Page 73 of The Ones We Fight For

“You agreed to this, Piper. You orchestrated half of it,” Carter nudged his sister.

Piper squeezed her eyes. “You got the donation to go with it!”

“What the hell is going on?” Talia asked.

“Everything is fine.” Colin smiled. It was an awkward smile that did not at all reassure her that everything was fine, but the next thing Talia knew, she was practically being pushed out onto the stage by all three of them.

The spotlights on them were bright, but the house lights were still on, so Talia could see the audience. As soon as her eyes adjusted, she found Walker easily. His hands were folded in his lap, and his mouth twitched when she looked at him. He was handsome as always, this time wearing a collared button-down shirt that was tight across his toned chest.

“Thank you for joining us tonight!” Piper spoke into the microphone, an edge of anxiety to her voice. “The first auction item, sponsored by La Truffe Noire Restaurant, is an all-expenses-paid date to the restaurant with this beautiful lady right here!” Piper shoved Talia forward, and Talia stumbled to catch her footing in her stilettos.

What the fuck?

“What the fuck?” Talia’s head reeled back in alarm.

“There are people watching,” Carter murmured in a low tone only Talia could hear.

Talia found Walker in the audience again. The expression on his face said that he was just as surprised as she was by the turn of events, or, rather, the completely thought-out meddling. One of his fists was clenched, sitting atop his knee, the other gripping his auction paddle like he wanted to hit someone with it.

When his eyes met hers, his head tilted to the side and his eyebrows pulled upward as if to ask did you volunteer for this? Talia gave a slight shake of her head to confirm that she had not woken up and decided to shell herself out to the highest bidder. The word his lips formed as his nose scrunched furiously was obvious, although no sound left his mouth. Fuck. She mouthed help back to him, and Walker adjusted to the edge of his seat with a nod.

Colin took the mic from Piper, avoiding Talia’s eye contact as she glared at the side of his head. He was also conveniently not looking at the second row, where his uncle was shooting an unmistakable you-are-all-grounded-until-you-turn-forty look at the three of them. Piper refused eye contact as well, but Talia made it a point to take a turn staring daggers at her, too. Piper chewed on her nails, the picture of guilt.

“We’ll start the bidding off at a hundred bucks,” Colin’s voice announced through the speakers.

Several paddles shot up in the air. Actually, several was an understatement: at least fifteen people had their hands raised, mostly men, but two women as well. While extremely flattered, Talia was planning on ripping the three musketeers a new one the second they were off the stage. She looked down at Walker, who was glancing over both his shoulders to gauge his competition, and his eyes squinted closed in frustration before his paddle also shot into the air. I got you, he mouthed, turning back to her. Closing her eyes, Talia sucked in a breath and mouthed back thank you before setting her sights on Colin, who was upping the bidding to two hundred dollars.

As the auction continued, Colin and Piper’s words from backstage rang in Talia’s head.

He’s supposed to bid on our item. I made sure he had a good view.

Carter, out of anyone, looked the most confident, standing next to Talia with a smug grin. The only thing that got her through being thrust onstage with every person in the audience ogling her like a prized calf was thinking about how she and Walker were going to appropriately punish the kids.

In the middle of her plotting to force feed them all laxatives, Talia watched the crowd slowly taper off as the price grew to five hundred dollars. Five hundred fucking dollars. There were people on Earth who would pay a ridiculous sum just to sit down and have a meal with her. They had to realize that she wasn’t about to strip naked and offer herself up, right? Right?

“Seven hundred dollars?” Colin asked the audience, his voice more hesitant.

“You are all in huge trouble,” Talia said under her breath.

“A risk we were willing to take,” Carter whispered.

“We’ll see if you still think that after this is all over,” Talia challenged. Carter’s mouth opened to respond before it quickly snapped shut, and a look of panic passed through his eyes like he didn’t quite realize how bad the situation was until confronted with a consequence. Colin was now also nervous, drumming his fingers against his leg as his eyes shifted over the audience. He seemed more off-put by the people in the crowd shouting back at him with higher bids than the predicament of getting in trouble, though. Carter gulped loudly and stepped forward to take over for his brother, probably just to get away from Talia’s seething eyes.

Eventually, Talia decided the best course of action was to look as unapproachable as possible, so she fixed her face in a frown that she was hoping would get her pegged as bitchy by every misogynistic guy in the crowd who only wanted to wine and dine a “good girl.”

Meanwhile, with each raised hand, Talia could tell Walker was getting more and more pissed off. By the time the bid rose to nine hundred bucks, he and a balding, creeping guy in the back were the last two people stuck in a bidding war. If Talia was planning on feeding the kids laxatives, Walker seemed like he was inclined to bar their windows, bolt their doors, and put them up in fancy lodging resembling a psych ward prison for the rest of eternity.

Talia’s attempt to look off-putting to deter the balding man who was probably ten years her senior at least was interrupted by her phone buzzing in her pocket.

Walker 8:14 PM

Do you want me to stand up and call bullshit on this whole thing? You’re not for fucking purchase. I’m going to kill them.

A small smile played across her lips as she glanced down at him. He had his paddle firmly raised in the air the whole time without dropping it, his phone resting on his knee as he looked at her, eyebrows raised.

Talia 8:14 PM

I don’t want them to get suspended. But they can pay us back every cent. They’re just increasing the price on themselves.

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