Hate So Good: A High School Bully Romance (The Hate Series Book 2)

by Nina Lincoln

  “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 the stony faces, I see the pain they fight every day, the will to live amongst the heartache they wake up to and can’t escape.

  This is Colt’s world, where you fight to survive because, for him, his dad didn’t care enough to pull him out of the world he’s been living in.

  With an aching heart, I watch him lose his thin veneer of boredom and take his first few shots. Buck doesn’t know what hit him and staggers under the blows. Soon the mask of boredom fades away, and an ice-cold look of hatred crosses Colt’s face before he’s pounding on him brutally.

  After a while, I have to look away. The sheer violence of the beating Buck’s taking makes my stomach hurt. When I do, I meet Hayden’s smirking gaze and roll my eyes.

  He raises his brows in a challenge, and I turn back with a sigh. Colt’s still pounding on Buck, and the crowd is going wild, but Buck’s no longer standing, and Colt continues to kick on him with a glazed expression.

  “He’s won. Why don’t they make him stop?” I ask.

  Beside me, Ramie says, “No rules. They agreed when they got in the ring.”

  Colt’s not even present anymore, and my stomach sinks at the realization he’s somewhere in his head.

  Stepping forward, I shout his name, but he can’t hear me over the din. Grabbing onto the ropes, I pull myself halfway up onto the ring and shout again.

  Colt’s face pops up, his expression savage, and I shiver under the violence looking back at me. At first, he doesn’t recognize me, giving me a wild, unfocused look until I repeat his name, and his expression fades into confusion.

  “Finn?” he says, stepping toward me.

  “Yes,” I shout, tears filling my eyes. “Yes, it’s me.”

  “What are you doing here?” he asks, searching my gaze avidly.

  “It doesn’t matter. Please, it’s done,” I say, waving toward Buck, who hasn’t moved.

  His eyes move to Buck, his face hardening into lines of visceral hate, and I pound on the ring again to draw him back to me. “Please, Colt. Please come to me.”

  His gaze softens, and he steps toward me before dropping to his knees and pulling me through the ropes and wrapping his arms around me tightly.

  Gasping, I grab him to me, breathing in his sweat as he trembles around me.

  “I’m sorry,” he mutters into my hair.

  “Hmm?” I murmur, the din of the crowd drowning out his words, as I bury my nose in his shoulder and hang on tight.

  “He wouldn’t have had the chance to hurt you if I hadn’t sent you in there,” he says, his voice turning to ice.

  “Shh,” I soothe, pulling back. “Can we get out of here?”

  Chapter Five

  I’m shuffled away while Colt deals with business. Apparently, he got paid for kicking the shit out of Buck, who has to be physically carried from the ring.

  I wait with Hayden while he does his thing, my body tingling every time he looks back to make sure I’m still here with an intensity to his eyes that causes butterflies to whoop it up in my stomach.

  I don’t know what to make of it all, Dirk’s revelations, Colt’s need, but at this moment, I don’t care. I can psychoanalyze it all tomorrow. Tonight, I need to feel his arms around mine again. Maybe it’s weak, but I just don’t give a damn.

  My breath catches in my throat when some blonde chick with a huge rack steps into my vision and grabs on tight to him, giving him a bright smile. With a surge of annoyance and, yes, the green-eyed monster flowing through me, I step forward to intervene, but Colt shakes her off before I get far.

  And the tight feeling in my chest eases when he doesn’t so much as glance at her, but I’m feeling itchy, weird as I stand and wait for him. Is this my future if I accept whatever fucked up scenario this is? Women throwing themselves at him? Can I trust him? This? Do I even know what this is? I’m so fucked in the head right now.

  As he finishes up, I wait impatiently until he gives some guy a fist bump and turns to me with a fiery expression, and the tingles in my body surge into a crescendo.

  Stepping forward as he pulls me into his arms and drops his mouth to mine in a searing kiss, I melt into him, my body heating a thousand degrees in recognition of his.

  I missed this, him, more than I’m willing to admit out loud. When we were together, I felt like the light Colt said he felt around me, except those times he would back away, become distant, as though the feelings between us were more than he was willing to bear.

  Hayden chuckles behind me, and Colt breaks away long before I
’m ready. I give him a scathing glare, but he just smiles and says, “You can thank me later.”

  We watch him saunter off for a moment, and then Colt pulls me into his body again, growling, “I need you so bad, Princess.”

  Shuddering in his arms, I arch against him, and he groans, pulling me into another hot kiss that leaves me boneless and gasping for air, before grabbing my hand and pulling me through the crowd at a brisk pace.

