Rowdy Boy (A High School Bully Romance): Black Mountain Academy

by Clarissa Wild

  “She’s mine.” His familiar husky voice makes me gasp for air.

  He and Michael glare at each other in some kind of epic stare down until Michael finally throws in the towel. “Fine. Whatever.” He tilts his head and points at me. “But I want you to make sure she doesn’t get away with this. She can’t walk out of here if she’s gonna spill the beans.”

  “I won’t,” I say. “I don’t have a reason to—”

  “Oh, believe me, people have plenty of reasons to take us down. I’m not about to let it happen,” Michael says, biting his bottom lip. “And I don’t trust your word.”

  “Then what do you want me to say?” I ask. “You want me to beg? Jesus.”

  “Maybe.” Michael shrugs, licking his lips at the prospect. “But I’ll let Cole take care of you.” Michael glares at him again. “Seeing as he was so eager. Right, Cole?”

  Cole doesn’t budge. If anything, his muscles only grow tighter around my chest, and heat comes off his body, forcing me to remember just how close he is.

  If his eyes had lasers, he would probably burn a hole through Michael right about now.

  “I’ll be outside then, waiting,” he tells Cole. “You know what you have to do.”

  Right as he passes us, Cole grabs Michael’s shirt with a fist and stops him in his tracks. “Don’t ever tell me what to do.” Michael gulps in response, and Cole releases him from his grip. “You owe me.”

  Michael doesn’t respond, but judging from the look in his eyes, I’m sure he got the message.

  Then he leaves, but not before throwing me a final look.

  I can’t hear him go down the steps, though, which means he’s right behind the door, waiting for us to come outside. But after what? What is Cole supposed to do?

  When I lean away to look at Cole, he doesn’t seem his usual self. The smug smile that’s usually on his face is gone, replaced by a scornful scowl.

  “You have no idea what you’ve done,” he growls, looking at me from underneath his eyelashes.

  I take a step back away from his hot, muscular body, but he grabs my wrist and stops me from moving away farther.

  “What’s going on? Why was he doing drugs?”

  “Did you hear everything we said?” he asks, completely ignoring my question.

  I nod slowly.

  “Pity.” He lowers his eyes.

  “But I swear, I won’t tell anyone. I just …”

  “You couldn’t control yourself.” He scoffs and then snorts. “Where have I heard that before?”

  “I was telling the truth, Cole. I did hear a noise and thought someone needed help,” I say. “But that’s obviously not necessary.”

  I try to pass him, but he still blocks the door.

  “You think I can let you go now?” He cocks his head, strands of black, tousled hair tumbling over his eyes, the look on his face dead serious, scary even. “I told you your friends were right about me. They didn’t even know the half of it.” His tongue quickly darts out to wet his lips. “You’re the one that’s going to need help when I’m done with you.”

  His words make me swallow. Hard.

  What the hell is he planning?

  “Look, I gave you my word,” I reiterate.

  “That doesn’t mean anything,” he spits.

  I jerk free from his grip. “What else do you want? I can’t give you anything else.”

  A devilish smirk forms on his lips. “Yes … Yes, you can.” The carnal look he gives me makes goose bumps scatter on my skin.

  I’ve seen that look before … when we were in the lake, and he was about to kiss me. Everything comes flooding back in; his lips on mine, his hands on my body, all over me, touching me in places I didn’t know I already wanted to be touched.

  At that moment, I wanted nothing more than for him to take what he wanted.

  And he threw it right back in my face.

  “What do you want, Cole?” I ask. “If my word isn’t enough, then what is?”

  He licks the roof of his mouth with a devilish grin on his face. “You know exactly what I want.”

  I suck in a breath. “You want my body,” I say, my voice fluctuating in tone, “as insurance.”

  He takes a step in my direction, and the weight of his power comes down on me. Not just the power of his presence or his popularity … but his physical prowess too. For a moment, his eyes taper off to an envelope lying on the small table in the corner, and his fists clench.

