Cocky F*ck: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Rejects Paradise Book 2)

by Sheridan Anne

  They all scramble—grown ass men terrified of an eighteen-year-old kid. It takes a full minute of searching through the mess of papers until the certificate is finally found and passed to Colton as though it holds the secrets of the universe.

  He instantly hands it to me and I step up to the table beside him, sweeping my hand over the papers in my way and watching as they go flying off the table.

  Nasty comments are muttered under breaths while Colton cringes, knowing that shit isn’t going to sit well with the dickheads around the table. It's Nic’s laugh through the phone that keeps my spirits high.

  “You better know what you’re doing,” Colton murmurs beside me, making Nic scoff at his lack of faith.

  “Have I ever led you wrong?”

  Colton scoffs right back and I decide to get this figured out before it turns into some petty bullshit fight through a phone. “Alright,” Nic says. “Hold the phone down at the table so I can see them both up close.”

  I do as I’m asked and as Nic looks over the certificates, Colton looks down at me. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he demands, keeping his voice low but with the silence in the room, every ear has a front-row seat to our conversation.

  “Thinking like a woman,” I tell him, earning myself a few irritated scoffs from the table of men before me, every single one of them a sexist asshole. “You dove headfirst into trying to keep her from getting her hands on your father’s fortune that you didn’t even stop to think if it’s even real—”

  “It’s real,” comes grunted from the left-hand side of the table.

  My eyes snap up to the bastards before me. “Are you sure about that?” I question, looking back at Colton. “If it were real, where’s the marriage license and why the hell are we only hearing about it now? Not to mention, there’s always a delay in getting these certificates. It takes at least six weeks after the wedding to receive it, but according to the date on the certificate, they were married less than two weeks ago. It doesn’t add up. Besides, your dad was a lot of things, but he wasn’t careless. If he was going to marry some gold-digging whore, he would have done it the right way and he would have had the tightest prenup that money could buy. He cared about money bags, his reputation, and his businesses more than his own children. So no, I don’t think he would have risked it all for some girl. Even if she was the love of his life.”

  “I’m not going to lie,” he murmurs, “I haven’t been able to wrap my head around him actually doing this but the certificate was there …”

  “Are you serious?” a voice says from across the room. “You’re taking advice from an uneducated girl who comes from trash? Colton, please think this through. You need to be smart about this.”

  Colton’s stare is sharp enough to kill and the man instantly goes quiet. “Pack up your things and get the fuck out of my house.”

  “I … I …”

  “NOW.”

  The old man reluctantly stands up and starts packing up his things with a huff, but I don’t get to watch the show as Nic’s voice comes through the phone again. “O, lower the phone so I can see the bottom half.”

  I adjust my phone as silence falls across the room again and after a long, agonizing minute, Nic’s voice cuts through the room. “It’s fake.”

  “What?” Colton demands, his brows flying up as he steals the phone and looks at Nic through the screen. “What do you mean it’s fake? How can you tell?”

  Nic lets out a sigh. He’s not exactly one who likes having to explain himself but seeing as though this case is a little different from the bullshit he’s used to dealing with, he sucks it up and gets on with his explanation. “O, grab the certificates.”

  I slip them off the table and look down at them, one in each hand. “Got them.”

  “See the bottom of your parent’s marriage certificate?” Nic questions. “There’s an emblem and it's really clear, bold lines but the Carrington one has bleeding. The picture isn’t as clear. A government-issued certificate wouldn't have that. This was printed by a cheap printer and I bet the paper quality even feels different.”

  I rub my thumbs over the paper and look up at Colton. “He’s right. They’re different.”

  “I’m always fucking right,” Nic mutters as Colton hands me back my phone and takes the certificates from me, studying them for himself.

  Colton takes all of three seconds to notice the differences between the two and when he does, his hand slams down on the table before he glances up at his lawyers. “We’re done here. Come back tomorrow, I want that bitch done for forgery and inheritance fraud.”