  Guys call out to him, slapping him on the back and congratulating him, and he returns the adulation with a smile or nod but doesn’t falter in his pace.

  The cool air feels good when we breach the doors, and I suck in a breath as we walk rapidly to his truck parked toward the back. When we reach the door, he spins me around and pins me against it, pulling me into another kiss.

  “Fuck, I’ve missed these lips,” he mutters, licking into me like he’s starving.

  Unfortunately, his words cause images of Sarah sucking face with him to flash through me, and I stiffen. Yes, we’ve had sex since then, but our hate fuck in the woods was different. This feels intimate and vulnerable.

  Sensing my withdrawal, he pulls away and leans his forehead against mine.

  “What?” he chuffs out.

  “Sarah,” I mutter, and he rears back with a wince.

  “I didn’t sleep with her, Finn. I couldn’t not after…I couldn’t. I can’t take back that stupid kiss, but that’s all it ever was.”

  Searching his gaze, I calm, finding my center and choosing to believe him, although I hope I don’t come to regret it.

  “Okay, but if this is a fucking game, Colt, I will ruin your fucking world,” I say icily. And I mean it. I will rain down hellfire on this boy turned man.

  His eyes light with desire, and he pulls me back in, licking my bottom lip, and making me whimper, as he husks, “I wouldn't expect anything less, Finn.”

  The ride home is a blur, and we barely make it into my house before we’re both stripping. He watches me avidly as I undress, marking every place on my body with a heated stare, and I shiver under his gaze, returning the favor, loving every inch he exposes.

  He’s all lean muscle and beauty, and it’s all I can do not to jump him and run my palms over every sinful curve.

  “Do you want me to shower, Baby?” he asks with hooded eyes, pulling on his length.

  Shivering, I shake my head no, and he grins arrogantly, causing me to pulse painfully.

  “You like what you see?”

  “Yes,” I moan, leaning back on the couch and spreading my legs wide.

  Groaning, he steps forward, “Fuck, I can’t wait, Finn, this is gonna be rough.”

  “Oh God, yes, Colt, now,” I say, arching my hips into the air. Rough or gentle, slow, or hard, I love every moment with Colt.

  We both shout when he licks his lips and grabs my hips, thrusting into me, his thick length stretching me wide. Ignoring the twinge of pain, I arch into him as he surges inside of me, pumping against him rapidly.

  “Fuck,” he moans, bottoming out and grinding into me.

  Desperately, I flail beneath him, my orgasm surging through me as he rubs me just right, grabbing my clit and caressing it between his fingers.

  “Oh,” I moan, flying over the edge and falling as he thrusts into me rapidly and spews.

  The beautiful primal expression that crosses his face causes my heart to clench painfully in my chest. These are the moments I crave where he can’t hide behind his icy expression.

  Dropping his forehead to my chest, we catch our breath together, breathing deeply in tandem. I’m preparing myself for him to pull away with his customary blank expression, only to be pleasantly surprised when he raises his head and gazes at me with a sweet smile.

  “Again,” he growls, and I gasp out a laugh, which turns to a moan. And we go twice more before he’s forced to head home for school tomorrow.

  *****

  I’m deliciously sore, confused, and happy as I leave my house for school the following morning, only to stop up short when I see Colt idling at the curb with a shit-eating grin on his face. Unable to contain my own smile, I open the door on the passenger side and smirk.

  “Waiting for something?”

  “Yeah, I’m waiting for my fuck hot Princess to get her sweet ass in the car so we can go to school.”

  With a grin, I jump inside, squealing when he pulls me to the middle and kisses me sweetly.

  Melting into his embrace with a mental sigh, I say, “I need to let Hay-“

  “Don’t worry about that fuckhead, I already told him,” Colt grumbles.

  Suppressing an eye roll, I snuggle deeper into his embrace and enjoy the ride to school. It’s been so long since I felt his arms around me, and I hum happily under my breath until he pulls into the lot and parks in the spot closest to the door.

  Glancing at him shyly, I find him looking at me with a soft smile, and taking my face in his hands, he asks, “Are we okay?”

  His eyes search mine, their pale grey depths concerned, and I smile gently. “Yeah, but this doesn’t mean you're off the hook. We should talk.”

  He nods slowly, his face turning grim, “Okay, Princess, but just know, it’s you and me now. Us together.”

  “Okay,” I breathe, smiling when he kisses my forehead and gives me a tender grin.

  “Now, tell me why Hayden was picking you up?” he says gruffly.

