CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

COLTON

I FUCKING LOVE this bitch! I’ve got to be the dumbest man in the world. I thought things would go differently this morning. I wasn’t lying when I told her to carve her name into my chest, but I saw the look on her face. She doesn’t feel the same way about me. She thought I was playing a game.

Fuck, maybe I am. I don’t know what the fuck is going on. Too many lines have been crossed that nothing makes sense anymore.

Like right now, she’s standing in front of me, silently crying, and all I can think about is throwing her to the floor and holding this knife to her throat while I fuck her wet cunt, and she begs for her life. Something to give me control over the situation again because I’ve lost her.

Whatever hold I had on her is gone. I went too far last night. Or maybe she went too far with letting me have my way.

I step back, close the pocketknife, and point at my door. “Get the fuck out of my room.”

She doesn’t need to be told twice. Ripping my door open, she runs out, and I slam it shut behind her.

“Fuck!” I throw the knife across my room. She rejected me. She gave Nate five weeks of her life, but won’t even give me a fucking chance?

I brought her home last night, gave her a bath, and put her in my bed. Granted, she was in and out of consciousness for most of it. But I took care of her. It was the gentlest I’ve ever been with her, and she doesn’t even remember it. She clung to me. Needed me. It made me feel like a man. A protector. I’ve always used her, but this was different. I was finally something she needed other than a fuck. Or so I thought. I was obviously wrong.

My cell ringing on the nightstand gets my attention. I walk over to it and hit answer when I see it’s Mitch. “What?” I bark out.

“Hey, man.” He sighs. “I just wanted to give you a heads-up on Nate.”

“What about him?” I demand, pulling a pair of boxers on.

“I forgot that I told you guys that you could use the in-law suite last night. Anyway, I found him earlier this morning, and he was livid.”

“Good.”

“I just wanted to warn you. He was talking some mad shit. That he was going to fuck you up—”

I snort. “Thanks for the warning.” Nate doesn’t want to even come near me. I’ll break his fucking face next time I see him.

“I’m serious, Colt. After I untied him and removed the duct tape from around his mouth, he was throwing shit around. Running his mouth about begging … I don’t know what he was talking about, and he wouldn’t explain it to me, but he promised I’d understand soon enough.”

Well, at least he thinks I got the girl. I’d rather him not know that she turned me down. No matter what happens between Raylee and me, I know she’ll never go back to him. “Thanks.” I hang up before he can say anything else.

A knock comes at my door, and I open it up, expecting it to be her but let out a growl when I see it’s Finn. “What do you want?” I should have stayed in bed.

“Everything okay?” he asks, stepping into my room.

“Yep,” I lie. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Because I just saw Raylee run out of the house with a bag packed and tears rolling down her face. She was obviously upset.”

I run a hand through my hair.

“I don’t want to get involved,” he adds.

“Then don’t,” I snap at him.

He closes my door, letting me know that’s exactly what he’s about to do. “Don’t get me wrong, last night was fun—fucking great—but the show you put on was equivalent to the one where she burned your car down.”

“Your point?” I growl, not liking where this is headed.

“My point is, what the fuck are you doing, man?” He points at my door. “You two are going to kill each other trying to prove that you don’t love one another.”

I snort. “We don’t—”

“She may not love you, but you’re in love with her.”

His words are like a punch to my gut. I never considered her not feeling the same way about me. She comes crawling back to me every time I push her away. I guess, over time, I thought I could make her love me the same way I make her want me.

I sit down on the edge of my bed, and admit, “We got into a fight.”

“And?”

“And what?” I snap. Before he can answer, I add, “She’ll get over it and return home. Or come back to set it on fire.” Either way, she’ll return. She always does.

“Ahh, I see.” He sits down beside me. “Can I say something without you punching me?”

I give a rough laugh. “No promises.”

“You’ve been hell-bent on making her as miserable as you for the past six years. Now is the time to fight for her as hard as you’ve fought the feelings you have for her.”

I look over at him, and he pulls a joint out from behind his ear, staring down at it. “She’s got one more year left of college, and then she’s gone, Colt.”

“She won’t …” I trail off as his words sink in.

I’ve done whatever I needed to do to keep her in my life. To make sure she stays close to me. Afraid if she put too much distance between us that I wouldn’t be able to pull her back to me. What will I do to keep her here with me after graduation? What if she moves across the country? The thought alone is crippling.

“What?” He laughs. “She won’t leave? She will. Why would she stay here in a house with four guys?” Pulling his lighter out of his pocket, he puts the joint to his lips and lights it up. Taking a hit, he tilts his head back and blows it out slowly. “No matter how much she enjoys being your slut, she’ll eventually want to be someone’s wife.” He slaps my shoulder and holds out the joint. “It’s human nature. A woman wants to be more than a booty call, Colt. And after all the shit you’ve put her through, I think Raylee has earned the right to be happy. Whether that’s with you or someone else.”

