My Best Friend's Bully

My Best Friend's Bully A V-Card Enemies to Lovers Billionaire Romance M.E. McAndrews Copyright © 2023 by M.E. McAndrews All rights reserved. Original Publication date: May 30, 2023 Rewrite Date: N/A No portion of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without express written permission from the publisher or the author. This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, incidents and places are the products of the author’s imagination, and are not to be construed as real or based on any facts. None of the characters are based on any real person, living or dead. Any resemblance to any actual persons is unintentional and coincidental. Under no circumstances will any blame or legal responsibility be held against the publisher or author for any damages, reparation, or monetary loss due to the information contained herein, either directly or indirectly. LEGAL NOTICE: This book is copyright protected and is solely for personal use. You may not amend, distribute, sell, use, quote, or paraphrase any part, or the content within this book, without the explicit written consent of the author or publisher. DISCLAIMER NOTICE: The information contained herein is for entertainment purposes only, and no warranties of any kind are declared or implied. Readers acknowledge that nothing contained herein represents legal, financial, medical, or professional advice. By owning, possessing, or reading the contents herein, you agree that under no circumstances is the author or publisher responsible for any losses, direct or indirect, that may be incurred as a result of the use of the information, including, but not limited to, errors, omissions, or inaccuracies. To Katy Nobody can turn my rough writing into great stories better than you do. Thank you for everything you do! Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Epilogue Chapter 1 Jordan Anderson Tap, tap, tap, tap goes my pen against the textbook. The words on the page are becoming fuzzy. I realize I need my reading glasses, but I’m reluctant to tear my eyes away from the page for fear I might lose my momentum. Everything is riding on this. My grades, my scholarship, my career. I can’t afford to lose focus. “Hey, Einstein.” I glance across the table at Cole, and the moment our eyes meet, he tosses a cashew at my face. It bounces squarely against my forehead. “Cole! What the hell?” I yelp. He snickers, beaming that soft smile that is just as attentive as it was the day we first met. “You’re not going to get any smarter with your face buried in your book.” He holds up a bundle of flash cards. “Quiz time.” I huff. “Five more minutes.” “Nope.” “Two.” “Nah.” “Thirty seconds.” Cole tips his head to the side and mouths “no”. I lean back in my chair and grunt, “Fine. Go ahead.” “You know this stuff, Anders. Don’t get in your own head,” Cole says in his soft, steady voice while shuffling the flashcards. He spreads them out face down on the table between us and I stare them down like they’re about to swallow me. I don’t remember the day Cole stopped calling me by my first name, but his nickname, Anders, feels endearing. It’s nice that he only uses it when we’re alone, so people don’t get the wrong idea. “Ready?” I gulp and nod my head in affirmation. “Okay. Go ahead.” Cole picks a random card from the pile, his manicured fingernails glistening in the low lamplight glowing from the side table. “Describe the management of Blepharitis.” I squeeze my eyes shut and rattle off the answer by rote. “Warm compression, eyelid massage, antibiotics.” “Ding, ding, ding!” Cole cries out and tosses the card into the beginning of a discard pile. “Okay, next question.” He continues like this for about fifteen minutes. It’s a huge stack of cards, but the exam is huge too. I cannot downplay the importance of my Human Anatomy exam tomorrow afternoon. I need to pass it before I can move onto the practical medical training. Beyond merely reading and studying, this will be the actual hands-on portion of my education, the whole point of it all. One day, I’ll be a doctor. I’ll be able to show my parents how much their hard work paid off when I can help support them. And then I’ll be able to repay them for all they’ve ever done and still do for me. Cole’s flash card quiz goes on for another half-hour. “Boo… Hiss,” he cries out, making a big show of it and throwing a cashew at my forehead when I get my first wrong answer. “Hilarious Sherlock. I only missed one. Jeez. And next time, get it in my mouth.” “Catch!” he shouts, tossing another cashew. This time I lose my balance and fall off the couch as I leap to catch it in my mouth. I roll to the floor, giggling. “Crappy aim, Cole. You’re such a tool.” “What initial investigations are–Ah. So, you actually got two wrong.” Cole stops short and tosses the card over his shoulder. “It’s about time. Now you’re ready.” “What?! We’re not even a quarter of the way through the stack, and I already got those wrong.” “Yeah, but it’s almost eight o’clock and I’m hungry. You’ve got to be hungry too, and the last thing you should be doing is to stay up all night cramming,” Cole sighs. I feel my shoulders tighten. “But I need to be prepared.” “You are. Right, Beastie?” he says in a coddling tone to his little brindle-coated French bulldog, who lies curled up in her bed on the