Clash: A High School Bully Romance - Madison Falls High Book 2 Read online

  She winked and walked off, and I checked the raised eyebrows plastered on the guys’ faces. “Don’t ask,” I grunted holding up a hand and walked off again. I could feel the beginning of a headache already starting.

  I should have gone the other way. As soon as I stepped off, I saw Sophia again, flattened against the locker with Wes grinding down on her, his tongue halfway down her throat. I clenched my fist so hard I felt the nail cutting into my palm.

  Wes looked up, like he knew I was standing there, and I forced myself to ignore the grin on his face, and the way his hand moved to her back before he grabbed her ass, strictly for my benefit.

  I kept my head low and was walking past when he called out to me. “Think you’ll retire racing now?” he asked, snickering, trying to take another dig into me.

  I stopped. “What did you say?”

  “You heard me.”

  “Wes,” Sophia said weakly from under him. He ignored her.

  “You think one lucky race makes you all that? You’ve been locked up for a year. Did you think time stopped when you left, you piece of shit?”

  “I was locked up. Why was I locked up, Chad? Huh?” he snapped as he released Sophia and walked over to me with his chest all puffed out. “You and I both know I didn’t do anything. Those drugs weren’t mine. You had me locked up for nothing. And now…”

  “Now, you’ll take everything I have…or had,” I growled, and looked at Sophia.

  He took her hand. “That’s not what I was going to say.”

  “I hope you’re seeing all of this, Sophia. You don’t know him,” I warned openly.

  “I don’t know you either,” she retorted hastily. “And this is stupid, the way you two are always going at each other. Grow up already,” she yelled and walked off, leaving the two of us with nothing but the air and bruised egos.

  I turned away and walked off toward the auditorium. Maybe some improv theater would do the trick.

  It usually did, but I had the unsettling feeling I needed to get her attention. It wasn’t just that I wanted to get her away from Wes. That was bad enough. I wanted her back, and she wouldn’t take me back unless she knew the truth. She had to know I would never just hurt her like that.

  I took out my phone and searched for her message chain.

  Chad: Ditch the fool and meet me by our spot after school. We need to talk.

  Chapter 9

  I stared at the message, but it must have been sent to the wrong person. Chad and I no longer had a special place. And why did he need to see me all the way at the cliff?

  Sophia: Why can’t you just talk to me at school?

  Chad: Just meet me there later. I’ll explain.

  My heart raced when it shouldn’t be. That was the boy who had hurt me almost three weeks ago now – dropped me like yesterday’s news without an explanation, and had moved on.

  I had, too. If he wanted back in, he would have to do a whole lot more than just taking me to the cliff and showing me another beautiful sunset. He would definitely need new tricks.

  “Who was that?” Amanda asked as she approached me, a worried look on her face.

  “No one,” I replied and slipped the phone into my jacket pocket. “Ready?”

  I had lied to her, for the first time since I had met her. It felt horrible, and I wasn’t even sure why I did it.

  To protect Chad?

  To not look like an idiot?

  I wasn’t sure. I just felt like I had to. He had told me to ditch Wes, but I was making the meeting a secret from everyone.

  I didn’t see him at lunch, but Wes whisked me off to his table, setting me on his lap, his hand rubbing against my ass. Honestly, I didn’t feel like the tramp I’d made out some of those girls to be who hung around the high school celebrities.

  It felt damned good to be his girl, and I settled into his arm as he ate and fed me some of his salad. That was right before I caught the dart Amanda and Liz shot me from our table.

  “I think I should get back to my girls before they throw me out of the group,” I laughed and tried to get up. He pulled me back down and planted a kiss on my lips before he let me go. “Don’t go too far. Wouldn’t want to lose you.”

  I walked back to our table, cringing the whole way. “I didn’t plan on eating over there,” I apologized as soon as I sat down. “He just kind of took me by surprise.”

  “Well, get used to it,” Stacey commented. “He’ll be doing that a lot.”

