Hate So Good: A High School Bully Romance (The Hate Series Book 2) by Nina Lincoln (best fiction books to read txt) 📕

table so abruptly the chair flies into the kid behind him, and the entire cafeteria grinds to a halt.

With a fierce expression I can't decode, he stalks away, slamming through the doors into the parking lot without looking back.

Staring after him with my jaw to my knees, I turn back to Hayden when he says, “Don’t worry about him. He’s just being stupid.”

“Why?”

“Colt’s always been a lit fuse. It just takes longer for the explosion.”

“Okay,” I say, looking toward the wall of windows worriedly. Is he angry with me?

“As for Sarah, I wasn't aware of any notes. But we didn't exactly chat, you know? Besides, Sarah was into some stupid shit. Whatever she was doing was shady as fuck. She refused to talk about it and insisted it was fine, but I don't know.”

“Like what?”

“Like she had a friend who she hung around with. Whoever it was would give her ideas, and she’d play them out. Totally ruined some chick's world last year when she revealed her sordid relationship with her stepdad. Sarah’s the type to catch a butterfly and pull out its wings just to watch it squirm.”

“And yet you slept with her,” I say dryly.

He shrugs, “She had wet pussy.”

Throwing a napkin at him, I grimace. Dude’s are so disgusting.

“Okay, what about Portia? Did she get notes or anything?” I ask, turning the topic back to real shit.

“Not that I know of, but that was a long time ago. Finn, if you’re trying to see a connection between you and them, there isn’t one.”

“How do you figure? Two of the girls that dated Colt are missing, and I’m getting weird as fuck notes, not to mention attacked by an unknown stalker who has the power to send a stand in to come and get me,” I say, agitated.

He looks at me askance before slowly nodding his head, “I guess. Yeah. But I don't think Sarah had a stalker. She’s more likely to beg the sick fuck. And Portia? I don't know, that was a long time ago.”

Nate walks through the cafeteria doors with his friends, his head tilted back in a beautiful smile, his pretty dimple out in full force. Grabbing a chair at a table nearby, he waves when he sees me watching, and although the look is cautious, I return it. I know he’s struggling with my choices, and I hope eventually he can see his way through to accepting them.

“Hayden?” I ask him.

He’s sucking face with one of his bitches, and I roll my eyes when he pulls away with a slurp. “Seriously? Anyway, did Nate ever date Sarah? Or show an interest?”

“Sure, he fucked her at least once.”

“How do you know?”

“It was at a party last year, at the beach. We go every year just before school lets out. They fucked on the beach for all to see.”

Wrinkling my nose, I say, “Okay, um gross. But they didn't date or anything?”

He chuckles. “Sarah didn't date. The only one she really ever entertained the idea with was Colt until he found out about her secrets and dropped her. Except when he used her against you,” he says silkily.

My heart clenches at the remembrance, and I look out the windows once more. Colt hasn’t emerged, and it's almost time for the second half of the day. Where did he go?

“Like sleeping with everyone?”

“That and she's the one who spilled the beans about Colt’s dad.”

Oh fuck. “Wait, are you telling me that Sarah told Colt about his dad's wife?”

So, this was the bitch at school?

Hayden smirks, “Yep. Apparently, she knew but never said anything, at least not until she wanted something. Sarah thought she could get away with pushing him to do whatever she wanted, he declined, and the rest is history. He shut her out, and she came to South.”

Reeling, I get up when the bell rings, drop my food into the garbage and join the masses in the hall. If Sarah knew about Colt’s dad and she’s the one who informed him his life was a lie? Bad news.

Of course, if I were Sarah, I’m not sure what I’d do with the information either. I mean, how do you tell someone something like that? Especially Colt? The information adds a layer to the dimension of Colt’s bitterness toward his mother and Sarah. Maybe the whole sleeping around thing didn't matter as much as others have let on. In which case, were they really that close to begin with?

Gah. I’m just going in circles.

Not to mention Colt conveniently left out a key piece of the story. Why not tell me it was Sarah who spilled the beans?

I spend the rest of the day worrying about Colt. He never appeared in any of our classes, nor did he answer any of my texts, and I’m torn between being angry and scared. I know all too well how serious my stalker is, and he or she doesn't want me anywhere near Colt. It can't have gone unnoticed that we’re dating. What if something happened to him?

When I emerge from the building into the lot after school, I’m relieved to see Colt standing by his truck with a grim expression but following that is resentment.

Giving him a good glare, I approach and speak before he can, assuming he planned to.

“Where have you been? I was worried?” I exclaim.

“It doesn’t matter. Are you ready?” Colt says with an emotionless expression.

“No, I’m not ready. Colt, what’s going on?”

“Nothing,” he says gruffly.

Turning from me, he opens my door and rounds the cab, getting in on the driver’s side and staring out the windshield grimly.

“Colt?” I ask softly, stepping forward, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Nothing is wrong. Now, will you get in the fucking truck?”

Stepping back, I ignore the hitch in my chest and say, “Fuck you. Don’t go to any trouble. I can find a ride home.”

“Finn,” he says with a pained expression.

But I step further away because I can’t stand to look into the void of his ice-cold eyes any longer.

Spying Hayden walking