Bully King - J.A. Huss Page 0,50

breathes hard and heavy for a few moments. Just glaring at me with hate. Then he whispers, “It was the best solution at the time.”

“Is that right? The very best one, huh?”

“Did you want to have that baby?”

I point my finger up at his face and my words come out through clenched teeth. “Don’t you dare talk about that baby. Ever.”

“I did what I had to.”

“You’re a fucking coward.”

“You’re a fucking bitch. All you want to do is blame someone and I’m convenient. And that makes you a bitch. Because you refuse to see that I helped you.”

“Helped me?” I literally snort. “Did you just say you helped me?”

“What are we talking about?” Cooper and I both turn at the same time and find Isabella standing behind us. “Hmm? Looks like a pretty heated argument from over here.”

“Isabella, go back to the pool. This is private.”

Isabella does not go back to the pool. She hooks her arm in mine and says, “The Fugling belongs to me. So either you fill me in on what this little argument is about, or I’ll just take her off your hands so you can cool down and relax.”

“She disobeyed me,” Cooper says.

Isabella tsks her tongue. “Fugling, you should apologize to your King.” Then she pats my hand. “You’re not allowed to disobey, sweetie. So get down on your knees and kiss his feet—every single one of those sexy toes.” She giggles and waggles her eyebrows at Cooper. “Remember that time we—”

“Shut up, Isabella.” Cooper looks at me. “Kiss my feet, Cadee. And then get to work.”

“Fug. Ling. How many times do I have to remind you, Christopher?”

I wince. I know I called him Christopher earlier, but he hates that name. And I was doing it to pick a fight.

So Isabella is also trying to pick a fight.

I lower myself to my knees in front of Cooper and settle on the hard, slate floor. Then I lean my head down and kiss his toes. One at a time.

And when I’m done, I look up at him. He says nothing. Just stares at me.

“Good job, Fugling,” Isabella says. “Get up now. Up. Up.”

I stand up and direct my gaze to her instead of him. Because Cooper Valcourt was just looking at me the way he used to.

And Isabella saw it.

I don’t know what they are to each other, but it’s definitely more than nothing. And I don’t need her getting the wrong idea. Or hell, the right idea, either.

She can’t know my secret.

No one can know my secret. It’s bad enough that Cooper knows. I wish I had never told him. Life would’ve been so much easier.

“Fill up the water balloons, Fugling,” Cooper sneers. And then he walks away.

Isabella gaze follows him and so does mine. He whips his t-shirt up over his head and then dives into the pool.

“Mona told me what happened inside, Fugling.”

I look at her and wait.

“It’s only going to get worse.”

I nod.

“You should leave while you still have a chance.”

“I’m not leaving.”

She sighs, but it’s a bored one. “Suit yourself, Fugling. But just in case you haven’t figured it out yet, Cadee”—she slides her mirrored sunglasses down her face and I get a little lost in my own pathetic reflection during her dramatic pause—“no matter how hard you wish, or pray, or hope… things never get better.”

Then she turns and walks away.

“What?” I whisper.

She doesn’t turn back. Just walks over to the pool where Cooper is and sits down on the edge to dangle her feet.

Cooper’s gaze immediately tracks to me. Then he grins, places his hands on either side of Isabella’s hips, pulls himself up from the water, and kisses her on the lips.

Like I care, Cooper

I’m not jealous of Isabella.

Oh, sure. She’s beautiful. She’s got the long blonde hair and green eyes. Her body is perfect, she has good taste in shoes, and she lives in one of the lake mansions.

On the outside, Isabella’s life looks pretty sweet.

But there’s something wrong with her.

Sometimes she doesn’t make any sense. And that last sentence is one example. Because I get it. She just warned me that things were going to get worse.

But I don’t think she was talking about me. No. She was the one wishing, and praying, and hoping for things to get better. Not me.

“Get back to work, Fugling!”

Cooper’s yell snaps me out of my introspection and I realize I was staring at them while I was thinking about Isabella.

I flip him off, then turn my back and do