Page 59 of Inevitable

“Anyway, so while he was telling me about her and how freaky she was in the sack, he then got onto the subject of crazy ass girls and the things they'd do for a good banging, you know? He started sharing that his best friend on the baseball teamalsomet a girl that night, and apparently, she is fucking cuckoo for cocoa puffs, so I just had to hear the details!”

Annoyance started to simmer under the surface, and I was starting to think I couldn't find his point with a fucking compass and a map. “Dude, where are you going with this shit? I thought you said it was important,” I huffed irritably.

“Hey, don't interrupt. It's rude. Also I'm getting there, so press pause on the 'tude, okay?” Nate rolled his eyes at me. “Where was I?…Right! So, he went off about how his friend's new chick was all over him, getting clingy, saying she was pent up and unsatisfied by her own man, and even started sending him nudes and sexting him in the middle of class. Like, she wouldn't even leave him alone after he asked her to stop! Just kept texting him pictures and begging him to come over—she was fully dickmatized,” Nate chuckled, and I finally snapped.

“NATE! Is there a fucking point to all of this?” I snapped, needing him to tell me why this was so pressing that he had to bother me with it. This wasn't what I needed right now.

“Ugh, okay! I'll fast forward! I ended up asking my friend what this chick looked like or what her name was, just out of sheer curiosity,right? Turns out, she's a curly haired brunette with bright blue eyes, and her name…drum roll please…is fucking Ainsley Whitten!” he declared triumphantly, as if he had just dropped a bomb on my lap that was meant to explode.

I just blinked at him, not moving a muscle because I was dumbstruck.Thisis what he thought was so important? Ainsley messing around with some jock?

“Are you fucking with me right now?” I asked flatly. “Nate, why in the everliving fuck would I care about Ainsley screwing around? Honestly, it's a relief because that just means she'll be too preoccupied to bug me and I can get some damn peace from her for a while.”

“Jesus, you are painfully stupid sometimes,” Nate muttered, not certain if he meant for me to hear the insult. “B, you aren't putting two and two together! She sentnudes!She was sexting him like a frickin' horndog, or whatever the chick equivalent is, and that means we got her! I got my friend to have his friend send me the photos of her!” Nate smiled wide with pride. You'd think he had just discovered the key to global warming or something.

“Gross, man, why would you want that shit? Ainsley's gorgeous and all, but she's a fucking viper. I don't care about any photos of her, naked or otherwise,” I groused, completely over the conversation.

“Bash! How are you not getting this? You wanted a solution and here it is!”

“What solution? You have some dumbass nudes—”

“Of Ainsley!Her face is in them and everything, man! He also sent me a few of her sext messages, and dude, she has got a freaky mouth on her, let me tell you…” Nate whistled low, looking both grossed out and impressed at the same time.

I started to puzzle out what he was telling me and why he seemed to think this was the answer to all my problems with Ainsley. My dad wouldn't care that she was cheating, or the fact that she sent naked pictures of herself to some guy. The only one who would care about that was…

“Holy shit…you're not thinking about blackmailing her with them, are you?” I asked incredulously. There was no love lost between me and Ainsley, and I didn't much care about how I treated her, but even I had my limits. Threatening her would only bring me to her level and make me no better than her or my dad.

“That'sexactlywhat I was thinking! I know the whole idea is a dick move and everything, but it's not like she didn't have it coming, and you really don't have many options for getting rid of her. You told me that your dad wants you with her or your mom is up shit creek,so you can't dump Ainsley. She'll also definitely tattle to your Pops if you try to sneak around behind her back or just whenever she feels like letting the bitch loose, correct?” Nate looked at me expectantly.

“Well yeah, but this is…I mean, spreading her nudes around campus? That's shit that could ruin a person's life, you know?” I argued, feeling hella uncomfortable with thinking that was my only option.

“Hell no, you don't have to send them to anyone! In fact, I'm hoping you wouldn't need to at all. She just has tothinkyou would!”

I gaped at him as his plan settled into my head, running through the possibilities of his batshit crazy idea.

“You're telling me that I should bluff and tell Ainsley that I'll spread her nudes and messages around campus if she rats me out to my dad?”

“Not just around campus, but to the dean, her professors, her own fucking parents if you have to! Tell her that you're not going to play ball with her anymore and you're going to be with your man whether she likes it or not, and if she breathes a word to your dad? BOOM! One click and she's suddenly Miss December for UT's Fucked-Up Decisions Nudie Calendar!” Nate grinned deviously, stretching his arms out like he was waiting for me to hug him.

Even I had to admit it was a genius plan if it worked. Ainsley's reputation and her future were all she cared about, and this would ensure that she would spend a long time repairing that shit, if she even could. However, I didn't think I could ever go through with releasing those photos because that wasn't something I wanted on my conscience.

“I don't know, Nate…what if it doesn't work? What if I just piss her off and she goes running to my dad anyway to get back at me? I can't risk that shit, not where my mom is concerned,” I sighed, defeat starting to worm its way in.

Nate didn't like that. He grabbed me by my shoulders roughly, and gave me a little shake. “Bash, I say this with all the brotherly love I have for you, but I'm gonna need you to pull your goddamn head out of your ass and man the fuck up!Thisis what you've been looking for! This is the way you put a leash on that gold-digger and claim your man! Yeah, no plan is foolproof and it might backfire, but that's a major fucking “if” and you have to decide if it's worth the risk. Is Micah worth the risk or not?” He looked me sternly in the eye, challenging me not to back down from this chance.

“Nate, it's not so simple—”

“Is. He. Worth. The. Risk? It's a yes or no question, Bash. Is Micah worth dirtying up your morals a bit for the chance to be withhim, to be what he needs? Because from everything you told me, you fucking need him too.”

He hadn't even finished his question before the answer screamed inside my head like a banshee. Yes. Micah was worth all that and more. Even if this shit went sideways and I had to scramble to protect my mom, I couldn't let go of this chance to show him that I'd do whatever the fuck it took to be his.

I had asked for a way to be with Micah, and this was it. I said come hell or high water, so I needed to be willing to drag myself to the depths to earn my chance with him. To claim him as mine.

Hewasmine. I'd make sure he never doubted it again.

Nate must've seen the determination set in and he wrapped his arms around my waist, hoisting me in the air while whooping and cheering like a deranged player who had just won the Superbowl. He was an idiot, but I was damn lucky he was my friend.

“Dude, put me the fuck down! You're squeezing me too tight,” I choked out as I squirmed to get free. Nate just laughed and set me down, clapping and rubbing his hands together, looking every bit the cartoon villain.

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