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

I’m shivering, and I don’t know if it’s from shock, the cold, or both as I numbly watch the blood bead on my arm, so very red, and flow onto the dirt in a viscous puddle. I’m going to die. I’m going to die before I’ve ever truly lived.

I escaped my piece of shit father only to end up here, for I know, even if I’ve never admitted it out loud, my dad never intended to let me live - telling me to run was his way of giving me a fighting chance.

He had every intention of hunting me down and ending me, and only my determination to live saved me. Dad didn’t know about Mom’s late-night explorations of the house, didn’t understand her fears, and let me go thinking he could easily find me. But I’d been playing ‘hide and seek’ with Mom for years, long before I understood this wasn’t a fun game but a lesson.

Squished under a shelf, below a stack of food items in the pantry, with my cheek sticking to the floor, from the years of sugar and flour that slowly leaked from their packaging, I called the police using Mom’s burner phone taped to the shelf above my head.

I’ll never forget the look on his face as the police led him away in handcuffs, no longer enamored of the famous football player now covered in her blood. He glared at me with his dark eyes, flashing with betrayal, before turning his head away with disgust.

Snapping my head back to Teddy, I listen drowsily as he speaks.

“Now that I have your attention, dear Finn. Let’s chat. You see, I’m angry with you. You took my gifts and threw them away. You defied my orders and fucked that cretin. You looked me in the face and denied my love!”

Spittle flies from his lips as he glares at me with glowing eyes and staring into his face, I no longer recognize the boy who was my friend. It’s like the facade he portrayed has melted under the face of his rage.

Bewildered, I search for that Teddy with the kind smile and genuine expression, but he’s gone. Did he ever exist?

“Well!” he screams.

“What do you want from me?” I ask warily.

“I want you to fucking see the light! You bitch!” he seethes. “Cut her!”

Tiffany runs the blade over my arm again, creating two parallel lines, and this time I feel the sting as it burns through me like fire.

Gritting my teeth, I stare into Teddy’s eyes and say, “Fuck you.”

“Fuck me! Fuck me! No, fuck you!” he shouts, spit escaping from his mouth and dripping down his chin.

For a moment, so brief it might have never happened, I feel a pulse of pity for this boy, on the cusp of manhood who will never be more than an angry version of himself. He’ll never be happy because he can never let loose his need for control.

I guess that’s the piece I was missing with my dad. I thought if I tried harder, walked softer, gave in more, reduced myself to a shell, he’d just be fucking happy, but he was never going to be content because, deep down, he was an insecure little bitch who couldn’t see past his own frailty.

Teddy’s just another guy who refuses to accept he’s human and won’t always get what he wants. Instead, he’s the ultimate bully, pushing and prodding everyone around him, refusing to understand, he’s not worthy, and he never will be as long as he has hate and greed in his heart.

Infuriated by my insolence, what ensues is an hour of listening to him rage while Tiffany follows his every instruction. She cuts the fabric of my clothes from my body limb by limb, running the damn knife up and down my arms, legs, and even my torso.

Teddy watches with avid eyes, looking at my breasts in my bra greedily and shivering I give a passing thought to wonder if he’s truly paralyzed from the waist down or am I in for more than just this cruelty.

Can I live past rape? Do I want to?

“You were mine, Finn. I would have treated you like my queen. We could have ruled my kingdom together. But you just couldn’t see past the dick, could you?”

Raising his hand dramatically, he asks, “Did you like my play on words? Teddy R? Teddy Rex? Did you know kings of old signed their names that way? You could have been the queen to my king, bitch!”

At some point, I check out, shivering into the air and staring into nothing much like Tiffany. She’s past the point of rational thought, which makes me idly wonder if this is where I’m headed.

What did he do to her to reduce her to this? Maybe death is preferable because she’s no longer with us, just an empty husk complying with his every demand.

My lack of attention only serves to frustrate Teddy more, and although it’s not on purpose, I feel a bloom of satisfaction anyway.

You may ultimately end my life, but you’ll never get me to conform.

I spent years pretending to be someone else for the sole purpose of pleasing my dad, and it got me nowhere. I learned that lesson the hard way and made the ultimate sacrifice. Do I want to die? No, but I’d rather go out than give in.

“Damn you! I gave you everything. I gave you my soul. I handcrafted every note, letter, and doll. You didn't like the bird, Finn? The rose? I painstakingly found things I knew you would like, but you threw them all away. You threw me away!”

Glancing over at him, I note absently that his face is red, his eyes wild, his hair crazy on his head. He’s decompensating quickly.

“Cut off her finger,” he demands.

Tiffany startles, her breaths coming in short pants, as she clenches her hand around the already bloody knife. Fuck. He truly is crazy.

Fear slides down my spine when his