  “Yes, sir,” they say then dive into the paperwork on the table, hastily getting it all cleaned up before Colton gives them something else to do.

  He picks the certificates up from the table and takes my elbow before leading me out of the room. “You could have said that you thought it was fake hours ago and saved me all that bullshit.”

  Nic scoffs and I know without a doubt that a sarcastic comment is about to go flying from between his lips. “Yeah, because she’s the one responsible for saving your ass. That was fucking bullshit, man. Your lawyers should have picked that up the second they looked at it.”

  Colton’s jaw clenches. He knows that Nic is right but he’ll be damned if he admits it. He meets my eyes above the phone before indicating down to it, silently telling me to wrap it up.

  He turns away as if to give me privacy and I roll my eyes before dropping my gaze back to Nic’s. “Thank you,” I murmur. “He’ll never admit it, but you just saved his ass.”

  Colton scoffs, but thankfully Nic ignores him. “It’s cool, O. You know I did it because you asked me to, not because that fucker deserved it. I would have slept easy had I said no.”

  “I know, but still …”

  Nic nods. “Listen, babe. I have to go. I’ll check in with you later, alright?”

  “K,” I say with a small smile. “Love you. Tell the boys I miss them.”

  Nic scoffs and in the blink of an eye, he disappears from the screen and as I look up at Colton, I find him staring at me with jealousy burning in his hazel eyes.

  “Do you love him?” he questions, his gaze not breaking from mine for even a second.

  I take a slight step back, preparing to hit him with my A-game. “How is that any of your business?”

  “Just answer the question, Jade.”

  I let out a heavy sigh and lean against the wall of the hallway. “Part of me still does while the other part wants to hate him so damn bad, but I just can’t. It’s complicated between me and Nic.”

  “Did he ever hurt you?”

  “Not in the way you’re thinking,” I explain. “He cheated.”

  Colton’s lips pull into a tight line and as his eyes remain on mine, I see the exhaustion buried within him. I take his hand and start pulling him down the hallway while sending a quick text to Sebastian.

  Ocean - Hook me up.

  Sebastian - You sure, babe?

  Ocean - Never been so sure in my life.

  Sebastian - Give me ten minutes.

  “What are we doing?” Colton asks when we reach the private bar in the kitchen and I still haven’t said a word.

  I look up at him as I open the door and a wide grin slowly stretches across my face. “We’re getting fucked up and I don’t care what you say about it.”

  Colton nods, a grin of his own lighting his eyes in a way that has me desperate to kiss him. “About fucking time.”

  Chapter 16

  Bodies fill the Carrington mansion and I have to admit, after Sebastian had a contact show up at the door and drop off a few party favors, this party turned into one of the best nights I’ve ever had in Bellevue Springs.

  Sebastian sent enough joints to get all of Bellevue Springs stoned, and after the bullshit Colton’s been through, he was the first to shove his hand into the little baggie and light one up.

  We were practically inseparable until the crowd showed up. Since then, I haven�
��t seen him. I have no idea what happened to him though. I’m pretty sure he’s probably avoiding Spencer because of the bullshit that’s going down with his cousin and Charlie … well, things with Charlie are a little stressed seeing as though they’re both trying to get into my pants.

  When will the bullshit end?

  Milo curls his arm around my waist and lifts me off the floor as a loud squeal tears from within me. “Put me down,” I laugh, grabbing at his wrists and pulling until I’m finally freed.

  “Girl,” he says as he starts to move his body to the beat of the music. “This party is fucking insane. We should do this every Tuesday night.”

  “Yeah, right,” I laugh. “You’re not even going to remember this party in the morning.”

  “As if I could forge—” Milo’s eyes go wide as he cuts himself off. “Let’s get in the pool.”

  “No way. You can go and get in the pool all by yourself.”

