Page 105 of The Boyfriend Experience

I know it’s probably a bad idea to poke the sleeping bear, but she’s not really sleeping, is she? So I’m smiling right at Oaklee when I say, “Back the fuck off, Hanna. You got what you wanted—”

“Oh,” Hanna says, interrupting me with an incredulous bark. “Got what I wanted! No. No, no, no. I have so much more I need from Oaklee.”

“You’re not getting anything from me, bitch! And what the fuck is wrong with you? Telling Law that made-up story about my father and that you’re my sister? You are on some seriously good drugs if you think either of us is buying your insane fantasy!”

Hanna tuts. But her bravado is returning just as Oaklee is losing hers. “You didn’t know him like I did, Oaklee. It’s sad and painful when a parent dies and you realize he had a secret life, but—”

“Fuck you!” Oaklee screams. “Fuck you! Fuck you! You’re a goddamned liar!”

“Listen,” Hanna hisses. “You will do this TV show with me and you will enter one of your pathetic beers in this weekend’s contest so I can win—”

“You’re going to win with my beer! How fucking insane are you?”

I take the phone away from Oaks and say, “Fine, Hanna, you win.” And then I end the call.

“Why did you do that?” Oaklee yells. “She’s such a fucking raging bitch.”

“Because you really did break into her apartment. And you and I both know that whatever security you have in your building, Hanna won’t be on it. So we have to play this right.”

“I fucking hate her,” Oaklee protests. “I feel like killing her.”

A text comes through just as Oaklee says that. “Hanna,” I say, looking at the screen.

“God, why can’t she just leave us alone?”

“She says there’s an appointment at your brewery tomorrow at noon.” Which makes me laugh. “Oh, and that’s super cute. They have an opening now because my appointment was cancelled.”

Oaklee looks horrified. And then she slumps back into the couch cushions, resigned that she probably has to see this through and play along.

“Don’t worry,” I say. “They have to catch a plane at three, so…”

She doesn’t smile.

So I lean over, put my arms around her, and hold her.

I sure hope Jordan comes through for us.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT - OAKLEE

My mind can’t stop. It races with plans, and plots, and insane ideas on how I might take down my archnemesis.

I consider all the ways I could kill her. Hire a hitman. I’m sure Vivi could find me someone willing to kill for money. Or kill her myself. Strangulation is my first choice. Or set her brewery on fire. Then the Home TV people would all go away and I wouldn’t be forced to take that meeting.

But even though I’m crazy, I’m not insane.

She wants me to do something like that. She’s waiting for me to fuck up.

So I plot blackmail. I make plans to break into her place again, steal that footage of Vivi and me breaking into her place, and get rid of all traces we were ever there. Because she’s going to hold that over my head for the rest of my life if I don’t do something drastic.

But drastic is stupid. It’s impulsive and dangerous because there’s a good chance I’ll fuck things up even worse.

Eventually I have to leave Law’s apartment and go back over to my building to take care of a few business things, but I don’t go up to my office. I use the computer in the restaurant office to do what I need, and then I go back to Law’s and spend the night there.

The next morning he has to go to work and I have to face Hanna and the Home TV people. Which means I have to go back up to my apartment and give her more footage of me, because clearly, there’s a bug in there, or a camera, or whatever. Because I’ve been thinking about this all night.

Law came over to my place last Friday and we talked about our game. I told him what I needed, he told me what he needed, and those Home TV people said they got a call on Saturday.

Which means Hanna heard that whole conversation.