  My heartbeat shoots through the roof.

  For a second, I contemplate if I should run. Run from him … run from the inevitable clash.

  But I’ve already tried that before, and it didn’t work.

  This is what they all warned me about and why they told me to stay away.

  Because if Cole Travis wants something, whether it’s now or later, he’s going to get it, no matter what.

  Chapter 20

  Cole

  She thought she could spy on us.

  That she could step in the wolf’s den and not be bitten.

  She should’ve thought twice before coming to my domain. Now she gives me no choice.

  “You shouldn’t have come here, Monica …” I growl, eyeing her down as I step closer and closer while she backs away until a wall hits her back.

  “So what? You want me to get on my knees? Suck you off?” she hisses, her hands against the wall as if she’s afraid of what might happen if she touches me instead. “That’s what you want? You want to use me?”

  Use her?

  That’s an odd way to put having my dick in your mouth.

  Any other girl would’ve been drooling at the thought, no matter the circumstance. If I flick my finger, any number of them would happily throw themselves at my feet, even if I threatened them with consequences.

  But not her. Definitely not her …

  Which is why I’ve gotten so obsessed with her.

  I cock my head and plant a hand on the wall beside her head, the sound making her jolt up and down. “You have sensitive information on us, so now I’m going to need the same thing from you.”

  My hand inches to her face, but she recoils, her head turned, her lips shuddering, and her body tensing up. She didn’t respond to my touch that way last time. What changed?

  She looks at me from the corner of her eyes with fear.

  Is she scared of me?

  I lean in closer, trying to get a read on her, but it’s hard. For some reason, she’s shut me out, even though she was so open to me before. Back at the lake, I’m sure she would’ve been more than willing to get on her knees or let me fuck her until I came inside her.

  But now … now all she exudes is disdain.

  A single tear that forms in her eye confirms my suspicion.

  As it rolls down her cheeks, I frown and pick up the tear with my thumb. Still, she stands tall and proud. I’ve never seen her this courageous. And it makes me smile. I can admire a girl who, despite all odds being stacked against her, still refuses to budge.

  “If you tell me you’re not gonna get on your knees for me,” I murmur, sliding aside her hair with my fingers. “I’m going to need you to give me something else.”

  Her chest rises and falls as she gasps.

  She and I both know there’s no other way out of this.

  If she runs off with what she knows, she could destroy us. Me.

  And I won’t let that happen.

  This band and its reputation are everything, and I cannot let anyone jeopardize that. Not even her.

  My fingers slide down her chest, which rises and falls faster than before.

  “Don’t be scared,” I whisper. “I won’t hurt you.”

  She stares at me, her eyes seeping with hatred, hate for her own fear, hate for me … hate for what she feels when I touch her. I can tell from the way her body flinches every time my hand slides across her body, every time my lips come close to her skin.

  I lean away and look at the beauty that stands before me.

  Her e
yes close, almost as if she’s expecting me to hurt her.

  When both my hands touch the bare skin right near her chest, her eyes burst open, and she sucks in a breath.

  I don’t take my eyes off hers, and neither does she, as I slide my hands down across her tits and into her nightgown.

  RIP!

  The top tears open like it was easy, the fabric parting to reveal more of her skin. The mere sight of her naked skin rouses me and makes the devil inside me hungry for more. And I don’t stop … I keep tearing through her nightgown until it’s completely ripped all the way to her belly button. Until the fabric falls off her shoulders and her ample tits are revealed.

  Her nipples peak from the cold, and my mouth waters at the thought of sucking them until she moans out loud. And my eyes can’t help but consume every inch of her flesh like a goddamn animal. She’s beautiful, naked, and vulnerable, like an empty canvas waiting to be painted on.

  A smug grin spreads on my face. “So many secrets … I can’t wait to uncover.”

