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“So,” I snap. “Are you going to say something? Are you going to help me?”
His saccharine smile already announces I shouldn’t have made myself vulnerable.
“Didn’t you break up with me because you couldn’t be with the boss of the new gang in town?” he says, using my own words against me. “Didn’t your mom tell you to stay away from gangbangers?”
I have to take a deep breath to keep my calm. Now is not the moment to play smart.
“I broke up with you because of the lies. My mom was just trying to keep me safe. And now she’s in big trouble, Nathan. I want to keep her safe as well.”
He shifts slightly in his chair while he thinks, rubbing the back of his ear like he always does when he works out his next words.
“For what it’s worth,” he finally tells me. “I don’t think Jake did it.”
I let out a loud cackle. “Really?! After all the backstabbing and fights, now is the time you choose to act like a protective older brother? Jake was the only one in possession of this file. Don’t try to defend him to me.”
He shrugs. “I don’t care what you think of him. I told you he would break your heart. I won’t pick up the pieces.”
Said heart skips a beat. It always does when it’s reminded that it wants to beat for Jake and Jake only.
“I’ll get your mother out of trouble. In fact, she’ll be back home by lunch tomorrow. I just need to make a few phone calls and it’ll all be gone.”
“It will?” I light up at the idea.
“Sure,” he smiles.
“What about Mr. Baker? He might not want to drop the charges.”
Nathan laughs, undoes his bun and redoes it. “Gerald Baker does what I tell him to do. Trust me, he doesn’t want his dirty secrets exposed.”
“Dirty secrets? Like…what?”
He shakes his head and adjusts his glasses with his index finger. “I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you. Instead, why don’t you worry about what you’re gonna give me in exchange for my big favor?”
“What?” I choke. He has to be kidding me.
“I don’t do anything for free, ‘Me. You should know that by now.”
“I’m asking you a favor. As a friend.”
He gets up slowly, walks around the island until he’s standing right in front of me and bends down slightly to look me in the eyes. “I amnotyour friend, Jamie. You can see me as your ex if you wish. You can see me as your enemy. Or you could see me as the first guy who ever gave you an orgasm. But if you think I’m your friend, you got me all wrong, baby.”
My gulp is a little too loud and his smile widens.
“So let me ask you again. What will you give me in exchange for getting your mom out of trouble?”
My heart picks up and my stomach coils with knots of apprehension.
Apprehension or anticipation?
My hands join on my lap, and I find some relief in twisting my fingers together. God, his eyes are so dark and so blue. Will the Whites forever be set on destroying any will I try to hold on to?
“What do you want?” I rasp.
He chuckles low and I want to push him to the floor for making fun of me.
“Why, I want you of course.”
“You had me.” I reply instantly. I knew exactly what he was going to say. I was ready for at least that. “You threw it away, remember? You know? When you used me to spy on your siblings.”
