Tough Shit (Rejects Paradise 1)

Nic goes silent and I can imagine his face scrunching up. He does this every time he’s been working for his dad. This is his desperate attempt to try and shield me from the horrors of his day. I can only imagine, but right now I’m wondering if those horrors seem half as bad as mine. “Yeah, been busy,” he finally says in a short, factual tone, not wanting to elaborate. “How’s your fancy new school? Did they have you filling out college applications and putting you through etiquette classes.”

“Screw you,” I laugh, falling back onto my bed and looking up at the ceiling. “If anyone needs etiquette classes, it’s you. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone with worse table manners.”

“What happened?” Nic questions, his voice taking on a no-bullshit tone. “Why are you avoiding my question?”

“I’m not avoiding it.”

“Ocean. Quit bullshitting. What happened at that school?”

I let out a heavy groan and smoosh my face into the too soft pillow. “It’s a boys school. He enrolled me in an all-boys school.”

“The fuck?” Nic roars.

“Yeah. That’s what I thought. It’s fucking humiliating. The guys all leer at me as though they’ve never seen a set of tits in their life, but I guess for some of them they haven’t. Not to mention Colton and his friends are absolute dickwads. I just had one of his friends try something in my room. Luckily Colton walked by and put an end to it.”

“What’s the fucker’s name?”

“Chill, Nic. You’re not coming to Bellevue Springs to fucking kill the guy. Your father would fuck you up if he knew you were getting involved in this rich kid bullshit.”

“Fucking watch me, O. I don’t give a shit what my dad says or does. Did he put his hands on you?”

“No. I’m fine. Really. Stop worrying about it. I just need to be more careful. You know, lock my doors and shit. It’ll be fine now that I know who to look out for.”

“Babe …”

“No. Don’t start with me, Dominic. I already feel shitty enough being away from home, you’re just going to make it worse. Besides, I might have met a friend today so it’s looking up. I mean, it can’t get much worse, right?”

“What friend?”

“A guy at school.”

“What’s his name?”

“For fuck’s sake, Nic. His name is Milo and he’s more inclined to climb into bed with you than me.”

I hear a soft exhale through the phone and I shake my head at his moronic ways. My four boys will never change. They’re always so protective of me. Sometimes I love it and other times … well, other times it makes me want to strangle them and dismember their corpses.

Okay, that might have been a little far but my point has been made. I couldn’t live without them though. They’re as much my family as mom is.

“So … this Milo guy? He’s alright?”

“Yeah, I guess. I mean, I only met him today but he seemed okay. He stayed with me so I wasn’t left to fend off the wolves by myself. He’s kind of nerdy and he’s a teacher’s aid. I guess it doesn’t get much better than that. He won’t hurt me. He even offered to drive me to and from school so I don’t have to ride with Colton.”

Nic goes silent for a moment and I know he’s deep in thought. He doesn’t like this whole trying to protect me from far away thing, but reminding him that I don’t need his protection isn’t exactly going to go down well. He finally scoffs but it comes out as more of a breathy chuckle. “Milo is a stupid name anyway.”

“Are you serious?” I laugh. “You have the maturity level of a doorknob.”

“Like you’re one to talk,” he says with a smile in his tone before everything suddenly turns serious. “I miss you.”

My chest starts to ache. “Miss you too, Nic.”

“I don’t mean because you are far away and living with those rich pricks. I miss us. You and me together. We were so good.”

“I know that’s what you mean but I can’t do it again. You crushed me.” I let out a heavy sigh, feeling the weight pressing down on my chest. “I don’t know if maybe I just need more time to forgive and forget or if I’ll never be able to try again. I don’t know but every time I even think about the idea of you and me, all I see is the image of Carmen riding your dick and it hurts so damn bad. I just … I’m sorry. I don’t think I can get past it. At least, not yet.”

“You’re my girl, Ocean,” he tells me in that same no-bullshit tone. “You know it’s going to be me and you. We’re meant to be together. I know you feel how right it is.”