  “Not if I don’t want to,” I defended. “I’ll sit where I want.”

  “I can’t like him even if I try,” Liz said with disgust.

  “I know, Liz. You’re with Cody so I get that,” I told her. “And I’m not asking you to like him. Just keep any and all nasty comments about him to yourself. Like him or not, I’m with him.”

  “She’s right,” Alexi said nonchalantly. “Her life. Her rules. Doesn’t matter to me.”

  “Thank you, again, Alexi. I feel like I’m saying that a lot lately,” I complained and looked around the table. None of them approved of my being with Wes. Yes, Stacey thought he was hot, and so did Alexi. Liz hated him by extension, and Amanda just didn’t seem to like boys in general.

  It was weird being around them sometimes. I wished I could talk about him with someone – all those butterfly moments, or to share the sweet messages he sent me. They saw him as an ogre, but whatever he did in the past, I was never there for it and I liked the side I saw.

  “I think I lost my appetite,” I replied and stood again. “See you guys later.”

  “No, Sophia, you don’t have to go,” Amanda replied, sorrow darkening her features.

  “I think I do. Plus, I need to get ready for my next class. I didn’t finish my assignment.”

  That was a lie, but I was beginning to feel discouraged about talking about my relationship with Wes with them. Or maybe it was just me being sensitive. Still, I had that meetup that evening with Chad, and I still didn’t know what that was about.

  He said he wanted to explain, and I was more than anxious to hear what had been going on, and to make sense of why he had hurt me.

  I was nervous at the end of the day, and I stuck my head out in the hallway, hoping I wouldn’t run into Wes. Obviously, I couldn’t show up with him in tow.

  But luck wasn’t with me. It was his grinning face that greeted me as soon as I stepped out of the room.

  “Hey baby. You want to get something to eat?”

  “Uh, no,” I replied and tucked my hair behind my right ear. “Sorry. I have to go see my mom at work. She needs something.” That was the easiest lie I could come up with.

  “Oh. Okay. You want me to go with you?”

  “No!” God no! “That’s not necessary. It’s no biggie.”

  “Okay. I’ll call you later. Or I’ll come over.”

  “Maybe.”

  I reached up to give him a kiss that would satisfy him. I didn’t know if he would follow me, or have someone follow me. Either way, I had to be careful. I didn’t want word getting out that I was fucking two of Madison Fall’s rich bad boys, rivals at that, at the same time.

  Ugh! I shuddered at the thought as I ducked out of the school before the other girls found me.

  I was driving along the road and headed to the lookout point when I suddenly had the feeling that I was doing something stupid. What if Chad had a good reason for what he did? Then what? Would I go back to him? And what would I do about Wes?

  But I couldn’t think about what could have possibly led him to treat me the way he had over the last several weeks. He had a lot of explaining to do, and my heart thumped in my chest when I pulled off the road and drove down the short path that leveled out at the cliff’s edge.

  The R8 was already there, and its driver was sitting on the hood, overlooking the city. “I remember the last time we were here,” he said before I got to him. Then he sighed. Was he sad?

  “Chad, what’s this about?” I asked, not wanting to waste any time.

 
; He tapped the hood, inviting me to sit next to him, but that was too close for comfort. I still wasn’t sure I was all the way over him. I could just walk into a complicated situation that could ruin the rest of my senior year.

  I didn’t sit on the hood. I stood away from the car, my hands folded across my chest.

  He gave me a crooked, sexy smile that made the juncture between my thighs grow warm. Jesus! He isn’t your man anymore, I had to remind my body. But I was clearly still smitten by this boy who had stolen my heart. And then tossed it under the wheels of his car.

  The memory of that killed the butterflies that were being resurrected.

  “Remember when you asked me about this?” he asked and touched the tat on his arm.

  “Yes,” I replied cautiously.

  “And the scar underneath it?”

  Oh, now he wants to tell me. I shook my head impatiently. “Yes, I remember asking several times.”

