Page 9 of The Boy Next Door
“I mean, what’s to say that two weeks from now I don’t end up drunk at a bar and having a one-night stand with a stranger?” I hear what she’s saying, but I pick up on the hesitation in her tone. “At least this way the shelter and Jessie’s family gets money.” She sighs. “Sean’s medical bills are outrageous...”
“That’s not your problem.”
“Evan...” There’s a hint of agitation in her voice and she’s going rigid in my arms. “Just drop it.”
“You can’t trust people.”
“Drop it.”
“It’s not like you.”
“I’m not discussing this with you.”
“Fine.”
“Fine!”
My pulse bangs in my ears like a steel drum. I clench my jaw. I need to just keep my mouth shut... “But I think it’s stupid.”
She huffs and I finally let her roll to her side.
“You can’t be mad at me for caring about you.”
“I’m not.”
I stare at the ceiling, the silence between us eating away at me. Eventually, the sound of her breaths even out, and I know she’s asleep. As exhausted as I am, I can’t calm my mind, so I slip out of the bed, grab my laptop from my desk, and quietly make my way into the living room.
The screen buzzes to life. I don’t even know what I’m looking for when I pull up the web browser, but if that dipshit Winston found the auction, it can’t be that hard. After five minutes on Facebook and trolling several frat guy’s pages, I find the link
A sick feeling twists in my guts when I click on the page and scroll through the pictures. Right in the middle of the page is a photo of Emma holding a copy ofPride and Prejudicein front of her face while she coyly glances over the top. “Jesus...” I mumble, hovering my cursor over her assigned lot: thirty-three. A little box pops up with a current bid amount of three hundred bucks.What college kid has three hundred bucks to spare?It’s either some filthy old geezer—or Winston. I toss the laptop to the side and pace the room for a second, recalling how he said he’d tear her pussy up for me. That’s it. I have no choice, I grab my wallet from my bedroom and sit back down to place my bid of three hundred fifty dollars. Almost immediately, I’m outbid.Fuck!The credit card my parents got me has a one-thousand-dollar limit, and my dad beat into my head that it was for emergency situations only.
Surely, saving the virginity of the girl you love is a noble cause for debt...
