Rebels at Sterling Prep: Cole (Rebels at Sterling Prep Duets #2) Read online

  At least, I did.

  But then Ace Jagger and his twin brothers arrived at the beginning of the semester and blew the lid off Sterling Prep’s prim and proper reputation.

  My best friend, Remi, got tangled up with Ace, and now the two of them are together. Which is practically a local scandal since Ace is the son of crack whore and Remi is the daughter of one of the Bay’s most influential and esteemed businessmen.

  And somehow, when Remi entered the Jagger inner circle, I found myself pulled in right along with her. Not that the boys from the wrong side of the tracks—better known as Sterling Heights—ever really let anyone into their circle.

  Boys like Ace, Cole, and Conner Jagger don’t play well with others.

  I really should remember that.

  “Did you want something else?” I ask Lylah, since she’s still standing there, scowling at me.

  “I’m captain now,” she swishes her pony, “and you need to start acting like you’re a member of this team.”

  “Hey, I pull my weight.” I never miss practice, and I make an appearance at most team socials. It’s not like I have a choice with Miss Jones, our coach, always breathing down my neck.

  “Yeah, yeah, tell it to someone who cares,” she snarls. “I don’t know how or why you have Miss Jones wrapped around your little finger, but this is my team now, and I’m not about to let you or your trash friends ruin senior year.”

  We’re drawing a crowd now. You’d think after two recent scandals, kids at Sterling Prep would want life to return to normal. But no, they’ve had a taste of blood and want more.

  First, Queen Bee and Head Cheerleader, Michaela Fulton was dethroned by none other than Ace Jagger, and then Bexley Danforth, football captain and most eligible guy in school, attacked my best friend in a drugged out stupor. He’s gone now, shipped off to finish senior year far, far away from Sterling Bay and the shame he brought upon his family, and Michaela is walking around school with her tail between her legs.

  And now, kids are looking at me like they’re just waiting for the third scandal to break.

  Well, they’ll be waiting a long time. My secrets are my own, and I’m not about to give them up for anyone. Especially Lylah Donovan and her cheer Barbie-bitch friends.

  Some of the football players appear, pushing through the crowd as if they own the school. Hayden, one of my only allies on the team, frowns, glancing between me and Lylah. “What’s going on?” he asks.

  “Oh hey, H.” Lylah bats her eyelashes and smiles sweetly. “We were just talking about practice.”

  His frown deepens as his eyes flick to mine.

  “What she said,” I reply flatly. “It’s been great and all, but I need to get to class.” Ignoring them, I grab the books from my locker and slam it shut before taking off down the hall.

  “Hey, Hadley, wait up.” Hayden snags my wrist and I stop, letting out an exasperated breath.

  “What, Hayden?” Turning slowly, I meet his concerned gaze.

  “What was all that?” He casts his eyes to where Lylah is still standing and glaring at me.

  “Just Lylah letting me know she’s in charge.”

  “Shit, I thought with Michaela gone...”

  “Don’t worry about it. I can handle her.”

  “But you shouldn’t have to.” Hayden rakes a hand through his messy hair. Since I arrived at Sterling Prep in tenth grade, Hayden Lincoln has been a good friend. But this year things changed. He no longer looks at me with friendship in his eyes, he looks at me like I’m a puzzle to be solved, a prize to be won... a heart to be captured.

  “Listen,” he lowers his voice and steps into me, “about the other night. I wasn’t... I didn’t...”

  “It’s all good. I meant what I said, Hayden. I can’t be that girl for you.”

  I’m too broken.

  Too messed up inside.

  “But if you just gave me a chance, I think—”

  “Hayden.” I lay a hand on his arm and force a weak smile. “Trust me when I say, I’m not worth it.”

  Confusion clouds his eyes, but I don’t stick around. I take off down the hall and don’t look back.

  We’re teenagers, we all have secrets. But if Hayden knew mine, he’d run a mile and never look back.

  And now, it’s not only my own secrets I carry.

