Page 79 of Villainous Summer

“Nice chatting with you,” she called out, waving at me.

As she reached Cory, his eyes shot straight at me, and his jaw tensed.

I couldn’t do much to dodge him. Might as well have gotten a little dig in.

“It was great talking with you, too. Remember what I told you, okay? Good luck with everything. You’re going to need it.” I gave her an exaggerated wink.

Red blotches formed on Cory’s throat and crept up to his ears.

He leaned over, whispering something at Kodi, then got up and stalked toward me.

As he passed, he hissed, “Get the fuck in here, Summer.”

Kodi was facing away from us, talking to someone at their table.

Rolling my eyes, I followed him into an alcove. My arms crossed, I glowered at him. “What?”

“Why are you talking to my fiancée?”

Keeping my face impassive, I flicked my eyes between Cory and Kodi. I laid a hand on my chest and let out a shocked huff of air. “What? I can’t make new friends? Isn’t that what you asked me for at the hotel? You wanted me to be friendly, right?”

“Don’t talk to her.”

“Why not? Are you afraid of what I might say, Cory? Scared to see what she might do if she knew the real you?”

“You don’t know a fucking thing about me.”

I snorted. “You’d be surprised what I know.”

“Stop being such a bitch and leave me alone.”

“Oh, name calling—I’m wounded, really. You’re so mature.” I stuck out my bottom lip, feigning pity.

The brightening color on his neck was hilarious.

“At least I have someone. There’s no hope for a crazy, raging cunt like you.”

“Oh, trust me, there are plenty of people who would love this. What did you call me, a raging cunt? For the right person, I can be very nice. Some might even say I’m as sweet as Candy.”

I allowed the word to hang between us, quirking a brow, watching the realization dawn on him.

His face turned from pink to red to puce. “You—You—You . . . What have you been doing to me?”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about?”

“Yes, you do. The emails and phone calls, my neighbors won’t talk to me anymore. Some kids egged my house the other day and called me a dog abuser.”

“Oh, dear. That sounds serious. You should get in front of that before it does lasting damage to your reputation. This is a small town, you know.” I raised a brow in mock sympathy.

“My Facebook got hacked. It took me weeks to get back into it.” His words were spewing out of him. His hand shot out, grabbing onto my elbow and twisting it hard. “Has it been you all along?”

I tried to yank his hand off me, but his grip was too tight, nerve pain shooting up my fingers. “Let me go,” I hissed.

Cory dug his nails into my arm, little half-moons of red along my bare skin. “Admit it. You’re the one who’s been fucking with me.”

I twisted and pulled, but he, stronger than I expected him to be, wouldn’t let me go.

“I’m not telling you anything. But whatever you have going on, I’m glad. Sounds like what you deserve. Now, let me go.”

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