  And my glow pops like a balloon, the specter of my stalker looming like a bad fucking habit.

  “My fan. He was at the house. He left me a gift,” I mutter, sourly.

  “What the fuck? What did he leave this time?” he asks, his eyes growing icy.

  “Pictures of me,” I whisper.

  “Pictures?”

  “Yes…”

  “What kind of pictures?” he asks, frantically searching my gaze.

  “Me - dressing in my room.”

  With an explosiveness that causes me to jump out of my skin, he slams his hands against the steering wheel, exclaiming, “Fucker! I’m going to kill him when I get my hands on him.”

  Overwhelmed by his violent emotions, tears fill my eyes, followed by sadness that my stalker jerk continues to come between us for every special moment. I just want to enjoy my time with Colt, but there’s always something interfering.

  “Why did you think I was him?” he asks abruptly.

  “At the party before prom, someone chased me and dropped something. It was a series of notes but wrapped around it was a crane.”

  It’s achingly quiet for a moment before he says in a raw voice, “I’m sorry, Princess.”

  “Why?” I ask softly.

  “I never should’ve left you alone. I was a fucking dick. Fuck!” He slams the wheel again.

  “Colt,” I say, grabbing his arm. “Please, can we just pretend for today? I want to enjoy this, us…”

  His eyes soften, and he nods, giving me a gentle kiss on the lips, but his eyes are still grim as he says, “Okay, Baby.”

  We walk hand in hand to class and exist in our own little world throughout the day, even making out in his truck over lunch because we can’t keep our hands off each other.

  After school, Colt surprises me by taking me back to the lake, and with a blanket he keeps in his car, we snuggle together in front of the water.

  Staring out at the pretty view, I look up when with a heartfelt sigh that parts my hair, he says, “I’m sorry, I can never apologize enough. I was angry, I am angry, but I took it out on you.”

  “Why?” I whisper.

  He chuffs, “The minute I saw you, you were all that I could think about. Me! I’ve never given two shits about the chicks I...anyway, it was different with you. But I vowed never to be her, and you shoved that shit down my throat.”

  “I-“

  “No, not with your words, by being you. No matter what I did, I couldn’t let you go and believe me, I tried,” Colt says grimly.

  “But liking me doesn’t make you her,” I insist.

 
He pauses for a moment, resting his chin on my shoulder. I get that he’s struggled a lot, but going through life avoiding your mom’s mistakes means nothing if you don’t know what mistakes to avoid.

  “Colt, your mother didn’t make the mistake of being in love. She made the mistake of allowing someone to treat her as though she’s not enough.”

  Turning in his arms, I grab his cheeks between my hands and say, “I don’t share. That’s not for me. For whatever reason, your mom decided that’s enough, even if it does hurt her. But we’re not them, either of us. I could just as easily say I want to avoid love too, but who’s that punishing? Me! My dad doesn’t care! And I’d be a fool not to want to feel what I feel when I’m with you!”

  His warm breath puffs against my mouth, and unable to resist, I lean in and kiss him lightly on his yummy lips. He returns the kiss, running his tongue along my lower lip until I open for him with a sigh.

  Smiling, he sweeps my mouth with his tongue before tangling with mine, sending a riot of tingles through me. Only when we need to breathe, do we part with a moan, and softly, he pulls me around and lays me on the blanket, hovering over me.

  His intense stare makes me shiver, and with a sweet smile, he traces my features with his finger, slowly caressing the line of my nose, across my brows, and along each lip separately.

  “Finn,” he breathes, and my heart clenches in my chest, “you’re so beautiful.”

  Arching against him, I moan out his name, and his eyes turn a dark shade of grey, like stormy skies, before his mouth finally meets mine again.

  With his other hand, he kneads my breast through my shirt, clenching and twirling my now hard nipples between his fingers, and at his touch, pleasure radiates through me swiftly, ending in my core where my clit pulses with need.

  Colt rears back and smirks before unbuttoning my pants and shoving his hands below the seam, honing in on my bud immediately.

  “Colt,” I groan, and he smiles against my mouth. “I need you. I need to feel you.”

  “Oh, Baby, me too,” he breathes, sitting up to pull his shirt over his head.

  Simultaneously, I pull my pants off, leaving my shirt on just in case someone happens along, but I’m solely focused on him as he undresses. His muscles ripple under his movements, gleaming in the growing dusk, and I feel a twinge of regret in my chest when he reveals his tattoo, his reminder to never fall in love, a bleeding rose clenched between a fist.