Page 103 of Tips and Trysts

Everett’s eyebrows shoot up. “I probably would have tried to publish a story in the Crimson, but that’s me.”

“It then became abundantly clear that Felix and I weren’t a one-time thing. We were both going to get kicked out of Harvard, so we both dropped out. Mutually assured destruction.”

“Damn,” he mutters.

“I’m not proud of it. Exposing someone’s body without consent is heinous. I wish I could blame it on being heartbroken and following Felix’s lead, but ultimately, I wanted revenge. I learned my lesson though. I lost everything and had to start over while broke, disowned, and with no work experience. Conversely, Felix lost everything and came back like a phoenix rising out of the ashes.”

“What about the women you were researching? They could have proved he was a fraud.”

“I messaged the girls when everything started, but Harvard was still paying them for the study. Then, once the study fell through, all eight of them told me Felix contacted them first and offered them a buttload of money to do interviews for a book he was writing. Now, they’re bound by an NDA they can’t afford to break. All I got out of those conversations was a recommendation to try camming.”

Everett lets out a slow exhale through his nostrils before he looks to the side, staring into my living room. He faces me. “I don’t understand why he did it. If you two were together, why would he turn on you? Nothing was stopping both of you from getting your PhDs and completing the study.”

I raise a shoulder. “That’s the thing. To this day, I still don’t know why he did it. It was like he woke up one morning and…didn’t love me anymore.”

Everett is quiet. “He changed his mind.”

“Like my parents did.”

He releases a slow sigh. “Well, I’m going to destroy him. Do you want to watch?”

“Everett…” I begin, shaking my head.

“No, I am,” he assures me. “I’m going to make him pay. I’m going to enjoy it too.”

“I still don’t believe in revenge.”

Everett’s eyes widen. “Why the hell not?”

“I told you: The last time I tried to get revenge, it backfired and turned me into a horrible, obsessive person. I don’t want that.”

“Not only did he hurt you, but he also put my campaign at risk. I don’t have a doubt in my mind he leaked the blackmail story to Regina’s producers in a bid to clinch his own show. He used this against us.”

I pause. Everett called it an “us” problem. Exhaling, I reach across the table. “Did I cost you the election?”

“I’m not going to lose.”

“But—”

Everett shakes his head. “Remember what you told me? You don’t suck off losers,” he replies, somehow managing to get a smile out of me. “I’m going to win.”

“How?”

“No clue,” he admits, letting out a slow exhale. “It’ll come to me. For now, we have more important things to do.”

“Like what?”

Everett grins and his expression is lively, rich with the promise of intrigue—with the promise of everything.

He leans forward, eyes locked on mine, and asks, “Do you want to run away together?”

Thirty-Six

CORA

I don’t like camping.The way I see it, my parents didn’t immigrate from a province in the Philippines for me to cook my meals over a fire.

…which makes it even more absurd that it was my idea to go camping.

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