  “It’s not a time in my life that’s easy to talk about. It has to do with end of summer race night.”

  “Race night?” I asked in disbelief and shook my head. “That’s why I’m here? Because if it is, Wes already told me what happened.”

  He laughed. “He already told you. That’s classic. I figured he would twist the version he’d give you.”

  “So, the story that one of you planted drugs in his car to get him locked up is a lie?” I asked as I inched closer, keeping his eyes in my radar.

  He sighed. “No, that part wasn’t a lie. We did that, and I would do it all over again if I had to.”

  I looked down at my feet and shook my head before looking at him again. “He didn’t do anything, Chad!”

  “He didn’t do anything? Sophia, you weren’t there. Robby lost the match because his car was rigged and Wes taunted him into doing something stupid. He lost his car to him, and Wes rubbed it in so much that Robby lost it. He went back to the tracks, but he was so wasted on God knows what when he jumped into Wes’ car and…”

  I watched as he sucked in a deep breath and his face reddened. “I heard about Robby.”

  “You don’t get it. He was our boy. I was supposed to protect him. I jumped into the car after him, and he lost control. I tried to get him to stop.”

  He was staring off into space, like he was reliving the moment, and my heart stopped. I had never seen him that hurt before, and I was tempted to comfort him.

  “It wasn’t your fault, Chad,” I tried to reassure him.

  “But it was. If I had seen that his belt was stuck…if I had been a little faster…he shouldn’t have even been there on the track. He shouldn’t have been racing Wes. He has always been a fucking cheat. He rigged Robby’s ride so he lost, Sophia.”

  What Chad was telling me was not the version I had heard from Wes. I didn’t hear about him rigging the car and letting Robby lose. “Is that how you got the scars?”

  “Yes,” he replied as he glanced down at his arm and traced it with his finger. “I tried to get him free, but I couldn’t. If I hadn’t jumped out, we would both be dead. And all I could see was Wes’ grinning face. I lost it.”

  His fists tightened again as he appeared to relive the moment again.

  “I almost beat him into the ground.”

  My eyes popped. “You what?”

  “Luckily, I didn’t go to jail, but I did enough that night to get me put away. My dad saved me from that. Wes wasn’t so lucky. But we already knew that. Brody took it personal, and stashed drugs in the car and his dad found them and sent him to nice posh rehab facility so he would avoid juvey.”

  “Wow.” I shook my head and took a breath. “Jesus Christ,” I said and walked off a little way from him and closer to the edge of the cliff. I ran a hand through my hair before turning and facing, Chad again. “Okay, fine, I get all of that. You guys had beef. Shit happened. What does that have to do with us? I thought you asked me out here to explain why you dumped my ass without any warning or explanation.” I walked back to him. His lips tightened like he was determined to keep that information private. I gave him a minute and watched as he just stood there before I finally threw my hands in the air. “You know what, screw you, Chad! I don’t have fucking time for this.”

  “Sophia!”

  “No!” I screamed as my chest heaved and burned, and my hands shook. “Enough! You and Wes have issues. Go figure it out. Just leave me the hell out of it. I’m done with this back and forth crap.”

  “You can’t stay with him, Sophia. He’s just with you so he can get back at me. He’ll hurt you.”

  “And why am I not with you?” I hurled back at him as I got to the car. He had no answer. “That’s what I thought.” I got into my car and started the ignition. He stood, his back toward the cliff as he watched me drive away.

  It was just like everyone had been saying. Chad was the rich classic asshole that ran the halls of Madison Falls High. He only gave a shit about himself. I was hoping he would have proved me right and everyone else wrong.

  Turned out, I was the idiot.

  Chapter 10

  I fell back against the bed and stared at the ceiling. I didn’t know what I was hoping for when I had gone to see Chad.

  How stupid could I be? He just wanted to keep me away from Wes. And for what? Because he didn’t like him? Because of their past? Well, too bad. I liked him, and that was enough. He would just have to get used to it.

