Tough Shit (Rejects Paradise 1)

I try to stay calm, the same way Nic had taught me when faced with this situation. Though, there are a few other things Nic taught me about defending myself against dickheads like this.

I may be a glutton for punishment, but I learn from my mistakes and around here, I’ll never go into any situation unprepared.

My hand curls around the cool metal at the back of my high waisted shorts. I tear the gun out and without hesitation, I hold it against his chin and get the biggest thrill out of the way his eyes bug out of his head and he becomes motionless.

His hand loosens on my throat and I lower my voice, mostly to sound somewhat intimidating but I’m pretty damn sure it’s got a little to do with the fact that if I was to speak up, my voice would shake. “I told you to get your fucking hands off me,” I remind him, pressing the gun harder against his chin.

Jude’s hands drop and he remains silent, knowing damn well that I have the power. “You’re wrong,” I tell him, pressing up into him and letting my breath rush across his skin. “I have more people than you can count who would miss me and I can assure you, every last one of them would come looking.” I tap my fingers against the bandage supporting his bad arm. “But I think you know that. Tell me, how many would come looking for you? How many of your boys would actually care?”

“What the fuck is going on in here?” Colton’s low demanding voice questions from the doorway.

“We were just having a little chat, weren’t we, Jude? Clearing the air and all that.”

I feel his hard swallow against the tip of the gun and grin wickedly. Maybe it’ll do me a little good if these guys knew just how fucked up I could get. Jude gives me a sharp nod and I wink before pulling back and watching as he all but races from the room. “Fucking bitch,” he spits before walking out leaving me with Colton, studying me closer than ever before.

“What did he want?”

“What does it matter to you?”

Colton steps into the room, seeming to not care about the gun sitting heavily in my hand, almost as though he knows I’d never use it on him. “It fucking matters.”

I watch him for a silent moment, both of us just staring and locked in each other’s glare until I finally give in. “The loser was just trying to swing his dick around. He was trying to intimidate me and was in the middle of telling me just how easy it would be to get rid of me.”

Colton lets out a heavy breath before nodding and stepping back. His eyes remain for a moment longer before he turns and stalks out of the room, leaving me gasping for breath.

I have to give myself a moment. I don’t know what it is about that guy that makes such simple things so hard.

Once I’ve finally got myself under control, I get dressed and head up to the deck, determined not to let my day go to waste. Just as I had said to Colton, he stays at his end of the boat and I stay at mine and for some reason unknown to me, that’s exactly what happens.

I sit at the bow of the boat feeling the wind slapping against my face and my hair blowing out behind me, my legs stretched out in the sun with my bag right beside me. After all, my gun can hardly be concealed in a bikini.

After ten minutes, the fight leaves me and I’m finally able to relax. Some random girl I’ve never met comes and sits with me for a while and offers me a drink and before I know it, all the girls are sunbaking on the front of the deck as the boat glides across the water like a skater on ice.

Luckily for me, the guys remain at the back of the boat, fucking around and doing what boys do. The anchor is dropped and suddenly it’s a party in the middle of the ocean. The music booms through the open sea and bottles of spirits get passed around like a joint.

Needing to pee, I get up and make my way around the boat to find Colton lounged back on a couch with a girl dancing over him. Her bikini top is nowhere to be found and up until I walked around here, she had his full attention.

His eyes snap to mine and as I walk across the back of the boat to the stairs, that’s exactly where they stay. As the girl dances on him, he watches me and it’s as though he’s waiting for some kind of reaction.

He’s right to wait too. He knows it bothers me yet neither of us can understand why. For some damn reason, he has my attention and I have his but I’m sure as hell not about to break. Without taking my eyes from his, I find my way to the stairs and start walking down.