Bully Me This (Bully Me #1): A Best Friend's Brother Bully Romance Read online

  What’s up? Did he just have his memories fucked out of him? “You said a time, it’s that time. I thought you were expecting me?”

  A small, young brunette appears from behind Deano’s round frame. Her body is completely bare, and she has no self-confidence issues about letting it all hang out as she slides up to me and presses her fake, hard breasts against my chest.

  “Hey, handsome. Have you come to play?” Her small brown eyes look up at me expectantly and I notice they’re hazed over, and not from her little hook-up with Deano either. No, she looks cracked up, but then that’s no fucking business of mine.

  “Like fuck I have.” I snap and push her sorry ass off me. I don’t have time for dirty, riddled, desperate crack whores. Never have and never will. They’re nothing but skanky little bitches.

  Deano finally follows behind her, and thankfully the motherfucker has put most of his clothes back on. I try to keep a straight face but it’s hard as fuck to unsee the image of him stuffing his wrinkle dick back into his slacks.

  Maybe I should have brought Tiffanie along after all. The look on her face when she realized daddy dearest is too busy fucking girls younger than her would have been priceless. It’s a real shame little miss perfect doesn’t know what daddy gets up to behind closed doors.

  As far as Tiffanie’s concerned, she thinks her father is some shit hot business mogul. Now, I’m not saying he isn’t because that wouldn’t be fair of me, but it’s far from the legit business she seems to think he has.

  In truth, Deano is a far cry from what she’d like to believe. If only Tiffanie knew her healthy allowance was nothing but blood money. I’m not going to enlighten her as it’s not my job but I’m sure she’ll find out soon enough. I know better than anyone that secrets don’t stay secret for long.

  “Get the fuck out of here.” Deano mouths to the brunette and for a brief second she looks hurt, but in her drugged state she’s quick to scramble around for her clothes. When she has them all in her hands, she saunters past me and her hand grabs my cock while she mouths, “Call me, big boy.”

  “Get the fuck away from me.” I hurl back at her, my patience tinkering on the brink of no return. I don’t feel like catching a dose of the nasties and I sure as hell wouldn’t stick my dick in her even if she paid me.

  “Come, ignore the broad. Take a seat.” Deano demands as soon as his dirty piece of ass is out of earshot. “I believe we have things to discuss.”

  “Where is everyone?” I ask, still feeling uncomfortable with how empty this space feels.

  “Don’t you worry yourself with things that aren’t of importance.” He bats me off with a wave of his hand and I shut my mouth on the subject. If Deano wanted me to know then he’d divulge. If not, I’ve learned not to press him on the matter. “Now, tell me. How’s that beautiful daughter of mine?”

  Beautiful? Now that’s fucking debatable. Sure, Tiffanie’s good on the eyes but her soul’s darker than mine and that’s saying a hell of a lot. “Yeah, she’s good.”

  Deano slams his hands down on the table and lets out a loud rumble of a laugh. “Now that’s what I like to hear. It’s good to see you taking such great care of her.” Yeah, like I have much of a choice in that. A soon as Deano waded into my life all those years ago, it wasn’t long until Tiffanie decided to stick her claws into me. And, what Tiffanie wants, Tiffanie gets because daddy makes damn sure of it.

  At first, I thought it was just a bit of fun. I won’t lie. I was up for it, because who doesn’t say no to pussy on tap? Plus, I thought I could use her as a decent leverage against her father, but then that backfired in my face big time, and now I’m the one who’s left to pay the price.

  I don’t answer Deano because there’s no point making pointless conversation and Tiffanie is top of the pointless conversation chart. Instead, I decide to get straight to the point so I can get the hell out of here. “What’s happening Deano?” I pull a cigarette from my jacket pocket and light it up. I inhale sharply and exhale, allowing the smoke to pour out and briefly cover his stern face.