  She stays in place, head tilted proudly upward, as she glares down at me with scorn. Beads of sweat roll down between her crevice, and I pick one up with my index finger and bring it to my lips. My tongue darts out to lick it off, and she can’t stop watching my every move, her lips parting right as my tongue slides off the tip.

  I know she wants it. She only needs to ask.

  But that part … we’ll get to it later.

  I part her nightgown farther until it completely falls off and onto the floor. What’s left is Monica in purple undies with frills near her thighs. So innocent … yet so sinful. Almost as if she’s trying to hide that part about her that’s begging to be released.

  And I want nothing more than to loop my fingers into each of those frills and tear them loose, one by one.

  I step closer until I tower over her, her eyes following mine wherever I go. I know she wants to see me. The real me. In all its corrupt, ugly glory.

  My finger slips underneath her panties, right where her pussy is, and she swallows hard.

  RIP!

  The flimsy panties tumble to the floor, her resolve faltering by the second. And I lean in so close that our lips almost touch.

  At that moment, I want nothing more than to own her.

  I want her so much that I can’t stop myself from planting my lips on hers and stealing a kiss. A desperate, greedy, insatiable kiss. One that makes me want to groan and shove her against the wall and do wicked, dirty things to her body until she screams my name.

  I fucking want her to be mine, but she can’t.

  She can’t be mine …

  Because I would break whatever barrier she’s built around her heart and smash everything to pieces.

  My lips tear away from hers. I can almost taste the fear.

  Fear … of me. Of what I’ve done, what I’ve become … what I could do to her.

  And as her eyes water, mine narrow and my nostrils flare.

  Every time I look at her, something animalistic inside me wants to take over.

  Something dangerous. Something that’s already ruining her…inch by inch.

  As much as this had to happen, I don’t want to murder what’s left of her self-worth.

  So I step back, fish my phone from my pocket, and snap a picture of her. Her eyes flash from the light, and she closes them briefly, only to rub them harshly.

  “What are you—Did you just take a picture of me?” she asks, making a face.

  I can’t deny it. But now she’ll know why I did what I just did. “Proof.”

  The look on her face turns from pure angst to complete rage, a beautiful painting of emotions slathered across her face. All because of me.

  “Of what?” she retorts, clutching her own body. “That you’re a despicable human being?”

  I hate that she talks about me like that, that I’m not even worth being called an asshole anymore. No, I’ve morphed into something worse.

  With my teeth grinding against each other, I turn away and grab a white shirt lying on the table. I throw it at her and look away. “Put that on and go.”

  “What?” she mumbles as if she’s still in shock about what happened. “So that’s it?”

  I don’t respond.

  She quickly puts on the shirt and stares at me for a few seconds. “A picture? That’s all this was for?” She almost chokes on her own words.

  I point at the door. She has to leave before I do something I’ll regret. I don’t want to take her, not like this. I’m not a fucking monster.

  “Don’t say a word about this,” I add.

  We briefly exchange looks. She knows this isn’t a game. This is serious.

  She’d better accept this one chance before it’s too late.

  “So you’re actually gonna let me leave?” she asks. “Just like that?”

  From the corner of my eyes, I spot her glancing at my fists and the fingers that ripped her innocence away. And for a moment, I wish I could tear out my own stupid, bleeding heart.

  “OUT!” I bark.

  It’s enough to shake terror into her, and she immediately rushes off. She slams open the door and hurries out the cabin, rushing down the wooden steps with Michael’s keen eyes on her back.

  I didn’t want to scream, but I had to. For her sake. For mine.

  When she’s gone, Michael turns his head toward me and raises his brows.

  “Do I need to follow her?”

  If he even tries, I swear to God, I’ll kill him right there on the spot.

  I smash my lips together and hold up the phone.

  He smiles. It’s a tepid, distasteful smile that makes me want to rip it off his face.

  But at least he won’t try anything on her now.

  I already did that.