  “Hell yeah.” Milo takes off at a run, stripping out of his clothes as he goes. His shirt is torn over his head and thrown across the living room, gaining the attention of every girl in the room. Milo has a body on him, a fucking nice one, and not even I could resist stealing a peek. Next up, he kicks his shoes off and as he approaches the pool, his pants begin to go too.

  Girls start squealing for him and his concentration breaks, looking over at them with a cheesy as fuck grin and encouraging them to come with him. Milo’s not stupid. He’s been playing this game since the very beginning and knows that if the girls strip down to their bikinis that there’s a good chance that the guys will join them in the pool and that’s exactly what he wants.

  Milo continues running and honestly, he looks like a swan preparing for the most spectacular dive into the pool but as he continues calling for the girls to join him, he misses a step and his feet get tangled in pants that are halfway down his shins.

  Milo goes tumbling with every last person at the party watching him and my breath catches in my throat. If he wasn’t so high and just about finished with his fourth Mudslide, he'd be beside himself with fear, but the alcohol might just do the trick to help him play this off smart.

  One second he’s tumbling and the next, he disappears into the indoor portion of the pool with a massive crash. Water spits up around him as everyone watches, some laughing while others gasp, worried that he’s hurt himself, but in true Milo fashion, he comes shooting to the surface with a loud booming laugh. “Fuck me,” he says, his laughs so uncontrollable that I can hardly understand the gibberish that’s coming out of his mouth. “Did you see that shit?”

  The whole room starts cheering and not a second later, people start rushing toward him, clothes getting thrown all over the place.

  Someone presses the button that opens the room into a huge indoor/outdoor space and suddenly the party has doubled in size. I’m reminded of my first day here when Charles had so proudly shown me this feature of his home and a fondness sweeps over me. The music is turned up and booze flows faster than it has ever flowed before, creating the best party Bellevue Springs has ever seen.

  “Wow, I always forget just how big this place is. It's freaking huge,” a familiar voice says, moving in beside me.

  I glance across to find Hendrix's warm smile and Jess close by her side. She's looking out at the pool with a red cup in her hand, filled to the brim with who the hell knows what.

  “Right,” I say. “I live here and still can't wrap my head around it.”

  “Holy shit,'' Jess says, not bothering with a hello as whatever has her attention is clearly far too important. “Who’s that guy in the pool? He is fucking delicious. I could lick him up and down and never get tired of it.”

  I hold back a grin. “That’s Milo. He’s my best friend and you know what? He’s newly single and was just telling me how he wants to let loose tonight and get a little crazy. I think you’ve got a shot if you play your cards right.”

  Jess’ eyes bug out of her head as she whips around to me, excitement pulsing through her and radiating off her in waves. “Bullshit. Really?”

  I nod. “You’re just his type.”

  “Hell yeah,” she cheers, throwing back what’s left of her drink and then shoving the empty cup into Hendrix's hands. Her shirt is pulled up over her head revealing a skimpy red bikini that has her tits looking as though they’re worth a million dollars. Her skirt is shimmied down her hips and before we know it, she’s racing for Milo and dropping into the pool right beside him.

  The laugh tears out of me as I watch Milo’s reaction to her. She swims right into him, throwing her arms around his shoulders and whispering in his ear with a seductive grin as her legs wrap around his waist. Milo’s eyes flick to mine and the longer he watches me, the darker they get, that is until he decides to play along. He slips his arm around her waist and locks his lips against hers.

  “Holy crap,” Hendrix laughs. “They move fast.”

  I shake my head, enjoying this way too much. Milo’s had enough to drink that I really don’t think he cares who he kisses. After all, a kiss is a kiss, and no matter where it comes from, it’s nice either way. Besides, this is no doubt helping the whole ‘gay image’ that he’s desperately trying to conceal.

  The guys standing around the pool start cheering for Milo as though he’s just one of the boys about to get his dick wet and just like that, he’s saved from their scrutiny and rumors for at least another few months.

