Page 13 of Difficult

Katie opened the front door only to go still as she bit out, “You’re late.”

“What are you doing here?” Chloe asked, frowning as she watched Cole Bradford, her neighbor, personal tormentor, and the boy who was confusing her, invite himself in.

“Wondering when Spiderman got so short,” Cole said with a teasing smile.

Nodding slowly, Katie said, “This will not be forgotten.”

“Why aren’t you dressed?” Cole asked, gesturing to Katie’s Spiderman costume.

“Why are you questioning my authority?” Katie countered with a glare.

“Since you’re not ready, I guess we won’t have time to stop at Dixon’s Bakery on the way, which is a damn shame since I was told that they had donuts with extra buttercream frosting today,” Cole said with a heartfelt sigh and a sad shake of his head.

“They do?” Katie asked, swallowing hard.

“They do,” Cole said, nodding solemnly, “and I was going to buy you two of them, but sadly, we just don’t have time today.”

“I’ll be right back!” Katie said, turning around and racing back upstairs before the last word left Cole’s mouth.

“Why didn’t I think of bribery?” Chloe asked, sighing heavily as she stood there, listening as her little sister tore her room apart, looking for her school clothes.

“Because you’re a lightweight,” Cole said with a pitying look.

“She’s going to kill you when she finds out that we’re not getting donuts,” Chloe pointed out as she tried to ignore just how incredibly handsome he was. It was something that she should really be used to by now, but sadly, mostly for her, she was pathetic.

“Who said we’re not going to be able to get donuts?” Cole asked as he reached back and grabbed a large, white bakery bag off the porch. “We’re not going to be late,” he promised with a wink as he opened the bag and pulled out a double-chocolate donut and handed it to her.

“You thought of everything,” Chloe said, admittedly impressed as she took a bite of the incredibly delicious donut before pointing out, “We’re still going to be late.”

“Not today,” Cole said with a satisfied sigh as he pulled out a set of car keys from his pocket and-

Chloe was suddenly fine with being late.

CHAPTER6

“Ungrateful little brat!” came the outraged shout that drew Sebastian’s attention to the teacher’s parking lot in time to see Chloe, who was in the middle of storming off, suddenly go still seconds before she pushed her glasses back up her nose and turned around.

“Oh, crap…” Cole said with a look of panic when Chloe stormed up to him and-

“He should have made a run for it,” Sebastian said with a sad shake of his head as he watched Chloe, who looked really pissed, throw her backpack on the ground and took Cole down with an impressive headlock while Uncle Jason and Elizabeth simply sighed as they walked past them.

“He really should have,” Mikey murmured absently, drawing his attention from his cousin calling Chloe an ungrateful brat as Cole struggled to pull her off his back and found himself swallowing hard as he took in the large school before them.

It didn’t look anything like the schools he’d gone to before.

This was…

“I think we might be out of our league here,” Mikey said as they stood there, taking in the huge building that looked like something between a mansion and a college and he had to agree.

Then again, the limousines, BMWs, Mercedes, and line of luxury cars waiting behind his father’s pickup truck to drop their passengers off already gave that away. As they stepped onto the cobblestone walkway, Sebastian watched his father’s truck pull away from the curb and follow a black Rolls-Royce to the gate before he took in the meticulously manicured lawn, the tables covered in white and blue tablecloths set up around the courtyard, and-

Felt his lips twitch when he spotted Mikey sending a wistful glance at the baseball fields as she moved to take a closer step only to grumble when Sebastian reached over and grabbed hold of her bag before she could make a run for it.

“That will have to wait,” he said, gently pulling her back before placing his hands on her shoulders, turning her around, and, after she grumbled one last time, he gave her a gentle push towards the table with the large sign welcoming freshmen to Latin Scribe High School.

“But baseball comforts me,” Mikey mumbled sadly as she threw one last wistful look towards the baseball fields.

“And not getting in trouble on the first day of school comforts me,” Sebastian said as he led her towards the line of freshmen and-

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