Page 47 of I Fing Dare You

"You have no clue what I'm used to."

He's right, of course. Bastard.

"That's the hill you're gonna die on? I know plenty about you, Nadia. The background search I had done on you was comprehensive. I have every school report. You were cute when you won that spelling bee championship. The pigtails were adorable. Every picture where you showed up online—you like partying. You should come to my club. I'd love seeing that blue sequin dress in person."

My jaw drops. "You're stalking me?"

"It's standard practice to know who you let into your life."He shrugs. "And no, although I considered making my PI tail you. You're far too vulnerable for an heiress. Still, I suppose you're safe enough for now."

"I'mnotin your life. And I'm most definitely not an heiress."

His cocks an eyebrow, pissing me off, because I've always wanted to be able to do that—lifting just one, like a movie star.

"You don't know?" Jason seems perplexed. "Your uncle is leaving half his fortune to you—the other half goes to Lucas, naturally."

What the fuck? I blink, completely taken aback. "You must be mistaken."

Jason smiles again. "Comprehensive background check, remember?"

He takes one of my feet in his hands, ignoring me as I yelp, and presses a thumb hard on the sole of my foot. I scream in agony, jerking my foot, but his hold is firm. Before I can kick him with my free leg, he rubs around the spot he just pressed, and I arch my back, both pain and pleasure flooding through my entire body.

What is this sorcery?

"My mother wears heels every day. She has my father and me well trained in foot rubs."

I'm about to say something rude about his mother issues, but his fingers are unknotting all my tension and all I can do is whimper. And eat my tacos.

When he's done with one of my feet, he tackles the second. And I let him.

"I don't get you." There, I said it. I don't understand anything about him.

Admitting it takes some swallowing of my pride, because it suggests one truth I would have preferred to keep to myself: I want to get him. I want to understand what makes him tick. I always have.

Naturally, now, I'd use that knowledge to bring him to his knees and make me beg for mercy for everything he did to me.

In the distance, I hear the bell signaling the end of our lunch break.

I grimace, moving my legs and putting my shoes back on.

"Thanks," I say because I'm polite. "You're still an asshole."

He's a good sport about it. "Anytime, doll."

We walk back to the school building together in silence.

I set off toward the gym, willing myself to not look back at him, though I feel his gaze on me.

What the hell just happened?

Part of me doesn't want to know.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

The more I think about it, the more I realize I should be far more irate about many things. For one, it's absolutely not okay for Jason fucking Alden to research everything about my life. Standard practice, my ass. It's downright stalker-y. But there's nothing I can do about it, so I decide not to waste too much of my energy sparing him another thought.

The next day, when Lucas waves at me in the corridor, I zero in on him. "Did you know I'm in your dad's will?" I say, without so much as a hello.

My cousin simply shrugs. "Sure. That's news to you?"

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