Bully King - J.A. Huss Page 0,28
seen with me. But that didn’t stop him from wanting me. It just made me his target. He, and Ax, and Lars tormented me all through fall semester of their senior year of Prep. And then it all came to a head that New Year’s Eve.
And still, to this day, I can’t figure out if they liked me and were just acting like stupid little boys, or if they secretly hated me and only wanted to make my life miserable.
I wasn’t a virgin when I had sex with Cooper for the first time. But I was very inexperienced and didn’t realize that there are men out there—men like Ax, and Lars, and Cooper—who thought of women like a sport.
I dated all three of them that spring. It was nice. Having so many people care about me—that was a new feeling. I almost felt like I belonged.
Date? Date, Cadee? Are you kidding me? That wasn’t dating.
They used me.
I run harder, looking over my shoulder, just to make sure Cooper and Isabella aren’t coming after me, and then I smack right into the hard chest of a boy and fall ass-backwards into the grass.
And when I look up, who is staring back at me?
Ax Olson.
He scowls. “What the fuck are you doing here, Cadee?” Then he looks behind him. At the massive mansion. His mansion? Maybe? I wouldn’t know. He never invited me to his house when we were… dating.
“Get up, for fuck’s sake.” He grabs my arm and pulls me to my feet, then starts dragging me down towards the lake. He pulls me along his dock and into the boathouse, then slams the door closed, not even flicking on the lights.
“What are we doing?”
“We?” He sneers at me in the moonlight. “We aren’t doing anything. Just shut up and stay out of my way.”
I can’t see much since the lights aren’t on. But when my eyes sweep the perimeter of the dock and get to the corner, I pause. “Oh, my God. Are you sleeping in here?”
“I said shut up, Cadee.”
“Why did you bring me here?”
“I didn’t want my father to see you.”
His father is the Judge. Capital J. Just like when you say the Chairman’s name, or the Mayor’s name—they all come capitalized. It’s not just a title. They are proper names around these parts.
He walks over to the small window that faces the mansion and cautiously peers out.
“Are you… hiding from him?”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“Well, then I’ll just leave.”
He crosses the length of the side dock so fast, I don’t even have time to back up. And then he grabs my arm and shakes me. “You’re gonna stay right here until I say you can leave, do you understand me? Cadee?”
“Fine. Whatever.” And suddenly I feel like I’m back in time. To that year when these boys controlled me so completely, I lost myself and… made that one mistake.
Hell, who am I kidding? I made thousands of mistakes that year.
“Just…” He stares into my eyes. He’s breathing hard. Unreasonably hard for the quick walk we just took. Then he points to the sleeping bag in the corner. “Sit down there and wait. Quietly.”
I nod. Then he lets go of me and I slink to the back corner and kneel down on the sleeping bag. I want to ask him questions. But I know better. Ax is not the kind of guy who shares things.
He doesn’t say another word to me. Just stands at the tiny window and stares out at the lawn behind his mansion.
I get tired and lie down on the bag. Yawn. Stretch out. And even though I plan on thinking about my day and how it all went sideways…
The next thing I know, I’m waking up to the rising sun.
And I’m alone.
“Where the hell—” It takes me a minute to realize where I’m at. Ax Olson’s boathouse. I search for him, but he’s gone. Probably left last night. And didn’t bother to wake me.
Does that surprise me?
No. Like he gives a single fuck about me.
But then I remember what day it is. I start work today. And I heard everything that Isabella and Cooper said to the Chairman last night. They want me out.
I was hiding in the hallway because I knew they were going to talk about me when I left. And I was right.
These people—they are all cold, ruthless predators.
I get to my feet, gather my long dress in the tips of my fingers, and then run out of the boathouse and back