Both of our cell phones go off at the same time, signaling a text message. I don’t even bother to look at mine because he removes his from his pocket. “It’s Tyson. He wants us at Blackout in thirty.”

I hand him back the joint, not in the mood to get high. I’d much rather go and beat some guy’s face in.

RAYLEE

I’M DRIVING DOWNthe road, my hands fisting the steering wheel. I’ve got all of my weight on my left ass cheek because my right one stings from where he branded me. Fuck him and whatever games he thinks he can play.

I ran back to my room, used the restroom, then threw on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. Didn’t even bother with a damn bra and tossed some shit into a bag. I’ll go spend a few nights at my mom and Cliff’s. I hate that Colt will think he won by running me off, but I need some fresh air.

Need time to regroup and figure out my next step.

I thought about calling Tatum to see what she’s doing, but her cell is in the back seat of my car along with mine. She had left with Billy last night and forgot about it. I then thought I’d call and check on Raven, but when I tried to turn mine on, I got nothing. The motherfucker must have died. I didn’t have much battery left anyway.

Looking up in my rearview mirror, I see a truck on my ass. Instead of brake-checking them, I speed up. So do they.

“What the fuck?” I growl, not in the mood for some asshole and their road rage today.

Whoever it is, punches on the gas and speeds around me. They swerve over in front of me, forcing me to slam on the brake. “Fuck!” I hiss as everything in the passenger seat falls to the floorboard. I lay on the horn, and they speed off once again, taking a corner too fast.

I let off the brake and accelerate, going slower than I was as I get my breathing back to normal and rack my brain for anything that happened last night. I’m still drawing a blank. How do I not remember? There’s no way I told him I love him, right? Like that’s not even a word in my vocabulary, let alone something I would say to Colt.

I’m not one of those dumb girls who confuses sex with love. I don’t need to cuddle afterward. I don’t need a daily text, or a phone call. You can fuck me and go on your way, and I’m okay with that. So why do I feel like what he said had some kind of truth to it? Why is Colt the drug that I can’t seem to quit? Out of every relationship that I’ve failed, he’s the one guy I always go back to. I can dump a guy and not even think of him again. But Colt? I think about him all the time. Even when I’m with other guys.

Shifting in my leather seat, I hiss in a breath at the sting on my ass cheek. “You’re so dead.” I growl through gritted teeth. I will set his ass on fire this time.

“Think, Ray.” I slam my palm on the steering wheel. What the fuck happened? How did I even get home …

I open my heavy eyes, blinking a few times. I ache everywhere. I bring my shaking hands to my face, and they’re wet. “What …?” I clear my throat, my voice scratchy, and it hurts to swallow, making me flinch.

“You’re okay.” I hear that familiar voice in my ear from behind me.

I don’t even have the energy to turn around and look at him. Instead, I sink into what I realize is his bathtub, my back against his chest, and I close my eyes, enjoying the hot water burning my sensitive skin.

“You did so good tonight, princess,” he whispers in my ear. His lips trail down to kiss my neck, and my head falls to the side, silently begging him to kiss me there. “Fuck, you’re so perfect. Tell me again that you’re mine.”

“I’m yours.” I lick my numb lips. “I’m yours, Colt,” I repeat. “I’ve always been yours.” Isn’t that what this is about? He’s my addiction. My drug. I’ll never get enough of him. He knows it, and I know it. I’ve spent so much time on my knees for him that I don’t even care if I ever walk again.

“Goddamn right, beautiful.” He smiles against my neck. He removes his lips from my wet skin and replaces them with his hand. Giving me a little squeeze, he adds, “You’re mine now and forever.”

“Forever,” I agree.

No. Tears run down my face as that memory gets through the fog that was last night. It’s not true. I don’t believe it. My heart hammers in my chest, and I sniff. I haven’t fallen in love with him. It’s not supposed to happen this way. Not with him.

“You did so good tonight, princess.”He said that to me. What did I do? Did I beg him to love me?

Taking the corner, I see the truck again, but I’m too slow. They slam on their brakes, and I don’t have enough time to stop, so I rear-end them.

My entire body stiffens, knowing it’s coming as my seat belt tightens on my chest. My body goes forward at the impact while the airbag blows up in my face. I breathe in a cloud of dust, trying to get my vision to return. Everything is blurry, my ears ring, and my skin burns.

I hear the sound of metal being pried open and a hand grips my hair. I’m being yanked out, but my seat belt keeps me in the car.

“Fuck.” Someone hisses. Then they’re reaching across me and undoing it.

My head falls forward, and I feel something warm running down my face. “What …?”

“Shut the fuck up.” I’m yanked from my car, and I fall to my knees on the asphalt, unable to stand.

I catch sight of my shaking hands, and they’ve got cuts on them.

A hand grips my hair, pulling me to my feet, and I’m dragged away from my car and into a new one. My heavy eyes close while I try to breathe. My chest is tight, and I feel like something is sitting on it.