  Because my best friend isn’t the only girl tangled up with a Jagger.

  “Hey, how are you?” I ask Remi.

  After classes, I headed straight for my dorm room. It’s been three days since Homecoming, three days since I held my best friend as we watched her boyfriend beat the shit out of Bexley. That whole night was a mess, and Remi and the Jaggers haven’t been in school since.

  “Okay, I guess... I wanted to come back to school today but—"

  “Take your time. You went through something huge.”

  “How was it?" Remi lets out a soft sigh. "What are people saying?”

  “Do you give a crap?” A strained chuckle spills from my lips.

  “Not really. But I want to know what I’m walking into.”

  “Lylah reigns supreme. The power has already gone to her head. Vapid bitch,” I hiss.

  “Whoa, what happened?”

  “Nothing really. I just... forget it. You have bigger things to worry about.”

  Remi mumbles something, but I don’t quite catch it.

  “What did you say?”

  “Listen," she hesitates, "there’s something I need to tell you...”

  “Why do I not like the sound of this?” I sit straighter, the knot in my stomach tightening. “Remi?” I say after a beat of silence.

  “Something happened.” Her voice is barely a whisper.

  “With Bexley? I don’t understand, I thought—”

  Raised voices fill the line and Remi lets out a defeated sigh. “I need to go before they kill each other.”

  “They... what?” I frown. “Who are you talking about?”

  “Things are a little tense right now. But I’ll see you soon, okay?”

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” A trickle of fear runs down my spine.

  “I will be. I’ll text you later.”

  “Okay, bye.”

  We hang up and I stare at my cell phone, trying to figure out what just happened. Before I can stop myself, I’ve pulled up a text message:

  Hadley: Are you sure you’re okay?

  Remi: We need to talk... well, I need to talk. But not like this. I’ll see you tomorrow at school hopefully.

  My mind flashes back to two nights ago, to Cole Jagger standing in the darkness, eyes cold and blood smeared over him like paint.

  Hadley: Is everyone okay?

  I want to ask if Cole is okay, but I don’t.

  I can’t.

  Remi: The guys are driving me crazy, but we’re okay. I promise. I’ll explain everything as soon as I can.

  Hadley: Okay xo

  Throwing my cell down on the nightstand, I flop back against the pillows and stare up at the ceiling. It’s a strange thing to be alone. So alone you have no one to call or no family to visit. I mean, I have family—they were the ones who sent me here. Banished me to another town so they didn’t have to deal with me. So I know all about feeling alone... unwanted... forgotten.

  I think Remi saw that in me when I first arrived here. Maybe she took pity on the new girl. Maybe, deep down, she saw that I didn’t fit in here either. Sure, I wear the uniform and spend my Friday nights cheering on the Sterling Prep Seahawks, but it’s not through choice.

  It’s for survival.

  Until I graduate and get the hell out of here and finally shed my tainted skin.

  Maybe that’s why I’m so fascinated with Cole Jagger. He hides a darkness inside him, a darkness I live with every second of every day.

  I close my eyes and picture his face: sharp, assessing eyes and a strong jaw. Smooth, unblemished skin and defined cheekbones. He’s darkness and danger wrapped up in a gorgeous face and ridiculously hot body.
>
  But now I know his secret—well, half a secret—and I’m not sure he’ll ever let me in.

  Exhaustion drags me under, and I let myself sink into the pull of sleep... at least there, it's easy to forget.

  “A-are you okay? Are you hurt?” I ask quietly, taking in his disheveled appearance.

  His hoodie might be black, but there’s no mistaking the blood stains. He lifts both of his hands to his face and I catch the splashes of red.

  “Cole?” I say, trying to ground him. He looks so lost. “Are you hurt?”

  “No,” he replies, devoid of any emotion. “This doesn’t belong to me.”

  Relief sinks into me, quickly followed by a rush of concern. “Who does it belong to?” because if it isn’t Cole’s, that means…

  “No one.”

  “No one?” I repeat, a pit carving through my stomach as I frown at him, willing him to open up and let me in.

