able to believe a single thing that comes out of his mouth, even if he insists he’s genuine. I mean, his insistence about the notes is a point, in fact. How can I even know if he’s lying, planning some new angle of revenge I won't fucking see coming? I can't.
I haven’t gotten a single note or grotesque offering since I came to South, and now that I’ve confronted him, he’s done with that avenue, or so I hope. Because despite how much I like his mom, I will report it next time.
After school, Nate surfaces, and I wince as he walks with me to my car. “Hey, pretty girl, how’s it going?”
Shit, with everything else that went down, I forgot about our make-out session at prom. Truthfully, I was in a zone that night, and while Nate’s attention wasn’t unwelcome, the majority of my efforts were in direct relation to how it would impact Colt.
Essentially, I strung Nate along, and no matter my enmity toward Colt, I don’t feel any spark with Nate, and now I have to look into his gleaming eyes and let him down easy.
“Good,” I murmur, “how about you?”
“Okay, I’m fucking dreading the senior trip, though. Who decides taking a bunch of underage dicks camping is a good idea?”
“Uh, what? Senior trip?” I stutter, a new horror suffusing my system. What fresh hell is this? I’ve no good memories from the few times Dad took me camping with him. None.
“Yeah, didn’t you read about it? Every year the seniors get a trip, except the budget’s too low this year, and we're stuck camping in the wilderness. Fucking blows.”
“I - wow, that sounds really horrible. Can't you just say no?”
Please, God, let me say no.
“Nope, part of our senior experience, we’re even graded on it,” he says glumly.
“Graded how?”
“Science or some shit. You know, nature.”
With a new horror to contend with, I part ways with him and open my car, throwing my bag inside.
“Finn, I’m disappointed. I thought you’d be the first to greet me this morning as my girlfriend and all,” Hayden purrs behind me.
Turning, I give him a blank stare. Hayden’s tall, built, and a little fucking dark. When I met him the first time, I knew then to stay the fuck away. If Colt’s a lion stalking the jungle, Hayden’s a fucking velociraptor.
“Hayden, you were fucking some chick at prom. Even if I believed you about the little charade you concocted, it’s hardly believable when you can’t keep your dick in your pants.”
“Charade? I’ll have you know it was working just fine until you stopped playing the part,” he says, affronted. “And what do you mean if you believed me?”
“C’mon, it's clear you’re buddies with Colt. Why would I believe you didn’t make this shit up to get at me the same way everyone else has?”
“Because, yes, Colt’s my friend or was. But he’s still a dick who deserves a good lesson every once in a while. Believe what you will, but it ate him up thinking you were with me,” he states, giving me a smirk and walking away.
Rolling my eyes, I jump in my car and head home, disarming the alarm and arming it behind me once I’m inside. Colt may have been acting like a dick when he played his little stalking charade, but the alarm
