Playing the Player(71)

“Where’s Mom?” I asked Dad, bursting into his study.

He looked at me from over the top of his glasses. “What’s the emergency? Trina use too many big words in her letter? I have a dictionary if you need it.”

I glared at him then put the check pieces on his desk. I assembled them so he could read them.

“What the hell is this?” I demanded.

He stared at the checks, looking as shocked as I felt. He raised his eyes to mine. “I don’t know, Slade.” His total cluelessness freaked me out.

We stared at each other, not speaking, then he pulled out his cell and glanced at it. “Mom said she’d be home around six. I guess we’ll have to wait for an answer to this mystery. She’s with clients; I can’t disturb her.”

I stalked through the kitchen out to the deck. I tore off my shirt and dove into the pool, swimming fast and furious. Why the hell had Mom paid Trina? But Trina hadn’t cashed the checks. So what did that mean? And what kind of message was Trina sending me? That she was done with me, after all I’d said in that letter? I swam harder, pushing my body until my lungs ached.



Mom’s tears flowed down her pale face. Dad sat next to her at the kitchen table, his face hardened into a grimace. I looked from one to the other, still reeling from what Mom had told me. I didn’t know who was more shocked by Mom’s secret deal with Trina: Dad or me.

“Slade, honey, please try to understand.”

“There’s nothing to understand.” I bit out the words. “You thought I was such a loser you had to hire someone to teach me how to…to…I don’t know. Turn into the perfect son you’ve always wanted, I guess.”

I didn’t know how much longer I could contain my fury. But as pissed as I was at my mom, my anger toward Trina threatened to explode like an out-of-control fireworks show.

All that time, everything had been a charade. She’d pretended we were partners, but the whole time she’d been freaking reporting back to my mom? Had she reported back on our dates, too?

And she was pissed with me over a stupid, meaningless bet I’d made with Alex? What she’d done to me was a million times worse.

I’d never forgive her. Ever.

And I’d never let anyone that close to me again.





Chapter Forty-Four


Trina


Friday, July 19

I should’ve heard from Slade by now. It was Friday, and I’d mailed the letter on Wednesday. I chewed my lip. Should I call him? Text?

Maybe the post office screwed up. Maybe the mailman got in a car accident and my letter never got delivered. I sighed, picking at my blue toenails. I could torture myself or just do what I needed to do.

I grabbed my phone and texted him, hitting send before I could chicken out. Did you get mail from me?

Entire species spawned and died before he replied.

Yep. Message received.

What the heck? I reached for his letter, holding it like a talisman, and typed a new text.

Meet me tonight? 8:00?

This time his reply flew back. You’re kidding, right? How about never.

My heart hit the floor. He’d read my letter, and this was his response? But what about his letter? Had it been a joke?

Hands shaking, I pressed call instead of send. I needed to hear his voice, to figure out what the hell was going on.

“What?” he snapped, answering on the first ring. “You calling to file a report with my mom? Run through all her money already, BB?”

My breath caught in my throat. No. No no no.

“What are you—”

His bitter laugh was sharp in my ear. “Don’t even try, BB. I know all about the deal you made with my mom. She told me everything.” He paused then spoke in a low angry voice. “Well, that’s not quite accurate. You told me a lot, by sending me those checks.”

What? But I’d sent the checks to his mom. I thought back to my scrambled rush to get the letters to the post office, and the reality of what must have happened hit me. I’d mixed up the envelopes somehow. I felt weightless, but not in a good way. More like I was about to pass out from shock and horror.

“No,” I whispered. “You weren’t supposed to see those. There was another env—”

He cut me off. “I don’t know why I’m even talking to you. You were pissed about a stupid fifty-dollar bet—which never meant anything to me—but you took hundreds of dollars from my mom? You had to be paid to spend time with me? You reported on me like I was a f*cking child, Trina.” I could practically feel his anger reach through the phone to slap me.

“Slade, I never…I stopped taking the money. I told your mom our deal was over. Once you and I…once we…”

“Once we what, BB?” The anger in his voice was palpable. “Screw it. I’m done talking to you. And I’m done working with you, too. I gave my notice today. So now you can run things your way, just like you always wanted.”

“Slade, wait!” I cried out, but it was too late. He’d disconnected.



Desi and I sat in her car in the mall parking lot. I’d waited for her shift to be over, then poured my heart out, between sobbing jags, telling her the whole story. By the time I finished, she was looking at me like she didn’t even know me.