Page 69 of Bully for Sale

Earl left the pool deck and entered through the open wall to the living room, disappearing into the depths of the house, where the kitchen must be. Ezer supposed he’d know this house inside out like it was his own one day. Because it would be his home until Ned decided they’d move elsewhere.

But this was his home now.

Weird.

So very weird.

Ned jumped into the water, too, once Earl was gone, and a cry of shock flew from his mouth as well. He bounced off the bottom, and came up shaking his head like a dog, spraying water everywhere, including in Ezer’s face.

Ezer wiped at his eyes, and nearly choked.

“Hey now,” Ned said. “C’mon, this way.” He tugged at Ezer’s elbow until they bobbed across the pool where it grew shallower, and he could put his feet on the bottom. “There. See? Better, yeah?”

Ezer didn’t bother agreeing. The answer was obvious. He ducked into the water, though, up to his shoulders, crouching so that he was covered. He noticed the sun illuminating something red on his shoulder, and he glanced at it, surprised to see a bite mark. Then he remembered the night before. The way Ned had fucked him into the mattress and then bitten him.

It’d been…

Hot.

He’d loved it.

And he’d been mad about loving it.

He sighed. That seemed to be the story of his life now.

“So your uncle, the one that you were so proud to tell me had given you permission to cut Finch and Braden out of your life?”

“Mm.” Ned flinched. “What about him?”

“He doesn’t know about me, does he?”

“No.” Ned paled, all the more evident by the sun illuminating his freckles.

“What’s he going to think when he finds out?”

“That it was a terrible idea.”

“And is he going to cut you off again?”

“With the money from your father…” Ned trailed off, looking embarrassed.

“Tell me.”

“It won’t be a problem either way. My father wanted this because it’d make us independent from Heath once and for all.”

“The money George is giving you to keep me pregnant and fucked silly frees you from being obligated to your uncle. I see. Another win for you in this arrangement.”

“I did it to keep Finch from—”

“Right. To keep Finch from having me.”

Ned clenched his jaw. “Would you have liked that? Would you have wanted him to do to you the things that I do?”

Ezer snarled. “I don’t know. I didn’t wantyoudoing them either, and yet I seem to like it just fine.”

“He wouldn’t be like me. He’d hurt you. He’d…” Ned wiped a hand over his face. “Why do you do this? You twist everything up. You make it sound ugly just so you can fight with me.”

“I make it sound ugly because it’s ugly,” Ezer said. “This isn’t some grand romance. I signed the contract for ugly reasons. You signed the contract for mostly ugly reasons, and a mistaken idea of one noble one—”