Page 124 of The Kingpin's Call Girl

He narrows his eyes at me. “You are not going to make this easy.”

“I’m not.”

“Nothing good is easy, though.” He comes to me. “We both count. Maybe I’ll tattoo it on my hand or something.”

“I think that would be weird? And open to a lot of weird interpretations?” I say.

“We both count,” he says in a really serious tone. “Except when it comes to coming. You come first, and you count more.”

“I’ll allow that exception.”

I check my phone constantly on the way back to his place with our haul of books.

“He’s not going to get back to you for a while,” Luka says, setting the box on the kitchen island. “He wants you to sweat now. He wants you to feel nervous, but I promise you, if he has her or has any kind of line on her, he’s finding the answer to that question.”

“How long do you think he’ll try and make me sweat? Because I’m already sweating.”

“And he knows it.”

“I’m not made for this.”

He comes to me. “It’s alright. I am. I got you.”

“While also soliciting my buy-in on important decisions.”

He snorts softly into my hair. “Yes.”

I pull away. “It’s almost dinnertime now, and I have a major paper due that I’m wildly behind on.”

“You’ll do it here.”

“No, I’ll do it at my place. I’ll hole up in the study commons.”

I can see him really, really wanting to order me to be at his place.

“I have to write this paper, or I’m so screwed. The worst thing that could possibly happen to me is the vending machines running out of corn nuts.”

“Bender’s dangerous.”

“I’ll promise to contact you the instant I hear anything from him if you promise to think things through like what we talked about.”

He comes to me. “In my all-powerful kyre brain, you mean?”

I kiss him on his whiskery cheek. “Yes, please.”

Chapter Forty-Four

EDIE

I’ve made decent progress on my paper by the end of the weekend, organizing the shape of my argument, marshaling supporting research, and then roughing out my opening and closing. I grab a snack from the room and find Odetta there. I get the highlights of her glamorous weekend and then head back down to polish up my masterpiece. I’ll give it one more good pass tonight and wake up bright and early to do a final pass before turning it in.

Just as I’m settling into my spot, I get a Snapchat alert.

I fumble through my bag and pull out my phone. It’s Janey.

D has some important new deets on that research project and he wants to give you your book back he’ll be in his residence hall cafeteria tomorrow morning at ten if you want to stop by it took him an hour just FYI

I sit up. I forgot about Darren. Does he have intel on my sister? Is it possible we could bypass Bender altogether?

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