  “You said I could clean up?” He ignores my question.

  “Oh, um… yeah. Go on then.” I flick my head to the bathroom door. “The towel is clean.”

  Cole reaches behind him and pulls off his hoodie in one swift action, letting it fall to the floor. My eyes immediately drop to his chest. His shoulders are broad and powerful, his waist lean and cut. It’s all kinds of wrong, but a bolt of lust shoots through me.

  A slow smirk spreads over his face as he closes the space between us and runs his dirty, blood-stained knuckles over my cheek. I crane my neck to look into his eyes and he shakes his head. “You’re playing with fire,” he warns before storming into the bathroom.

  I bend down and pick up his hoodie, my fingers trembling as they ghost over the bloodstains.

  Oh Cole, what did you do?

  There’s no sign of Remi and the Jagger brothers the next morning, when I finally make it to class. I’m late, but I didn’t sleep well, lost in a dark and twisty nightmare. Cole. Blood-soaked clothes. A pit of dread in my stomach.

  Mr. Jennings struggles to hold my attention as he talks about finals, but I’ll have no choice but to get focused for cheer practice next period.

  “You look like crap,” Tia Henderson says, shouldering past me as we file out of class.

  “You look good too, Tia,” I reply dryly.

  She glances back and narrows her eyes. “Lylah will expect you—”

  “Lylah can go suck a dick,” I mumble, really not in the mood for their crap today.

  A couple of kids snicker, but Tia isn’t laughing. “You should watch your back, Hadley. Just because Miss Jones has a lady boner for you, doesn’t mean you're untouchable.”

  “Whatever, Tia.” I move ahead of her and take off toward the gym, ignoring her catcalls.

  She’s a bitch.

  Most of the cheer squad are.

  But I only have to suffer another few months of them and then I’m done.

  I slip into the girls’ locker room and throw my bag down on the bench. I’m halfway through stripping out of my school uniform when a conversation catches my attention.

  “Yeah, I heard they found a body. A dead freakin’ body.” Lylah and some of the girls are crowded around Daria Balen. Her daddy is a cop.

  “Oh my God... murder?” Someone gasps, and my spine stiffens as I strain to hear more.

  “That doesn’t happen in a place like the Bay,” Lylah scoffs. “The Heights, sure... but not here.”

  “They’re saying it wasn’t murder.” Daria purses her lips. “I heard my daddy say they’re treating it as suicide. Guy blew his own head off.”

  “Eww, gross.” A couple of girls dry-heave, and I roll my eyes. They’re so fucking green.

  “Yeah, well, it was a crazy weekend. First homecoming and the stuff with Michaela and Bexley, and then Sunday morning, they find the dead body. Daddy isn’t convinced though. I heard him tell my mom something doesn’t add up...”

  Their conversation is drowned out by the blood roaring in my ears.

  Sunday morning.

  My heart drops as my fingers curl around the bench. “Where’d they find him?” I ask, earning me a glower from Lylah.

  “None of your fucking—”

  “You know those apartments on the edge of the coastal road?” Daria says, and I nod.

  I know it all right.

  It’s a stone's throw away from where I found Cole.

  "Hadley? Are you okay?"

  "Huh, what?" Everyone is staring at me like I've lost my freaking mind. And maybe I have. Because Cole Jagger is a lot of things... but a murderer?

  Not even Cole is capable of that.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Cole

  “We’re going to school tomorrow,” Ace announces, interrupting whatever Conner was chatting about.

  I’d tuned them all out a long time ago, but that one statement has me looking up.

  “Nah, just one more day,” Conner says, lifting his bottle of beer to his lips and draining the contents. “We’ve already had too much.”

  I look at Ace, who takes a drag of his joint before blowing the smoke into Remi’s mouth, and roll my eyes at them.

  It’s easy for them, they can just walk into school almost like nothing happened. I mean, yeah, Remi was attacked by that cunt Bexley, followed by the man we’d all grown up believing was our father, but it’s different for me.

