Page 122 of My Irresistible Enemy

“Wow.” I brought my fingers to his chest, feeling the warmth of his skin. His heartbeat thumped beneath my palm. I imagined love pouring from my body into his. “That is a lot.”

“She said she felt guilty for never telling me. And I—” He broke off, shaking his head slightly. “You know, I was so mad when she first gave that interview, telling everyone about what we went through. I’d spent my whole life blaming myself for getting taken away, for her using, and there she was, just casually pulling the rug out from under me, telling me I was wrong. I know it wasn’t casual, and that wasn’t what she was trying to do, but that was what it felt like. And I was kind of dreading her coming down here, even though I was the one who suggested it.”

His eyes went wistful. “But when I went to pick her up from the ferry today? I didn’t feel any of that. All I felt was this sadness, that so much had come between us. And this desperation not to let that happen again.” He bit his lip. “Is that bad?”

“Bad? Why would that be bad?”

“Because it means I’m soft? Or, I don’t know, asking to get hurt again?”

I shook my head. “I think it means you love her. And I don’t think loving people makes you soft.” I centered my hand over his heart. Let its rhythm fill me. “Youcanget hurt when you love people, but you trust that they won’t do it on purpose. And you know that it’s worth it, anyway. Because you got to love them. And that’s worth any price.”

Nolan smiled at me. “When did you get so wise, huh?”

“Mmm, approximately a week ago? That was when I realized that no matter what happened, I wanted to be with you. That I would always want to be with you, even if we both fuck up. Evenwhenwe fuck up, I should say, because let’s be honest—with me, at least, it’s a guarantee that I will.”

“Aiden.” Nolan’s fingertips brushed my temple.

“I’m serious. And I’m not saying it in some self-deprecatinghaha, isn’t it funny how I always mess upway. I just mean, I’m human. We both are. But hard as it is for me to wrap my head around it, you’ve seen me at my worst and you still love me. And I know I still love you. And no matter what happens, I know I’ll want to figure it out with you.”

He ghosted a kiss across my lips. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I know better than to question it. So I’ll just say that I love you. And I feel the same way.”

I smiled. “Okay. Good. Because I actually have something else I want to talk to you about, and I want you to remember what you just said, about figuring things out together, instead of just jumping in and telling me no out of hand.”

Nolan raised an eyebrow. “That sounds ominous. Should I be nervous?”

“No.” I shook my head. “At least, I don’t think so. I think it’s good news. It’s just, well, you know the plan? Play nice for now, then have Em leak the video later?”

Nolan nodded. Neither of us was sure we would win if we took Tanner to court. He’d never technically saidwhathe’d done to my drink, and everything else was just slippery enough that a good lawyer could probably get him off, even with the recording.

But we didn’t want Tanner to get away with it and hurt more people. And while Nolan and I weren’t allowed to share the video if we took the settlement, Em wasn’t getting a penny from the network and was under no such prohibition. So the minute the settlement hit our accounts next week, he was going to send the backup copies he’d made to as many gossip sites and TV entertainment channels as he could find.

We might not be able to win in court, but we could do our best to make sure everyone knew to stay away from Tanner from now on.

“Yeah,” Nolan said. “Are you having second thoughts? Because I understand if you are. I don’t think a four thousand dollar settlement isnearlyenough, considering what Tanner put you through, but that video is going to turn our lives into a circus for a little while. I wouldn’t blame you if you just wanted to take the money and forget about the rest.”

“No, no, it’s not that. Well, it is that. Kind of. I don’t care about people finding out about what happened to me. And as long as you’re still willing to talk about it, and deal with the inevitable questions once the video comes out—”

“I am.” Nolan’s voice was firm. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure he can’t hurt anyone else.”

“Then I am too. Definitely. Operation Takedown Tanner is still a go.” I smiled grimly. “But about the money. I completely agree that four thousand isn’t enough for what Tanner did to any of us. But the thing is, I never actually signed the settlement offer the network gave everyone.”

“Wait, really?” Nolan’s eyes widened.

“And I might have kind of taken a meeting with their lawyers this afternoon while you were catching up with your mom. And I might have finally agreed to sign their papers…once they bumped my settlement up to fourhundredthousand.”

“Four hundred thousand dollars?”

“As opposed to what, nickels?” I laughed. “Yeah. Four hundred thousand dollars.”

“That’s amazing!” His brow furrowed. “But why would I tell you that was bad?”

“Because I want to use it to pay your mom’s medical bills?”

Nolan’s jaw dropped. It had never really closed after I’d told him the amount, but it dropped even farther now.

“Aiden, that’s incredibly sweet, but you can’t just—”

“Ican,” I interrupted. “I can, and I will. Even if you break up with me and I have to give it directly to your mom instead of you, Iwilldo it. But, you know, I’d prefer it if you didn’t break up with me. We’ve only been dating for real for a week, after all.”

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