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

the frustration in his tone and the same helplessness I feel. Colt’s as tired of the game as I.

“On my phone. Colt...it’s Sarah.”

“Fuck! Hold tight. I’ll be right there.”

“I don’t think you should. It’s dangerous,” I insist, but he’s not listening because I can hear the sound of clothes rustling as he dresses.

“Colt?”

He must have either set the phone down or pulled it from his ear because he doesn’t respond, but I can still hear the background sounds.

“Colt?”

“Yeah, I’m here. Hold on while I step outside.”

*****

Colt stays on the line with me until he reaches my house, hanging up when I let him in through the back door. He only agreed to park two streets down in his haste, and this only because I begged him.

As soon as he’s inside, I enter the alarm and collapse into his arms, losing my shit, half-hysterical as sobs rack my body.

Stroking my back soothingly, Colt holds me until I subside before saying quietly, “Show me.”

I pull up the image with trembling fingers, and he looks it over grimly before pulling me into his arms again. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I say against his chest.

But I’m not, I may never be, we’re all lying to ourselves at this point. My fan, most of all. If he thinks I’ll ever love him or agree to come together, he’s got another fucking thing coming.

“What do we do now?” I ask, pulling back to look at his beautiful face.

I wish he were hugging me for any other reason, which does nothing to temper my rage. At this point, my fan should be wary of showing his face because I’m liable to kill the fucker.

“We’ve got to go on the offensive somehow,” I mutter.

“Agreed. The police haven’t exactly been much help.”

Scoffing, I say, “He’s always two steps ahead. If I weren’t convinced it’s a student, I’d think it was a damn police officer.”

Colt tips his head to the side, a contemplative expression crossing his face.

“What?” I ask.

“Well, I don’t know. It’s just…”

“What?”

“Nate’s dad is a cop,” he says grimly. “Fuck! I never thought I’d be considering him as a fucking psycho stalker!”

“Yeah, well, no matter how this turns out, I have a feeling we’re gonna be surprised. Tiffany mentioned Nate.”

“When?”

“Earlier actually, she cornered me at school to warn me off. Said I should stay away from you.”

“Why didn't you tell me?” he asks, frustrated.

“Because there was too much other shit, I forgot,” I mutter.

He turns away, glancing at the ceiling, and uneasiness slides down my spine.

“Why is this a big deal?”

“It’s not. Tiffany’s just fucking unstable, and I worry about what she might do,” he says, but he’s still turned away. Classic Colt evasion.

“What aren’t you telling me, Colt?”

Sighing, he turns back to me, “She just said some awful stuff, Finn. About you. About us. I didn’t figure it was worth worrying you more.”

“What did she say?”

“That if I didn’t stay away, it would go badly for both of us. That this dick, whoever he is, is insane. That she thinks Sarah is dead and she’s next. She actually wondered if it wouldn’t be better to hurt you herself, but she’s scared of what he would do to her.”

“Hurt me?”

What do I have to worry about Tiffany now too? Insanity. I’m going to lose my fucking mind.

“Listen, if you see her, go the opposite direction,” he says, grabbing my shoulders and staring at me intently.

“That should be easy to do,” I say - no argument from me.

“Now as to the texts. We have to report them to the police, but maybe we can do something first,” he says.

“What?”

“Well, what about Teddy? He’s good with computers. I saw a movie once, where the characters traced the photos back to specific locations based on data in their phones.”

“Teddy? Um, maybe,” I say doubtfully.

I don’t want to involve him, but maybe he’s my only hope. I mean, he is good around technology, but all the warnings make me wary of risking my friends. It’s bad enough Colt is here, now to risk Teddy too?

“But if Teddy can do it, can’t the police?”

“Yes,” he says quietly, “but this will give us a head start.”

“A head start to do what?” I demand, my heart skipping a beat.

“Track the fucker down,” he says with a deadly gleam in his eyes.

“Colt, he’s dangerous.”

“Yeah, well, so am I.”

Chapter Eleven

I argue with Colt to no avail as we make plans to meet Teddy at his house. I’m still hesitant to involve him, especially when he’s been so weird lately, but I'm ready to move forward if this will end the saga.

But Colt better believe he won’t be going on some vigilante spree because whatever we discover goes straight to the police. Let them handle it.

I’m unwilling to lose him over this, and I think I’d die if something happened to him, especially over me.

Teddy and Ramie live in a small home with a sad front yard, a sagging porch, and a broken porch light. I’ve never been here before, so it's with a good dose of curiosity that I glance around when Ramie answers the door and lets us inside.

She greets us with a feeble smile, her eyes tired and her face pale in the dim light.

“You okay?” I ask as we pass a tiny living room, where a man, I presume to be her dad, snores on the couch, the distinct odor of sour alcohol, making my nose twitch.

“Yeah, just been a little under the weather,” she says dismissively as she leads us down the hall.

In the last bedroom on the left, Teddy’s tapping away at his computer, a single light glowing above him. His room is small and messy, with papers and clothes piled in every corner.

He turns when we enter, giving me a small smile that’s nowhere near his usual exuberance, and my heart aches, but I don’t know what to do. Maybe it’s me. Perhaps the stress is giving off vibes or something.

“Teddy,” I say, kissing him on the cheek. “Thank you