Page 14 of Brutal King

“I didn’t mean to,” I said. “I just wanted him to leave you alone. He’s an unbelievable bully and there’s no excuse for the way he treats people, especially you.”

I looked down at Chuck, out like a light.

“Oh, my God. Do you think I killed him?” I said.

“Of course not,” Kobe said as he pointed to Chuck’s belly. “Look, he’s breathing.”

Nonetheless, a camp counselor had come to look at him, then a camp nurse and, after waking up, Chuck’s parents had come to take him home.

Once the camp director learned what had happened, I was sent to my cabin where I had to spend the rest of the day... alone.

Despite everything, I smiled as I thought back to that day. I’d stood up for a friend and I was proud that I had.

But that long ago event only made Kobe’s reaction to me today even more bizarre. After all, I thought we had become much closer after that incident. We hung out together, work on recipes together, played board games and talked about our dreams for the future.

I was baffled. The more I thought about Kobe, the less I understood him. How could he turn on me like this? Was it because Layla and I were late? This was my first day at the institute. Surely, he considered the possibility that I might be nervous, or lost, or unsure.

I had stood up for him. I had been punished for standing up for him. And this was how he repaid me?

Layla knocked on my open door. “You okay?”

I forced a smile and looked at her. With her long blonde hair wet and a bath towel wrapped around her torso, she leaned against the doorjamb and looked at me with such tenderness.

“I’m fine, Layla. Thanks.”

“My class starts in ten minutes,” she said.

“Oh, right. Mine, too,” I said, finally pulling away from the window to get ready. “Thanks.”

“You sure you’re okay.”

I shrugged. “I’ve had better days.”

“Well, don’t let that little mishap get you down,” she said as she ran off to her room. “I’m sure the rest of the day is going to be just great.”

I smiled at her optimism but was suddenly struck with an unpleasant realization.

I’d had the courage to stand up for Kobe all those years ago. I was only twelve years old, and I’d faced and punched a fourteen-year-old boy.

Yet now, as an eighteen-year-old, full blown adult ready to take on the world with my culinary talent, I was completely helpless when faced with Kobe’s unexpected bullying. Where had my confidence gone? Where was my capacity to face a bully head on?

Chapter 5

Kobe

Irecognized her. The moment I saw her, even from afar, I knew it was her. She’d grown, matured, filled out, but those eyes... that mouth, her beautiful long silky hair... so unforgettable and beautiful. In the instant I saw her I was back at that culinary camp, getting bullied and having her stand up for me.

Shit! What the hell was she doing in my school? Of all the culinary schools in America... in the world, why the hell did she have to come to this one?

My father’s reputation? Yeah, so he was known as a master in the culinary arts and his schools were rated the highest. Sure. Maybe that was the reason. But then again, there was the culinary institute in Paris my mother Taryn King went to, which was one of the best in the world. My father even taught there. That’s where they met. Paris...cooking. Girls would love it there. Especially a girl with exquisite taste like Kat. What could be better than that?

How many times had Kat complained about the routine of living at home. How many times had she talked about her dreams... dreams of a day when she could travel the world.

Rome, Budapest, Bangkok, Barcelona... Paris. She’d said how she wanted to see it all. This was her chance. Why hadn’t she pressed her parents to send her to the institute in Paris? Why? Damn it! Why? There was no doubt in my mind they could afford it.

Shit. Kat could have gone there... all the way out there to Europe... and I wouldn’t have to deal with seeing her every freaking day.

Kat. Katrina Lee. Little Katrina Lee who stood her ground and punched Chuck Rolle.

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