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

So, when he gruffly informs me, he has to work at the bookstore over the weekend, I give him a heated kiss goodbye and sadly watch as he goes, noting the grim look on his face.

Once he’s gone, I make my way back to the train car, dreading what I might find and hoping it’s nothing but my wild imagination.

Pulling onto the road, I recall our whispered conversation from the night before, where he pulled me close and convinced me I was silly, teasing me mercilessly until I cried mercy. After which, we made love again, his fierce bright eyes staring at me intently

Shivering in my car, I smile slightly, but even so, his choice of words lingers.

“Are you okay?” I whispered, brushing his hair back from his forehead.

Smirking, he palmed my ass cheeks and said, “Never better.”

Giggling, I slapped his chest. “I’m serious. Is there...something wrong?”

Frowning, he hugged me to him and said, “No, Finn, why would you think that?”

“I don’t know, I just...you seem distant.”

A pained expression passed over his face so quickly, I almost missed it before he smiled wide. “Princess, I’m in the best fucking place of my life. I love you. You’re safe…”

My mouth tilted into a smile at his vehemence, and I snuggled against him, whispering, “I love you, too.”

Kissing my forehead, he hummed softly and said, “You know I’d do anything for you, right?”

Searching his eyes, I nodded slowly, taken aback by his abrupt change in mood. Where before he was playful, now he was grim and broody.

“I do now,” I said sassily, brushing my breast against his chest, pleased when his eyes lit with fire, but there was a seed of worry I couldn’t erase as he turned me over and peppered kisses down my back.

What did he mean?

Pulling from my reverie, I drive into the lot, faced with something I’m not sure I can get past.

Colt’s truck is parked where Hayden parked not too long ago, beside a costly Lexus, with fancy rims and tinted windows. Staring at his vehicle, I’m forced to realize that he is hiding something from me and apparently someone.

Numbly I stare at those two cars, for how long I don’t know when my phone chimes and I jump out of my skin. Picking the phone up with trembling fingers, I find a text from Colt and laugh with disbelief and a tinge of hysteria.

I miss you, Princess

Dropping the phone, I exit the vehicle on shaky limbs and follow the path Hayden led me down the other day. Whatever is happening, I have to know because I refuse to believe the worst, and I know I’ll have to see it with my own two eyes to even consider walking away.

This is my weakness, and still, I pray, please let this be something I can overcome.

When I see the light ahead of me, signaling the break in the trees, I slow, creeping toward the train car quietly. Crime scene tape flaps macabrely in the breeze, reminding me this is not just the scene of what could be the worst moment of my life but also the last resting place for poor Sarah.

Stopping at the clearing edge, I hide behind a tree and stare at the last two people I thought I would see.

Colt faces his stepmother, who’s standing in front of him, barring my ability to see her expression, but I can see him, and he’s grim, his brows lowered over his eyes.

She raises her hand and places it on his chest, and my heart stops, literally. This isn’t the move of a woman defending herself. It’s not even a good-natured pat between family, no...this is a fucking caress.

What the actual fuck?

“You’ve been avoiding me for months now. Need I remind you of our deal?” she says in a silky tone.

Colt grabs her hand harshly, stepping back with a snarl, “Don’t touch me. Don’t ever fucking touch me. I told you I’m done.”

“You’re done when I say, Colt. And I’m not done,” she insists, grabbing his dick through his pants.

Covering my mouth when I gasp, I step back into the trees, reeling under the story unfolding before me. Was Colt fucking his stepmother?

“Fuck off!” he exclaims, stumbling away from her.

“Are you willing to watch your mother lose everything? And for what? Love?” she sneers.

Tiredly, he rubs his hands over his face and mutters, “I’m not responsible for my mom.”

“But she’ll have nothing, Colt. Not even your dad!”

“Yeah, well, if he’s that much of a coward, I guess it is what it is. I’m done. No more. You’re a sick bitch!”

“That’s not what you were saying when I was sucking your dick. I think it was something along the lines of don’t stop,” she snaps.

Moaning, I step back right into a hard chest standing behind me.

Colt’s eyes fly to mine, pain and regret passing over his features before his dad steps around me and demands, “What’s going on here?”

Ignoring his dad, Colt takes one step toward me, my name on his lips, but I run. I run from him, the sick situation, and the lies I’m tired of hearing, and when I get to my car, I don’t stop but fly out of the parking lot with no destination in mind.

My heart feels like it’s about to beat out of my chest, and I cry, although I can’t feel the moisture. No, I can’t feel anything but the hole in my heart.

*****

Aimlessly I drive until I end up at the lake, where Colt and I shared intimate moments and came back together after our first break, and although the memories assail me, I push them back bitterly, unable to face the specter right now.

Intellectually, I know what Colt did was under duress and essentially abuse at the hands of his stepmother. I’m not upset about the act so much as being disturbed that she said he liked it…cue jealousy.

No, it’s just - how many more lies are there? How