The Bad Boy's Girl (The Bad Boy's Girl #1)(10)
Cole stops inhaling his food and disarms my mom with a charming smile.
“I haven’t actually planned anything. I might not even go to college this year, you know. I’m thinking about taking a year off. Maybe go backpacking through Europe, see the world.”
I snort in disbelief. “Backpacking through Europe? Only people who don’t have the grades to get into college use that excuse.”
My mother gives me an admonishing look and I realize she’s warning me to back off. I pout like a stubborn child and cross my arms over my chest, matching her stare. I’ve told her before that I will not under any circumstances suck up to Cole Stone. There’s nothing on the planet that could make me be nice to the one guy who’s taken it upon himself to make every waking hour of my life difficult. If my mom thinks I’m going to become Cole’s best buddy, then she is obviously delusional.
“Tess, sweetie, about that car you wanted for your birthday . . .” She trails off, on purpose, no doubt, but her words have the desired effect. I freeze, my fork stopping halfway in the air as my mother smirks at me from across the table.
She wouldn’t . . .
All year long I’d been saving up for the most beautiful Range Rover Sport. My dream car is also why I’ve let myself be driven to school right up until my senior year. It’s not that my parents couldn’t get me a car, but I want the car and so I still get rides to school at eighteen. I practiced driving with my parents’ cars regularly just so that when I finally owned my Range Rover, I wouldn’t let that beauty down. However, in the end my savings had been somewhat meager and my parents stepped in to stop me from sinking into depression. They promised me that I could have the car for my birthday, no strings attached. I’d been floating on cloud nine, dreaming of me and my car cruising down the highway with the wind blowing in my hair and Maroon 5 blasting from the radio . . .
But as the words leave her mouth, the image shatters into thousands of bite-sized pieces because I know where this is going.
“What about my car?” I ask carefully as her smirk widens.
“I was thinking maybe we’d get it next year. You can have Travis’s old one this year since you’re still a little shaky with parking.”
Oh no she didn’t! I could park better than she could, and she had admitted it to my face. I know what she’s doing. She’s blackmailing me into being Cole’s lapdog and threatening me by taking away the one thing she knows I could never live without. I really need that car. When you’re as plagued by self-esteem issues as I am, the last thing you need is being driven to and from school by your father.
I gulp as I realize the predicament I’m in. The only option I have left is to surrender my pride and take this punishment with a pinch of salt. One day I will, parents, I will get back at you.
“Don’t worry, Mommy; I’ll work on my parking.” I smile until my cheeks ache, but the message has been delivered. When decoded my words meant this: “You win, Mother, I won’t be bringing my wrath down upon Cole, at least not today.”
“Wonderful, dear,” she replies cheerfully, and turns back to her breakfast.
***
“So I think we need to tell our parents that we’re not interested in spending time with one another. I think you should be the one to do it though, since I don’t think my parents understand most of what I say. There’s clearly a communication gap,” I tell him, having practiced this speech over and over in my head during our drive. I don’t want to be excessively rude to him but also need to get this point across.
“I thought we agreed to be friends last night.” Cole pouts but keeps his eyes on the road. I study his profile and notice the stiffness of his jaw, and the tightness around his mouth. Wait, did I just hurt his feelings again? I squeeze my eyes shut and push the thought aside. I did not agree to be his friend and never would.
“We did not agree on anything last night, and I think it’s best if we went our separate ways, don’t you think? The past is the past, I’ll do my thing and you do yours. This does not need to get ugly.” I try to reason with him because if I’m stuck in an enclosed space with Cole Stone and cannot get out without risking death, then I might as well use it to my advantage. Stupidly enough, I’d convinced myself that he wouldn’t pull one of his stunts on me while we’re driving, but given how his face falls as I keep talking, I realize that I might be proven wrong. Why is he reacting this way?
“Do you really think it’s that big of an impossibility? Us being friends?” His seriousness is unexpected and I don’t know how to answer him.
“I . . . I . . . just think it would be best if we went our separate ways.”
“But what if . . . Christ, Tessie, what if I want to try to make it right this time around?”
Noting the look of absolute shock on my face, he retreats from saying more things that are making the foundations of my world shake. “Okay then, before we give you a panic attack bright and early this morning, let’s leave this open for discussion, okay?
I don’t think I respond.
“Did they put you through a brain transplant at military school?”
“You and that imagination of yours, shortcake. I’m perfectly capable of being nice.” He chuckles.
I bet my imagination can think of a thousand different ways to kill him using that pack of gum lying atop the dashboard. Whoever this version of Cole is, I’m even more unsure of how to deal with him than I was with the evil version of him. The sooner I get rid of him, the better it is for my sanity. Death by spearmint—I’d revolutionize the world of crime. They should give me my own episode of Criminal Minds.