  Like the beast I am, I tore right through her soul.

  But better it be me … than him.

  Monica

  Without thinking, without even looking, I run straight back through the woods on my bare feet to my cabin. When I’m inside, I slam the door shut and push myself up against it, breathing out loud. My hair is stuck to my face, sweat dripping down as I struggle to maintain my composure.

  What just happened was evil and nothing I would have ever expected from Cole Travis. And from the way he looked at me when he was done, I almost feel as though he didn’t either.

  And all that just for some stupid picture.

  A picture he holds over my head, in case I talk.

  Fuck.

  I wish I’d never went to look, wish I never even cared about someone yelling, wish I never saw them do drugs and flush them down the toilet.

  Fuck!

  I punch the door behind me and sink down against the wood, tears forming in my eyes.

  “Fucking asshole!” I yell. “Why the fuck did you have to do that?”

  I don’t know why I’m talking to him when he isn’t even here, but I have to let it out somehow. I should’ve known when he told me to believe my friends. This is why he wanted me to hate him. Why he was such a bully.

  He saw the weakness in me and used it for his own gain … to my demise.

  And it pisses me off.

  I should’ve kicked him in the balls when I had the chance. I should have sucker-punched him in the nose for trying to pull that shit on me.

  Instead, I stood frozen to the floor, and I let him touch me like I was some kind of doll to play with.

  Grinding my teeth, I look down at myself, wondering what the hell I was thinking when I let him do all those things to me. He keeps claiming my mouth and my body as though I’ve always belonged to him.

  But I’m not some toy he can play with. And he’ll regret ever taking that picture.

  “Monica?” Mel sits up in her bed, her eyes barely open. “What happened?”

  Shit. She was sleeping already. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  “Where were you?” she mutters, completely out of it.

  “Um … on my way back …” I tuck my
hair behind my ear. “I had to make an extra bathroom stop.”

  “Oh …” she replies sleepily. Then she frowns. “Why are you wearing a men’s shirt?”

  My eyes widen as I look down at my clothes and realize what I’m wearing. Shit.

  I quickly get up from the floor, take it off, and throw it in the trash.

  “Whoa,” Mel says. “Let your freak flag fly I guess.”

  I snag a new pajama from my suitcase and put it on, staring at the shirt in the trash can.

  I want to light it on fire.

  “Did … something happen?” she asks, clutching her duvet.

  “Boys …” I growl.

  She throws off her duvet. “Did Cole do something again?”

  I lower my eyes and ball my fists. I don’t fucking care what he does anymore. I’m not a weak, pathetic little girl, despite whatever he thinks. I’ve been through far more than he’ll ever be capable of giving me. So if he wants a war, he can fucking get one.

  Mel slips out of her bed and approaches me while I keep staring at that shirt, thinking about all the things I’m going to do to get even with Cole fucking Travis and his band members. Or should I say gang?

  Mel places a hand on my shoulder, pulling me from my thoughts. “Are you okay? If you need me to call someone—”

  “I’m fine,” I reply, maybe a little too direct, judging from the look on her face. I smile gently. “Thank you.”

  It’s a little white lie, one I tell often. I’ve done it so many times it comes naturally to me.

  But I’m done being the victim. I’m tired of giving and giving and not getting anywhere. My life is worth something, and I’ll be damned if I let some playboy ruin it.

  I’ve already been destroyed once, but I kept my shattered heart intact with every bit of tape I could find. No fucking way will Cole Travis ever find a way to unravel the coils around my heart.

  And one thing’s for sure … I will make him pay for what he did.

  Chapter 21

  Monica

  The rest of the trip was surprisingly uneventful, mostly because I stayed the hell out of Cole’s way. He and his band were basically glued to their groupies, so they didn’t even notice me during most of the outings, which I don’t mind at all, even though I’d expected Cole to continue pestering me over what I’d seen. I guess he thinks he’s safe now that he took a picture.