  My fists curl as I think about it, all the rage threatening to explode that I mostly manage to keep concealed. I need that fucking joint. But if what Ace is saying is true, then there’s no doubt that Coach Miller will have me drug tested the second I step foot on Sterling Prep soil.

  I can’t risk it. Football is the only thing I have. It’s my only way to break away from our fucked-up lives and even more fucked-up past. I’ve been told I could make it all the way. I’m not all that interested in going there; I just want to get away.

  I want to be somewhere else. Be someone else.

  Neither Ace nor Conner have asked me anything about that night. Why would they? After we’d all rushed to Remi’s house after Charlie, our estranged uncle, broke in and threatened her, we’d come back to James’ house. My home. Not that it feels like that. I’d swiped a bottle of liquor off the counter and taken off to go to my room, and then resurfaced the next morning for breakfast. Neither of them has any reason to think anything else. Exactly as it should be.

  Getting caught is one thing but dragging them down with me is another.

  I may care about little in my life, but those two motherfuckers are my weakness. It might not be obvious to anyone on the outskirts of our lives, but I’d take a fucking bullet for them any day of the week if it meant saving them.

  “We’re going back tomorrow. All of us,” Ace states in the fatherly tone that he uses when something isn’t up for discussion.

  He might only be a year older than us, but he’s never let us forget that he’s the one in charge. He was the one who put food on the table when our mother was unable to do so and our so-called father was meant to be dead. He was the one who washed our clothes and made sure we turned up to school while he was off doing fuck knows what for Donny Lopez, the Heights’ local crime boss.

  The thought of him has my cell burning in my pocket. He’s been relentless since the night he called me with a heads-up about the whereabouts of Ace. He and Remi had fallen out and Ace took off to the Heights to drown his sorrows. But Donny isn’t the kind of guy to hand out favors for nothing. I knew what I was getting into the second I accepted his help.

  And now I’m paying the price.

  Ace is free of Donny, and I’m his replacement. My brother thinks he got let off lightly. If he knew the truth… I shudder at the thought. He’ll kill me with his bare hands if he ever finds out I’m tied up with a cunt like Donny. He warned us time and time again to stay away from that life. But how was I meant to when his life was on the line?

  It’s my own fault. I danced with the devil, and now I need to hold up my end of the deal. And I will. One day soon I’ll answer the phone and do his dirty wo
rk because that’s what I agreed. I didn’t need to grow up in the Heights to know how this shit works.

  I’m either good for my word or I’ll be the next one found dead with no reasonable explanation other than being a scumbag Heighter. People probably say that it’s a miracle the three of us have lasted this long after all the shit we’ve gotten into over the years.

  “You fucking hearing this, bro?” Conner asks, punching my arm.

  I look up at him, my expression hard. I raise a brow at him, but all he does is roll his eyes and laugh.

  I often wonder why I couldn’t be more like him. We’re twins, yet we couldn’t be more different in the personality department. He’s light and I’m dark. He’s the life and soul of the party and I’m the grim fucking reaper, ruining everything he touches.

  I lift my beer to my lips without saying a word. I don’t need to. We might be different, but that doesn't mean we need words to communicate. We know. We always know. Which is why I at least expected him to question me, yet he’s made no attempt to even ask me about it. Not that any of us want to talk about him. The cunt who killed our mother and ruined our lives.

  Whatever is playing on the TV continues, although none of us watch it. My eyes flit to my oldest brother to find his hand disappearing under his girl’s skirt.

  Pushing from the couch, I slam my bottle down on the coffee table, making the love birds jump, and stalk from the pool house.

  It’s still early—too early for the amount we’ve drank. The sun is just beginning to set and damn near blinds me when I look up toward the house.

  Ellen, James’ housekeeper, is in the kitchen when I walk inside—no surprise there.

  “Hey, sweetie. Can I get anything for you? I was just going to bring this lot down.” She gestures to two huge platters of food. It’s more than I’ve seen at a party, let alone snacks for the four of us.