Page 14 of Bought For Us

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Dad. We just got back from the party.”

“Are you drunk?” he asks her, but his eyes dart to mine.

“No,” Cora tells him. “But I’m tired. I just want to go to sleep.”

He nods to her, then stares me down, daring me to stay.

“Good night, Cora.” I tell her. I don’t want to leave things like this, but I can’t tell her what I want to right now, not with him here.

So, I leave the room and close the door behind me.

Ignoring my asshole of a stepfather, I head across the hall towards my room.

Just as I’m about to step into my room, I’m yanked back by my shirt and shoved up against the wall.

“Stay the fuck away from my daughter,” he growls in my face.

“Fuck you,” I spit back. “She’s my best friend.”

“And your fucking stepsister. But that doesn’t seem to stop you from looking at her like you want to fuck her. You're sick, you know that. Fucked in the head. Your mother is too blind to see it, but I do. Stay the fuck away from Cora.”

“Or what?” I ask, giving him a shit eating grin. “She already knows you hate me. Are you pissed off that she likes me better than you?”

His jaw clenches, nostrils flaring. “You're a spoiled punk. A fucking creep. If you don’t stay away from her, I’ll fucking ruin you. And how do you think your father would feel if he found out his precious son is a freak who fucks his sister? I don’t think his company would be too happy about a scandal like that. And your mom? Wouldn’t want to break her heart, would you?”

“You're fucking pathetic,” I spit. I’ve always hated this guy. I knew from the moment my mom told me she was getting married he wasn’t worthy of her. The more time I’ve been around him, the more he’s proved me right. The way he treats Cora just added to my hatred of him. “You’ve never deserved her. I have no idea what she sees in you. But I hope she comes to her senses and leaves you.”

“Wish all you fucking want. Just remember what I told you.” He grins. “Stay the fuck away from her.”

He pushes off me and takes off down the hall. I’m so fucking pissed off. It’s taking everything in me not to run after him and beat the shit out of him. But I can’t. I have to think about my parents, about Cora.

But if he thinks I’m going to stay away from Cora, he’s out of his damn mind.

Breathing hard, I stare at her bedroom door. I want to go back in there, tell her I like her too. That I feel the same way.

Instead, I stand here for a moment longer before heading into my room and locking the door.

Tonight was a fucking shitshow and I have no idea what to do about it.

Chapter 4

Cora

Five months later

I’ve always hated parties. They’re loud, overcrowded and I always felt like people were watching me. I don’t like when attention is on me, so on the rare times I went to one, I did my best to blend in, to be a wallflower.

That was hard when my best friend is a social butterfly, the life of the party.

It hasn’t bothered me though. The benefit of having friends who are liked by many is that no one causes any problems with me. Everyone has been fairly nice. At least to my face. My high school years were memorable and pleasant, filled with lots of memories.

Most of them consist of the two people who mean the most to me in the world.

Over the past few months, though, I’ve noticed things changing. Some for better, some not so much.

Kimmy and I have grown closer. Since Zack left for college, it’s been mostly me and her. Zack would hang out on the weekends or when he wasn’t working. But with school and his job with this father, he didn’t have a lot of free time.

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