Page 7 of My Best Friend's Bully

“Why are you just sitting there?” The man continues, his voice now short of yelling. I can’t believe this guy. The other people in the waiting room stare at him, shifting in their seats.

“Look, you need to calm down,” I say, holding my hands up in a placating gesture. “There are other people here. Be respectful.”

He whips around, pinning me in place with his glaring dark brown eyes.

He turns back to Cole, discarding me. “And who the fuck is that? Do you really think it’s appropriate to bring your flavor of the week to the hospital when our father might be dying?”

My cheeks flush warm and a wave of anger rushes through my body like wildfire catching on tinder. I get to my feet and step in front of Cole. Whoever this guy is… Whatever’s going on here, this is not the place for it. And no one treats Cole like that, not when I’m around.

“Back off. Cole’s pretty upset right now.” I sneer, getting up in thisTysonguy’s face. “His father is dying, and he’s a bit sensitive right now.” It doesn’t matter that the guy is a foot taller than me. I want Cole to know I have his back. “Unlike you.”

“Jordan, it’s okay. Here, just sit down before Mom gets back and sees us like this.” Cole puts his hand on my arm but I keep staring the guy down. If only looks could kill. Seriously, who is this guy? Why is he here? Why are we even talking to him?

“Yeah, sit down like a good girl, we’re speaking,” he says.

He wants to get a rise out of me, I can tell. So I arch one eyebrow like he’s the dumbest fool I’ve ever seen and brush past him. I’ve faced my share of disrespect — pretty girl, science major, surrounded by men — but this guy is on another level altogether.

“Seriously, Cole, is this the place for that?” Tyson continues. Guess he doesn’t know when to quit.

“Dude, what is up your ass? She’s my friend. Don’t be rude.”

“Rude?” he scoffs. “You bring your bimbo to a personal family crisis and I’m going to have something to say about it.”

“My name is Jordan. Cole wants me here, so I’m here.” I take my seat beside Cole again and flash him a soft smile, then turn a venomous glare on the intruder. “You’re welcome to leave.”

He rolls his eyes.

“I’m going to find Mom. Try to look a little more upset by the time she gets back.” He stalks away through the door.

A moment later, I hear his voice raised in anger as he argues with the nurse. Nobody is safe from this jerk. First Cole, then me, and now the entire hospital staff. Seriously,bimbo? The word makes my blood boil.

“Okay…” I turn to Cole. “So apparently you’ve got a long-lost brother who is actually the devil dressed in fancy clothes. Good to know.”

It feels like the temperature in the room has dropped ten degrees, like the friction alone between him and Cole had been enough to warm the place. I wrap my cardigan more tightly around my shoulders, fingering the little hole that I’ve been making bigger every year since my mother made it for me.

Cole breathes out a long sigh and grabs the package of trail mix from the chair. “He’s my twin brother. Tyson.”

My mouth drops open. I take a sip of water to hide my surprise and stare at the empty doorway, through which I can barely make out the silhouette of Tyson standing by the nurse’s desk. No doubt he’s using that smolder to get what he wants.

“I haven’t heard from him in nine years. God, it’s like seeing a ghost. Mom is going to flip.” He crumples the empty trail mix bag into a ball and tosses it into the trash can below the TV.

The puffy pouches under Cole’s eyes are worse than I’ve ever seen during our late-night study sessions. Between his father’s car accident and his brother’s appearance, Cole looks like he’s been through the wringer. I reach across him and pick his water up from the side table and slip it into his hand.

“Drink some, I think it’ll help.” I watch while he takes a sip as I sit back in my chair and drink my own. “So tell me about him.”

It’s more than mere curiosity, I think talking about his brother might help keep his mind off his father’s condition, and the agony of waiting for news. It must be torture knowing that you’re a doctor but not having any power to do anything other than sit on your hands. I hand him another magazine and nestle against his arm. I might usually think of him as my big brother, but today I’m the one who needs to be strong. No matter what he goes through today, he won’t have to do it alone.

Chapter 4

Tyson

Tyson

My nerves feel like live electric wires as I step back into the hallway. I was in such a hurry to get to the hospital to comfort Mom, to see if Dad was okay, that I didn’t even have time to drop my bags at the apartment. I never even thought about having to deal with my brother again. But of course he was going to be here. Thegolden child. I don’t know why I didn’t even think about it. Just seeing him makes me want to punch him.

I take a couple deep breaths before I step up to the nurse’s desk, but nothing is going to calm me down, not now. “Frank Reynolds’s room, now.”

“I’m sorry, sir,” she says, rising from the stool behind the desk, “no one else can go back there right now. Hospital rules. You can have a seat back that way.” She gestures toward the room I just came from, and she doesn’t look sorry at all. My pulse pops in my neck. First, Cole and the bimbo, now this.

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