  “Ah, yes.” He watches me closely, his eyes searching mine for only god knows what. “I need to call you in for a favor.” Fuck. Another one? Doesn’t he think I’m doing him enough favors as it is? As Deano taps his fingers on the table I can already tell I’m not going to like what’s about to fall from his mouth, but I’ll have to sit here and listen to it anyway. “I know it’s a big ask, but I need you to take Tiffanie back to Redlake with you.”

  I don’t even think about it before I tell him, “not happening.” Jeez, it’s going to be hard enough for me to go back there after all these years and now he wants me to drag his sorry excuse of a daughter along for the ride? I wasn’t happy about going back but I thought I’d at least get some reprieve from her demanding and needy ways.

  “Hey, Colby. I’m sorry but you must have misunderstood what I was saying. It’s non-negotiable. Tiffanie goes with you.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  WILLOW

  The sound of my alarm penetrates my brain and I pull the sheets up over my head, desperately trying to block it out. There’s no way it’s time to go off already. My head only just hit the pillow. I don’t know why I didn’t turn it off last night. Oh, that’s right. I kept it on because I decided today was going to be the day where I tried to get my life back on track. Like hell that’s about to happen.

  When it doesn’t stop and starts to grow louder, I reach out and hit the snooze button. If I’m being realistic, I don’t really have much to climb out of bed for today.

  Hadley should be out at work, styling rich brats beautiful, so that means I get the whole place to myself, and lord knows I’m in desperate need of some self-love—but first, sleep.

  A couple of more minutes pass and when I struggle to fall back to sleep I finally decide to drag my sorry ass out of bed, and no sooner have my feet touched the ground the door knocks.

  Fuck my life.

  I stand in the middle of the room and debate as to whether or not I should even open the damn thing. Chances are it won’t be for me because no one knows this is where I’ll be and that’s the way I want to keep it, at least for now.

  As I step out of the bedroom, the knocks grow louder, and more urgent. It looks like whoever’s on the other side isn’t leaving until they get what they came for.

  I look down at my ripped pajamas and laugh. If whoever this is wants to disturb the peace at this ungodly hour then you can bey your ass I’m more than happy to give them a big fat dose of reality—morning breath included.

  I open the door and freeze.

  Dread runs through my bones and I suddenly lose all cognitive thought. What the hell is he doing here? More importantly, how the fuck did he know this is where I’ll be? And I know he sure as hell isn’t here for Hadley.

  “Willow.” His voice is laced with so much bitterness and pain, and a hard thud starts to build in my chest. I try to close the door as soon as I can move again but he’s too fast for me. His hand pushes against the solid wood with more force than I expected, and I struggle against the pressure. “Not too fast.” He warns.

  “Go away.” I plead with him as soon as I find my voice. “You shouldn’t even be here.”

  “We need to talk.” His blue eyes pierce into me and a ball of nervous energy consumes me.

  “I have nothing to say to you. Please, for once in your life just do the right thing—just go.”

  What am I supposed to do now? I’m starting to regret opening the door with each second that passes. I knew I should have ignored it and stayed in bed. But I had no idea it would be him greeting me on the doorstep. To be honest I didn’t even think he had it in him to bother to look for me, least of all here. And now here he is, and now he’s found me there’s no way he’s just going to turn around and walk away. As much as I wish he were, he’s not programmed that way.

  “Ouch.” With one final push of the door he shoves me back and barges straight passed me.

  “I’m
not going anywhere until you start talking.” He doesn’t even look back at me as he storms through Hadley’s house, lording it up and acting like he fucking owns the place.

  Quickly realizing I’m fast out of options; I slam the door in defeat and follow him into the living area. He’s right. I know he is, and I’ve been stupid to think otherwise. There’s no way he’ll leave here until he’s heard what I have to say but that’s not to say he’s going to like what comes out of my mouth. I know I need to get this over and done with sooner or later, but he could have let me have my morning coffee first. Priorities.

  “Seb,” his name leaves a horrible taste in my mouth, one I haven’t remotely missed. “you know this isn’t going to change anything.” I tell him. I try to sound strong and determined by my voice is tired and weak. It doesn’t matter how much he kicks and screams, nothing will change my mind. It’s set and it has been for way too long—it just took me longer to find the courage to do something about it.

