Page 60 of You Broke Me First

"Well, I got Maddy's message, and I was going to fly out there this weekend, but since you're here." I narrowed my eyes, and so did Addison. "You did ask Maddy to call me to help, right?"

"Help with what?" Addison asked.

"She said you needed me to hack into some devices to get rid of those videos," she paused, her gaze flicking to me, "that he sent out." Wait, what? "She said they were black—"

"Oh," Addison cut her off, her eyes cut over to me before quickly snapping back to Karly. "Uh yeah. That." Karly narrowed her eyes. "Um."

"What the fuck is going on?" I growled.

Karly's eyes flashed between us. "He doesn't know?" Addison cleared her throat before shaking her head. "Oh fuck, I'm sorry, Addison. I—" she trailed off when her phone chimed. "Shit, I have to go. Come by tomorrow before you leave, and we can see what we need to do." Addison nodded as we watched Karly disappear into the crowd.

"What's going on, Addison?" I hissed, stepping in front of her. "What the fuck is she talking about?"

"Maddox," she snapped, sidestepping me. "I need you to let this go, please." She stormed towards the exit, but I was right on her heels. Karly didn't finish her sentence, but I knew what she was about to say. Someone was blackmailing Addison, but who and with what? She'd said videos that he sent. Did she mean me?

"Not a chance in hell," I snarled. I let her make it to the parking lot before I wrapped my fingers around her upper arm and jerked her to a stop. "Who?"

"Who, what?"

"Who is blackmailing you?" I growled. "And why?"

"Maddox, please," she pleaded. My gut twisted as I took in the sheer panic covering her face. "You'll only make this worse." My heart clenched at the thought of someone hurting her.

"Addison," I snapped, starting to lose my patience. "Who?"

"It's your best buddy," a familiar female voice said from behind me. When I twisted around, I expected to see Maddy, but I didn't. I saw Karly. My brows pinched with confusion because I knew it was Maddy's voice I heard. Karly turned her phone around, and Maddy's face illuminated the screen.

"My best buddy," I mouthed, blinking in confusion. What best buddy?

"Stop it," Addison yelled at Maddy. Her tone mixed with panic and anger. "Stop it." She grabbed my wrist. "Maddox, if you get involved in this, it could ruin my life again for the second time. So, please, just let me handle this."

Digging between the lines of her words, I muttered. "Asher." Was Asher holding that old video over her head again? Who else could it be? "I'll kill him."

"Stop it, Maddox," Karly growled, shoving a finger into my chest. "If you do anything, you take the chance of a repeat of high school, so chill and let me handle this."

"My plane leaves in a few hours," Maddy said through the speaker. "I have everything you need, Karly." Karly smiled at the phone, then disconnected.

"This ends tomorrow." Karly smirked. "Be at my house tomorrow around eleven. I'll get Maddy from the airport tonight and see you two tomorrow."

We both watched Karly disappear into the crowd of people.

"I promise not to interfere," I lied. Of course, I wouldn't interfere today or tomorrow, but Asher was dead once I knew this was over. "But please tell me what the fuck is going on."

Sitting on the tailgate of my truck, she told me everything—every last detail.

"So, Asher is forcing you to tutor me, and if you don't, he'll send out the video." She nodded. It all made sense now. She'd refused to tutor me for years, and all of a sudden, she was agreeable to it, and now I knew why. "What video?"

"The video of us in your truck," she whispered. "The one I didn't know you'd taken." I fought the wave of embarrassment rushing over me as the realization of what she was saying sank in; another one of my stupid choices in high school was haunting her.

I'd forgotten all about that video. It hadn't been sent out, so I deleted it immediately to ensure it wasn't. I didn't realize anyone had it.

"Addy, I'm so sorry," I apologized. "I was—"

"It doesn't matter anymore, Maddox," she cut me off, shooting me a cold glare. "What's done is done, and now we need to move forward, but first, I need Karly to get rid of those videos."

A wide range of conflicting emotions washed over me as I nodded. I knew nothing tied her to me after those videos were gone. She'd only agreed to tutor me because she was forced to because of something I did four years ago. Once they were gone, she'd be free, and I'd probably never see her again. My heart squeezed painfully, knowing that if that happened, I'd have to let her go.

FORTY-SIX

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