Page 65 of The Troublemaker

Liam bends forward and practically sobs, as the truth comes spilling out. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he chants.

“Consider your trust fund dissolved,” her father says. “Unless you want to get your life on track again.”

“My life is on track, Dad. I’ve never been this happy.”

Shit, man, this is going south fast. I need to do something. I need to fix this.

“You could have married me, Kinsley.” Evan says. “But now it looks like you don’t get your money at all. What a shame. Unless you want to make things right with me, and join our firm. Come back to where you belong.”

“You want me to make things right with you?” Anger flares in her eyes. “You were the one who kicked me to the curb, remember?” He opens his mouth to speak and she continues with, “And really you did me a big favor, Evan. I thank you for that.” She puts her arm around mine. “This is the man I love and want to spend the rest of my life with. The man who respects my choices.” My heart jumps into my throat as she confesses her feelings, and deep inside I know none of this is for show or to prove herself. She loves me as much as I love her.

“Maybe you’ll thank me for this, too,” Evan says. “You think he loves you? Think again. Your thug here had a side bet with his buddy, Cole.”

A tortured sound crawls out of Nina’s throat and she puts her arms around her husband to hug him—offering him all her support, but that’s not what I’m getting from Kinsley. No, she’s backing up and the look I’m getting would

freeze the entire state of Florida, in the dead of summer.

“Wait, stop. It’s not like that,” I say quickly, trying to tug her back. “You don’t understand.”

“Cason,” she says, her voice shaking. “The bet you had with Cole was about me?” She blinks and looks down for a second, like she’s searching her memory banks. “What was it you called it when I asked?” Her head lifts. “Oh yeah, I remember now. You called it a stupid bet.” She jabs her thumb into her chests. “I’m the stupid bet?”

“Kinsley, wait.”

“No, you wait. You said something about six months. What was that? What did that mean?”

Fuck me twice.

“Answer me, Cason. Honestly.”

“If I didn’t last thirty days with you, I couldn’t have sex for six months, and if I did, I won his car. I’m sorry Kins, that sounds awful. Let me explain.” I take a fast breath as she shakes her head no. “Kins.”

She wobbles on her feet, her face so pale now, I’m sure she’s going to be sick. She looks at Nina and Cole who are staring wide-eyed as they watch this fiasco unfold. “Did you know about it, Nina?” Kinsley asks.

Nina gives Cole an uneasy look and then says, “Yes, but Kinsley if you’ll listen, let me explain.”

“Listen!” she shrieks. “Oh, I don’t think so. I’m not listening to any more of this bullshit.” She looks directly at me. “I thought you were different, but winning a bet was the reason you stayed. I thought we moved past the sex and tacos, that you cared about me as a person, that I might have actually been special to you. But no. I was wrong. Fool me twice, right?” She gives a garbled laugh. “You were using me to get something. How are you different from Evan?”

“I am not Evan,” I say, angry that she could even say such a thing.

She shakes her head, and almost to herself, she says, “This has all been a mistake, one that started when you crawled into the right bed with the wrong woman.” Tears fill her eyes. “I should have known better than to let my heart get involved when all along I knew you thought you were with Emily that night.”

“Wait, no. It wasn’t like that. Well, I mean it was, at first, but then not.” I take another fast breath and try to gather my scrambled thoughts but she doesn’t give me time.

She points. “I want you all to leave. Right now.”

I take a step toward her, and she moves back. Scowling at me, Emily puts her arms around Kinsley’s shoulders and leads her into the house, away from us all. Asshole Evan comes closer, squares off against me. Oh, he’s going to be playing the hero now, is he? Too fucking late for that.

“She asked you to leave,” he says and tugs on the lapels of his coat, which fuels my temper even more.

“Fine, I’ll leave, but this first.” I pull my arm back and swing, punching him square in the face, and he flies backward. “That’s for hurting Kinsley.”

“Fuck,” he says, from the ground. “I’m going to sue your ass off for this.”

“I don’t care. It was worth it.” Before I go, I turn to her parents. “You might think Evan is the answer for Kinsley, but believe me, he’s not. He hurt her, deeply. If you took the time to ask about it, you’d know. I know because I helped put her back together again.”

“Oh, by staying with her for thirty days so you could win a car?” her father mocks.

“You don’t know me, my life, or the reason behind that, so maybe you should shut up and listen for once.” His eyes go wide and he glares at me, but I continue with, “Kinsley is an amazing woman. I’d like to think you both had a part in making her that way, and yes that’s a compliment. But she’s a grown woman now, who doesn’t need to be judged for who she isn’t, but for who she is.”

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