CHAPTER NINETEEN

COLE

I sit in fourth period with only twenty minutes left when the door opens. Austin walks right in with a smile on her face and her head held high. I want to yank her back out the door and choke her.

“Where have you been?” I demand when she plops down next to me.

She doesn’t answer.

I’ve been calling her for three hours. And then between classes, we realized that Shane was gone too. A call to his phone told me it was also off. And they were together. That’s when I realized my car keys were gone. Talk about pissed!

“Mrs. Duncan, can you send Austin Lowes to the office please?” The office comes over the intercom.

“You heard her, Miss Lowes,” the teacher tells her, and she stands.

I get up as well and follow her out. “What the hell did you do?” I demand, bringing her to a stop in the hall. “Austin?”

She just looks up at me. Her green eyes full of mischief.

“Where did you go?”

“To do Shane’s dare.”

I grind my teeth. “How did you get out of class?” She isn’t eighteen yet. She can’t sign herself out.

“I pulled the fire alarm,” she explains.

“What?” I shout. That was her?

She doesn’t even flinch at my tone. “I did it for the dare.”

“What the hell were you thinking? They’re gonna suspend you.” Fuck! I told her dad I would keep her out of trouble. How the hell am I gonna get her out of this? The guys and I may do some really stupid, illegal shit, but it never involves the school. That jeopardizes our chance on the swim team. We’re not that stupid.

“Get off my back, Cole,” she snaps, her finger pressed into my chest. “You brought me into this,” she shouts. “Don’t blame me for something I didn’t have any control over.” She steps into me. “You should have taken what I did to Jeff as a warning. Instead, you took it as a challenge. But you know what, Cole? You underestimate me, and that’s your fault. Not mine.” Then she walks off down the quiet hall, heading to the office with a little too much hop in her step for someone who is about to get suspended.

And I can’t help but smile. Austin Lowes is more of a shark than I thought.

AUSTIN

“I got suspended,” I tell Celeste as I plop down on the couch in my father’s house.

She stands in front of me, eyes narrowed and hands on her hips. Cole stands in the corner, glaring. He’s still pissed off at me from earlier. After I walked out of the principal’s office, he was waiting for me, looking every bit of the dick he is. We haven’t spoken since, but he had to drive me home. I was hoping he would just drop me off and go, but no, he is obviously just as nosy as he is an asshole.

“Yes! The school called me!” she barks. Her eyes go to Cole. “You’re supposed to be keeping her out of trouble.”

I snort. “He’s not my babysitter.” If she only had a clue of what he’s put me through, she’d see what I did was nothing.

“I had nothing to do with it,” he chimes in, and my eyes narrow on him. He’s the reason I did the damn dare in the first place!

“It’s not a big deal. It’s just three days,” I tell her. I’ve been suspended for more.

“No big deal? Your father is gonna be pissed,” she snaps.

“What’s he gonna do, ground me?”

“He’s sending you back to your mother’s,” Cole answers me.

“What?” I ask, looking back over at him.

“Cole—” Celeste starts.

But he continues. “He wanted to ship you back to your mother’s the other day with twenty grand. Because, like your mother, he doesn’t want you.”

“Cole,” she snaps.

How much does he know? “How do you know that?” I demand, standing from the couch. Then I look at her. “Jesus, how much have you told him about my life?”

She opens her mouth, but Cole speaks. “He told me at dinner the other night.”

“What?” I snap. Why would he tell him that? Cole and Celeste are obviously close. But how close are he and my dad? As far as I know, he hates him as much as I do.

“I won’t let that happen,” Celeste assures me. “And I’m the only one the school contacts. So we just won’t tell him.” She bows her head and sighs.

I look back at Cole, and he looks at me with disgust. Like I’m some charity case he took on. As if I asked to be part of his little twisted group.

My eyes go back to Celeste. “I don’t care. Let him send me back.” That’s what I want, right? It would get me away from Cole and his friends. It would get me out of all his twisted scams and blackmail. I look at Cole. “Not sure why you do.”

“Austin?” Celeste starts, but I ignore her and pull my cell out of my back pocket.

I go to my contacts and find Bruce. Then hit call. Placing it to my ear, I tap my foot on the Persian rug, hoping he still has the same number. It has been four years since I’ve called him.

“Austin?” he growls in answer.

“I got suspended,” I say without wasting a second.

Chuckling has me looking up, and I see Cole. He has his hand over his mouth trying to hide a smirk. His eyes meet mine, and he shakes his head like I’ve lost my mind.

“Austin!” Celeste snaps, taking a step toward me to yank my phone from my ear, but I place my hand up to stop her and take a step back.

“What?” he barks through the line. “What the hell did you do?”

“Pulled the fire alarm.”

He lets out a growl of annoyance. “How long?”

“Three days.”

Celeste throws her hands up and storms out of the room, and I look back at Cole. He is no longer laughing at me, but he does have a smirk on his face.

My father clears his throat. “Well …” He pauses. “Will it affect graduation?”