  Hendrix loops her arms through mine and she starts pulling me out toward the pool. “Okay, don’t get weird with me,” she starts, digging into her purse with a nervous cringe, hoping I’m down for whatever bullshit she wants to get up to, and honestly, there’s not a lot that I’m not down with. “But do you want to get fucked up with me?”

  Drix holds out a joint and a laugh pulls from deep within me as I slip my hand into my bra and pull out one of my own. “You’re on.”

  We drop down in the grass and watch the party around us as a guy carrying a bottle of vodka strides past. He looks as though he’s already had enough to drink and Hendrix lures him in with a seductive smile. She holds up a finger and indicates for him to come closer and just as she knew it would, it works like a treat.

  The guy stumbles forward, excited with the idea of being the object of Hendrix’s attention. He falls down in front of us and Hendrix instantly curls her fingers around the bottle. She pulls it closer and the guy comes right along, looking into her eyes as though she holds the secrets of the universe. “Why don’t you go and wait for me upstairs?”

  His brow raises and he nods furiously before scrambling to his feet and taking off back into the house, leaving the bottle behind as I gape at my new friend. “What the hell was that?”

  She grins proudly while uncapping the bottle of vodka. “It’s my party trick,” she says, bringing the bottle to her lips and taking a quick swig. “Did you like it? Works every time.”

  She hands me the bottle and I take a drink. “It was inspiring,” I laugh. “I need to sharpen up on my own tricks.”

  “Damn straight, girl,” she says. “Otherwise I’m going to be showing you up at every turn and we can’t have that now, can we?”

  She sure as hell has a point.

  Hendrix nods toward the pool to where Jess is busily running her claws all over Milo’s toned, sun-kissed body. “Is she really going to get anywhere with him?”

  I shake my head, letting the laughter shine through my eyes. “No chance in hell, but it’ll be fun watching her work it out.”

  “Damn,” Hendrix laughs. “That’s brutal.”

  I shrug my shoulders. “She’ll be alright. It’s not as though she isn’t going to enjoy herself while she’s at it. He’ll accidentally give her the wrong number and come tomorrow morning, neither of them are even going to remember this happened. She should think of it as fun, I know I am.”

  “Geez, I can’t wait to see how you deal with shit when someone’s crossed you.”

  “Trust me, you don’t want to be tha
t poor bitch.”

  “I bet.”

  Half an hour later, we’re sitting on the kitchen counter, each with a shot glass in our hands. The ceiling is closed in and the walls are slid back into place after the wind decided to ruin the pool party fun. Bodies are crammed back inside, grinding and dancing upon one another as the music flows freely.

  I can hardly hold myself up and I'm ashamed to say that we haven't seen Jess or Milo since they were making out in the pool. The bottle of vodka is down to the last few drops and our heads are spinning, but we’re having a good time and we’re not going to stop until one of us passes out on the counter or is hurling in the expensive vase. Though, I’m kinda hoping we don’t because I’ll be the one who has to clean it in the morning.

  Colton sits across the room and I haven’t missed the way that his eyes linger on me, so intense and full of need that it makes me itch to get him between my legs. If I was smart, we could have forgotten about the party and it would have been just me and him all night long, free to do whatever the hell we wanted, but no. Apparently, when you get fucked up and high on weed after a shitty few weeks, all you want to do is relax and party until you can’t remember your own damn name.

  “Damn, that boy hasn’t stopped staring,” Hendrix says, watching my line of sight and clearly realizing that there’s something deeper going on here than just two people living on the same property. Hell, she was there on the yacht and would have seen the tension between us that has only gotten worse as time goes by.

  “He’s not,” I say, looking back at her. “Are you ready for your shot?”

  “No way,” she screeches. “It’s your turn.”

  “Bullshit,” I laugh. “I just stood in the middle of the room and climbed on the coffee table to do my own rendition of the robot dance. It’s so your turn.”

  Hendrix’s face scrunches. “Shit. Is it bad that I’ve already forgotten about that?”

  I choke back a laugh, wondering why the hell I’m finding every little thing so damn funny.