Page 25 of Knot Giving Up 2

“Not ringing any bells.”

“Oh, that’s right, you only read fantasy,” Nils teases.

I childishly stick my tongue out at him, but it backfires when he grabs it between his fingers and tugs. It’s like an erotic shot of adrenaline straight to my dick. But right now, I need to focus.

I push him off and pull away. “What if it is Glenn? What does he want?”

Nils shrugs. “More money?”

“How the fuck are we gonna do that?” I head to the kitchen to grab a beer, then remember the kitchen is empty except for coffee and some chips and beef jerky Oz bought.

“I could always sell a kidney.”

I can’t tell if Nils is serious, but I pluck my phone from his hands and start to search. “Google says a kidney can get $50,000 to $120,000.” I look up to catch his eyes. “We each have an extra kidney.”

Now Nils is grinning, probably unable to tell if I’m joking. I’m not really sure I am. But how do you sell an illegally-harvested kidney? Facebook marketplace? eBay?

I keep reading, “Livers can sell for $145,000 and lungs can go for $290,000. But a pancreas can—”

“I’m going to want to keep both of my lungs, babe.”

The little term of endearment stops my doom scrolling. His grin is too wide, and it draws me in.

“Let’s put selling organs in the Plan C category. Or D, or W.” He reaches over and clicks my phone to black. “We can figure this out. We both passed high school. We went to college. We’re smart!”

A smile tugs on my lips, knowing I’m really not alone in this.

“We just need to dig up some dirt on him.” Nils slides his hand in mine and draws me over to the couch. Pulling Harrison’s laptop over from the edge of the coffee table, he powers it up. “Can we blackmail a blackmailer?”

“He isn’t blackmailing me,” I remind him. “Maybe pull up a dictionary of criminal terminology while you’re at it.”

“Do you think there’s a BuzzFeed quiz for this? Something like What Crime Is Best For Your Zodiac?”

I roll my eyes and shift the laptop closer to me so I can type. Clicking off the open browser of flights to Paris, I open a new tab.

“Facebook!” Nils’s laugh soothes the worry in my gut. “You’re going to find dirt on a crime lord on Facebook?”

“He’s not a crime lord!” At least, I don’t think so. What makes someone a crime lord? But there are 27 results for Glenn Plansky, including Glenn Polansky, Glenn Pransky, and a Glen Plans.

“Facebook is for people to share nice photos with their grandma, complain about the Homeowners Association, and ask if fireworks are gunshots.” Nils slides the laptop away from me and closer to him. “Glenn won’t be there.”

His fingers hover over the keyboard before he types Reddit.com.

“Reddit?” My foot starts tapping. I should have paid more attention when we watched crime shows. Could have learned something helpful.

“Reddit is better than TikTok,” Nils explains. “I’m sure we can find something there that can help us.”

The highlights on the feed’s homepage read:

Energy drinks are too accepted in today’s society

Am I The Asshole for having another pack’s baby?

It’s official, my friend’s child will be named Questopher

We share a look before I run my fingers through my hair. “I think we need to put selling kidneys back up on the board.”

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