  I’m over being exhausted all the time. Physically and emotionally. Going over the same conversations time and time again is draining. No matter what, everything I say just seems to go in one ear and straight out the other. It doesn’t matter how I say it, or how loud, he just refuses to listen to anything I have to say.

  “How can you say that? How can you just give up on me—on us, when you haven’t even given me a chance to explain?” He calls over to me and I notice he’s already made himself at home on Hadley’s sofa. It also sounds like he’s had a few to drink too judging from his slurs.

  “How did you know I was here?” I demand. With Seb it’s best to get straight to the point otherwise you’ll end up going over pointless crap and I’m so done with that.

  This time Seb laughs and he throws his head back like I’m the world’s funniest comedian. “Come on. Do you really need to ask?”

  “Yeah, actually, I do. I upped and left you in the middle of the night. I thought that would have been enough for you to understand that we’re over?” I sigh and press my back against the counter. He’s so fucking naïve. “We’re done. I’m not coming back, so you need to get that out of your head. This time I really mean it, Seb.”

  There can be no going back from this. Surely, he has to see that. Too much has happened for me to just roll over and forget.

  Is it so bad that I want to be happy again instead of playing second best to him all the damn time? I want to be first on someone’s agenda—just once. I want someone to ask me if I’m okay. To see if I need anything, but I’ll never get that from Seb. I can see that now. I’ve spent the best part of three years walking on eggshells, making sure he’s the one who was always happy. It may well have taken some time for me to realize it, but I’m so done. Seb wasn’t making sure I was happy. Oh, no. He was far too busy attending to his own wild and selfish needs.

  “Does it really matter how I found you?” Seb pulls himself up from the sofa and makes his way towards me. I realize my error instantly.

  I have nowhere to go. Fortunately, he stops at the island in the middle of the kitchen and he leans down on his elbows while never taking his icy glare off me, a sure ass grin etched onto his face.

  “Seriously, Seb. I really don’t have time for your mind games.” I warn him, but the two of us know I don’t hold much conviction. He’s pushed me around for far too long, so why change the habit of a lifetime?

  “Really, Will. I knew you’d be here. Where else would you run to? It took me long enough to drag your ass out of Redlake, so it makes perfect sense that this would be the first place you’d scurry back to when things got tough.”

  “Tough?” I shout, unable to hold back my anger. Is this guy having a fucking joke. “Is that what you want to call it? You don’t know what tough is.”

  “Oh, Willow. How about you quit with the dramatics and save them for someone who gives a damn.” He slurs around a laugh and it takes everything I have not to launch a heavy object at his stupid head.

  “I’m glad you find this funny.”

  “I don’t find it funny. It’s just you, Will. You always manage to blow things up into epic proportions. Me and you, it hasn’t all been bad, has it? We’re good together, and you know it. This is just a slip in the road, that’s all.”

  “Arguing over who’s doing laundry is a slip in the road. Getting under each other’s feet from time to time is a slip in the road, Seb. Constantly sticking your dick in other chicks just because you feel like it is not a slip in the fucking road. That’s just you being the true dirty dog you’ve always been, and I refuse to put up with it anymore.”

  Seb’s blue eyes grow darker, almost black around the edges as his eyes narrow and he chooses this moment to step close to me. His cocky smirk is still etched onto his face. My god, he makes my skin crawl so bad. I don’t know what I ever saw in him.

  An escape. My inner voice reminds me. Well, that was then, and this is now. The only escape I need is from him.

  “Oh, that’s rich coming from the bitch who works in a strip joint.” He snarls. “Having all those guys leering over you is just as bad. They’re undressing you and fucking you with their eyes. How the fuck do you think that makes me feel?”

  “Are you shitting me? How many times do I have to explain? How many times until it sinks into your thick skull that I don’t work the poles, but what would it really matter if I did? You get to do what the hell you want when you want, and I’m just expected to sit back and pick up the pieces every time you struggle to keep it in your pants?”

