Page 112 of Fraud
I shook my head. “No such thing. I owned that school.”
“That’s not what Marissa Meyers said.”
My eyes went wide. “How do you know that name?”
My jackass of a brother kept on eating the free dinner my girlfriend had bought him, smiling like the world revolved around him. “I dated her.”
“You did not. I dated her.”
“I know.” He laughed.
“Um, if you two are going to start fighting over this girl, I’m going to step out and avoid the uncomfortable situation that is sure to follow.”
Killian’s eyes bored into mine. “Do you want to tell her, or should I?”
“Tell me what? Seriously, what is going on?”
I sighed, placing my fork down, as I turned to Kate. “Marissa was my first high school girlfriend.”
“Okay,” she replied. “I got that much. Are you secretly still in love with her?”
Liam snorted.
It was definitely only cute when Kate did it. My eyes darted toward him, giving him a death stare.
“No. We had a complicated relationship.”
“Complicated?” Kate asked.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Killian!” he exclaimed. “He paid her to date him!”
My head hit my palm as laughter filled the room.
“You what?” she asked.
“Occasionally, my mom would give me money for doing extra stuff around the house, helping with dinner and whatnot. I’d been doing it for years, and by the time I got to high school, I’d amassed what was considered a small fortune to a fourteen-year-old boy. But, while I had been at home, cooking and hanging out with my mom, the rest of my class had been busy growing up. I arrived in high school and realized I was light-years behind.”
“So, you hired a girlfriend?”
I shrugged. “Seemed like a good plan at the time. Marissa was nice and popular. She needed money to buy some brand of shoes or whatever, and I had it. So, I made a deal. We dated for a month, and I gave her extra for spreading around rumors of my, uh…”
“Many talents?”
“Yeah. And then I made her swear in writing that she’d never tell a soul.”
“And she agreed?”
“Well, I thought she had,” I said, giving my brother side eyes.
“To be fair,” he replied, “she did tell me I was the first person she’d ever told. So, she kept your secret for a long time.”
“Yeah, and told it to the worst person imaginable.”
“So, how much did you pay her in total?” Kate asked. “Out of curiosity.”
I thought back. “I don’t know. A couple hundred maybe. It was the best money I ever spent. After Marissa, I was a legend.”
“Unbelievable,” Kate muttered, grinning in disbelief.