  My phone chimed and I groaned. I wasn’t sure who it was, but I just wanted to be left alone. I picked it up from the night table, noticing the kissy-face emoticons from Wes. I didn’t get it. He was nothing like Chad had portrayed. Not with me, anyway.

  I was going to turn off the phone when I decided instead to open his message.

  Wes: I’m missing you. Are you back yet?

  Sophia: Yeah, I’m home.

  Wes: Coming over in five.

  I almost told him not to, but what the hell? He was my boyfriend, and that was what couples did – spend time together.

  He had only been over once, but that was just to drop something off. This would be the first time he would actually be inside. And we would be alone.

  My heart raced as I imagined all the possibilities, including what Chad had told me about him only using me to get to him.

  Wes was literal when he said he would be over in five minutes, because his horn was beeping in record time. I skipped down the steps, and adjusted the strap on my tank before opening the door.

  The sun had nothing on his smile – it filled the space and warmed me all the way through. Nah. Chad had to be wrong. How they related to each other was different. Wes was into me, and I could see it. Which was more than I could say about Chad. It had all been a lie.

  I held out my arms and he walked right into them, gripping my waist and pressing me closer to his firm chest as we kissed.

  “Wow. Now, that’s how you greet your woman,” I gloated as I pulled back and took his hand, pulling him into the room deeper.

  He hugged me around the middle, and I giggled right before he kicked the door shut. “You have a nice place here,” he said as he looked around.

  I waved him off. “Oh, please. I’ve seen all of your houses. This is like your guest cottage.”

  He grinned. “It’s still nice.” He shuffled with me over to the sofa where he fell on it and pulled me onto his lap. “So is everything okay with your mother?”

  “My mother?” I asked and looked at him. He arched his brows. “Oh, right. You mean because – yeah, she just wanted me to drop something off. Nothing serious.” I wasn’t so good at the lying thing – made it harder to survive my senior year. Or maybe life in general.

  “Okay. So, what’s the plan for the rest of the evening?”

  “I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I was just gonna chill.”

  He bit his lower lip and leaned forward, so that his lips brushed against my bra-less cups. My nipples perked right away and shivers formed a conga line all over my body. The ache I felt was instant and unmistakable
, and I closed my eyes and tilted my head backwards.

  It felt so fucking good. I wanted him to go on, to keep licking me through the thin fabric, but Chad’s voice was in my head. I held him by the sides of his head and pulled his face upwards.

  “Maybe we should stop,” I said to him.

  He had a puzzled look on his face. “Why?”

  “Because this could get out of control,” I said softly and blushed.

  “And by that you mean we could wind up having sex?” I nodded in agreement. “So? That’s what couples do,” he said as he leaned in and started kissing me again, this time cupping my breasts and squeezing them.

  Fuck, this is hard!

  I wanted him to go all the way, but only one other person had before. I had never been so confused in all my life as I tried to ignore the sensations that ran rampant in and around my body.

  “No,” I told him and removed his hand. I instantly stood and walked away from him. “Let’s just not do this, okay?”

  He gave me a blank stare at first, and then he started laughing. “Don’t tell me…are you a virgin?”

  “No,” I replied instantly. Like I had that much experience, anyway. “I just don’t want to do that now.”

  He pinched his nose and looked confused for a moment. “Yeah, okay, sure. What do you have to eat?” He got up and walked toward the kitchen.

  “I don’t know…maybe pizza. We can order something if you like.” I felt like an idiot. What if he told everyone I hadn’t given it up to him and then I would be the girl that looked even more like the idiot to refuse Wes Collingwood? But he didn’t seem to have a problem with not getting any. Maybe I’m just in my own head too much.

  “Wes, can I ask you something?” I asked nervously as I came up behind him.

  “Shoot,” he replied without looking. “I think we should order. Nothing’s here. Not even beer.”