  “Whoa, see. There you go again, blowing things up so they sound so much worse than they are. You take everything I say way out of context. Do you know what your problem is?” he asks me, and all I can do is look at his sorry form. “You’re too sensitive, Will. Sure, you’ve had a shit childhood, who hasn’t? But you can’t keep using that and thinking people are out to get you.”

  “You don’t even know what the hell you’re talking about.”

  “Maybe not, but all I’m saying is, people know where you work, and obviously people are going to judge. Everyone thinks my chick sits on cock for a living. How do you think that makes me feel?”

  Wow. I actually cannot believe he’s trying to excuse his actions and turn this around on me. He’s fucking crazy. Why can’t he just be a man and own up to his mistakes instead of trying to pass the blame onto everyone else? “No, Seb. How about you cut the bull. The only person judging is you.”

  “Baby, you’ve got this all wrong. How about you come back home and we can work it out.” He pleads. He probably thinks a change in tactic will have some kind of effect on me, but he couldn’t be more mistaken. Sure, his face is relaxed, and he sounds genuine, but I know Seb too well to fall for this fake persona.

  For the first time I stand in front of him, full of determination and I’ve never been more certain of the words as they flow freely from my mouth. “This is my home. It always has been, you just wouldn’t let me see it.” And it’s nothing but the damn truth. Ever since I was a little girl Hadley’s place has always been my safe space—even if Colby did make life hard for me at the best of times. It sure beat staying at home with my crack whore of a mother, and even that will never change the fact that this house, this small town in home for me, and it always will be. I know the life I want is in Redlake, and I know it’s a life that Seb will never be able to give me. It’s taken me a while, but I can finally see that now, and I’m starting to come to peace with it.

  “Your home is with me, Willow. You’ve had your fun so how about you quit messing around. Go and grab your things and come home with me.”

  “No.” I tell him as firmly as possible, but I know there is no way he’s going to up and leave without putting up a fight.

  “All right.” Seb sneers and I can tell he’s almost at breaking point. Here it is, the nasty side he’s been trying to hide, but I know it’s still in there, festering under his skin, desperate to come out to play. “I’ve asked you nicely, and now I’m fucking telling you.
Stop being such a dumb bitch and go and get your things.”

  Everything happens so fast.

  One minute Seb is stood in front of me, jaw clenched and fists balled at his sides, and then the next he’s knocked out of my vision as he’s thrown across the room, landing face down on the floor.

  “One more move, and I’ll make sure you won’t be talking again.”

  I watch on in disbelief as Seb tries to pull himself to his feet, his face a mess. Blood oozes from his broken nose and I don’t feel an ounce of sympathy. When he struggles to pull himself up he decides to drag his sorry ass across the floor instead.

  “This isn’t over, Willow.” He threatens, but I’m too shocked to register the meaning of his words.

  Not only has Seb found me, but when I turn to look at my savior, I find my tormentors cold, gray eyes looking back at me.

  “Did you miss me, princess?”

  CHAPTER TEN

  COLBY

  Welcome fucking home.

  I watch as the weasel drags himself across the floor and he’s lucky he can still use his legs.

  Fuck. The last thing I expected to find when I walked through the door of my childhood home was Willow, let alone some low-life jerk mouthing off to her.

  It’s been a long time since I last saw her, and I’m unprepared for the multitude of feelings as they creep up and consume me all at once.

  I don’t have anything to say, and all I can do is watch her as I see my own shock mirrored in her eyes.

  “Colby, baby. Are you in here?”

  The nagging sound of Tiffanie’s voice breaks me out of my trance and the weird connection, as strong as it’s always been between Willow and I, is broken.

  “Through here.” I shout back when I hear the click of her designer heels out in the hall, but I never once take my eyes from Willow. She hasn’t changed a bit. She looks exactly the same as she did when I left her. And I can tell from the look on her face she still hates me just as much.