I frown but say, “No.”

“Okay, then. Don’t do it again,” he snaps and then hangs up on me.

I place the phone in my back pocket, my eyes never leaving Cole’s. “He’s not sending me home.” He arches a brow. “Just wanted to know if it would affect graduation.” His smirk grows to a full smile, and my eyes narrow on him. He wanted to ship you back to your mother’s the other day with twenty grand. “Did you have something to do with this?” I demand.

He reaches up and rubs his lips, his eyes on mine. “I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

I take a step toward him. “What did you do, Cole?”

“Insurance,” he says simply.

It’s the same thing he said to me before he sliced my arm open. “I know you’ve done something,” I snap.

“I dare you to prove it.”

I run a hand through my hair unable to play mind games right now. I can’t take it anymore. “I need some air,” I mutter. I shove open the door to the terrace and take off. I run because it feels good. I run because that’s all I’m allowed to do. I feel like Eli’s sister’s husband. That hamster in the cage. Unable to do anything. Unable to go anywhere. I make it to the top of the hill, and the cemetery comes into view, but I don’t stop. My lungs tighten as I try to suck in a breath. My side hurts, but it’s something I did. It’s my choice. Fuck them! And their rules for me. Screw …

I’m hit from behind and thrown to the ground. “What …?” I look up to see Cole on top of me. “What are you doing?”

“What are you doing?” he snaps.

“Trying to get away from you. Now get off.” God, he’s relentless.

I shove him, but he grabs me and pins my wrists down. I growl.

“You are so frustrating,” he says, his blue eyes looking down at me, a smirk on his face. He’s enjoying this.

Bastard!

“Fight me,” he orders.

“Cole,” I snap. Not in the mood for his shit.

“I dare you to fight me.” My eyes narrow up at him, and he arches a brow. “Show me what you got, Austin.”

I buck my hips, kick my feet, and try to yank my hands free of his iron grip, but nothing works. I arch my back and scream.

He lowers his head to my neck, and I can feel his heart racing against my chest. “Let it out, sweetheart,” he whispers. “Just like you did that night I had you pinned. The night I decided you were going to be mine.”

“Stop.” I hate how he says mine. As if he really wants me to be his. No one has ever wanted me like he does, and that thought makes me a little nervous and excited.

He pulls away and looks down at me. “I’m gonna hold you here. Pinned to the ground. Helpless.” My eyes narrow on him. “And you’re gonna fight me until you have nothing left. Until you’re weak. Worn out. Until you realize I’m stronger.”

“Please,” I growl the word. Unable to say it otherwise.

“No,” he says simply.

“I hate you,” I snap.

He frowns as if that hurt his feelings. “You hate yourself, Austin.”

“No …”

“You hate that you’re powerless. You hate that you have nowhere to go.” He looks up at the cemetery and sighs. “I was once like this.” He looks back at me. “I once had no control too, Austin. But I picked myself up and fought. Now fucking fight me,” he orders.

I try once again, kicking my feet and digging my heels into the ground to throw him off. Jerking on my hands but nothing works.

He lowers his head to my neck and laughs. He fucking laughs at how weak I am. “I can do this all day, sweetheart …”

I turn my head and sink my teeth into his neck.

His left hand releases mine, and he lets out a growl from the pain. I ball my fists, swinging. I hit him in the side of the head, and his body jerks back. I dig my heels into the ground and lift my hips, throwing him forward over my head. I roll out from underneath him. He recovers quickly and lunges for me. I stick out my leg, kicking him in the chest and knocking him back. I crawl on top of him and straddle his hips. I wrap my hands around his wrists, pinning them above his head. I’m panting. Heart racing.

He has a cut on the right cheek. His bottom lip is bleeding, and he’s got a big smile on his face as he looks up at me. It’s the first real smile I’ve ever seen from him. And even though I know how evil he can be, he looks absolutely gorgeous.

“You think you’ve got me?” The amusement in his voice lets me know he’s indulging me.

I lick my lips. “I’m the one on top.”

He chuckles softly. He pushes his arms out wide, and it forces me to release his wrists. Before I can plant them by his head and catch myself from falling, his hands are on my face, and he flips us over and pins me down.

“We need to work on your speed.”

“We need to work on your attitude,” I tell him.

“Oh, yeah?” he asks, arching a dark brow. That smile still on his face. It’s so bright it’s blinding. It almost makes me forget all the shit he’s done to me. “Why do you say that?”

“’Cause I’ve known you for three weeks, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen you really smile.”

It drops off his face like he didn’t know it was there. And just like all the other times, he places that mask on that hides him from the world. I knew he’d do that. But I wanted him to know that I noticed it.

I wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his hips. Letting him know his fuck you look doesn’t intimidate me anymore.

I’ve got you, Cole Reynolds.

His hands are on the grass on either side of my head, holding himself up. “I’ll fight you, Cole. I’ll play this game even though I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. But I dare you to smile for me. I dare you to show me something that nobody else sees.”