Page 32 of Bought For Us

Cora nods, a flash of hurt crosses her face that I hate. “So you dated for a few years then finally tied the knot. I’m happy for you two. I always knew you had a thing for Zack.” Cora huffs out a laugh. “Didn’t know for sure you felt the same,” she looks at me. “But I assumed. It wasn't hard to miss from the way you two danced together.”

“Danced together?” My brows furrow as I share a look with Kimmy before looking back to Cora. “When?”

She licks her lips. “Kimmy’s birthday. The party right before I left. I went to leave early, wanted to say goodbye and I saw the two of you pretty hot and heavy on the dance floor. Didn’t want to break the two of you up, so I went home.” She shrugs then looks down at her hands.

That night, I wondered where she took off to. Kimmy and I looked for her, but Tyler told us she went home.

After I made sure Kimmy got to bed safely, I caught an Uber home. When I got back, I went to Cora’s room and found her asleep. I remember wanting to go in there and kiss her sleeping lips, to tell her I loved her and how confused I was. How I wanted both of them so damn bad it hurt.

Then the next morning, everything went to shit.

“Oh,” Kimmy whispers.

“Anyway. That's the past. I’m glad you two are married and happy. No kids?” Cora asks, looking around the room.

My heart clenches, eyes meeting my wife’s sad one. Grabbing her hand, I give it a squeeze. She’s so damn strong.

“Not yet.” Kimmy does her best to smile. “We’ve been trying.” For five years now. And after years of trying, we’ve slowly been losing hope. I try to keep a strong front for Kimmy, but it’s hard when I know how much she wants babies.

Unable to hold back the question I know Kimmy and I are dying to hear, I ask it. “Cora, why were you at that auction tonight?”

“Why were you?” she asks defensively.

I look at Kimmy and she smiles, nodding her agreement to tell her. “Because.” I take Kimmy’s hand. “Like I mentioned before. We were there to find someone for Kimmy.”

“Like, a girlfriend? Fuck buddy?” Cora asks.

“Man.” I let out a laugh. “It’s really weird to hear you talk like that.”

“And I told you. I’m not the same person I was before.” Cora narrows her eyes.

There's pain behind them, and it makes me mad. I want to take it away, to fix it. Whatever it is.

“To answer your question, we didn’t know,” Kimmy says, shifting in her seat. “We were... experimenting? The weekend was meant for me to, ahh...” I’m not used to Kimmy being so flustered and it’s kind of adorable. “Have fun with.” She clears her throat. “To experience things I felt like I missed out on. I didn’t really come to terms with the fact that I also like women as well as men until after Zack and I were together for a few years. Being the amazing man he is, he offered to provide me with a chance to live my life to the fullest.”

Kimmy looks over at me, giving me a loving smile.

“So why did you bid on me? You could be having crazy hot sex with some hot woman right now.” Cora says, almost spitefully.

“Because when we saw you up there, we knew we had to see you. It was the shock of both our lives. And no, we didn’t bid on you because we wanted to know why you were there in the first place. We bid because we didn’t want you to go home with anyone else.”

“Why?” she asks. And I don’t answer, not sure what to say. How do I just blurt out in front of my wife that the idea of another person fucking the girl I used to be in love with, my ex step sister, made me want to strangle whoever would have won her?

“We missed you.” Kimmy whispers.

“I missed you too,” Cora says, her voice breaking a little before she looks away. “Sometimes, I used to wish the two of you would show up on my doorstep and steal me away. To take me away from my nightmare of a life and be my saving grace.” Cora’s eyes water and she wipes it away before turning to look at us with a sad smile. “But it was wishful thinking that was never going to happen.”

“Cora. What happened? After you left with your dad?” My heart pounds in my chest at her words. Nightmare life? What am I missing? Because that's not the impression we were given.

“After I watched you beat the shit out of my dad for what he did,” she tells me and my eyes widen. I didn’t know she saw that. “He totally deserved it by the way, so thanks for that,” she adds. “You left with your mom and dad. Mine came storming up the stairs. He found me watching and told me to pack my shit. He also took my phone and banned me from ever seeing or talking to the two of you again. I knew he wasn’t a very nice person before, but that was the first time I started to see just how cruel he truly was. He threatened me and I was too scared to disobey him. We moved across the country. I started going to a new school and got a job. That was the start of the next ten years of being that man’s slave.”

“What do you mean, Cora?” I ask, so damn confused.

She shrugs. “I don’t know much about our parent's divorce. He didn’t talk about it and I didn’t dare ask. All I knew was by the time it was done, all we had left was the house. We were broke. He made me get a job after he lost his. I had to pay for everything.” She scoffs. “The lazy fucker couldn’t bother to find a new one.”

“That can’t be right.” I tell her and she narrows her eyes.

“How the hell would you know?”

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