“He was the fullback in the First XV. Rah-rah-fucking-rah.”
“What about the chick with the Mysp?—”
“She posted it using shell accounts and denied the whole thing. Got voted head girl the next year, actually.”
“Fuck off!”
“I shouldn’t have told my parents. Getting teachers involved only made everything worse. After that, I kept my hair short and my mouth shut.”
“Dude, I’m so?—”
“Thank you for your sympathy. Now, will you help me or not?”
“Sure. Whatever you need.”
“Great. You will be rewarded for your assistance.”
“I don’t want money.”
“And I won’t be paying you. Although youwillbe providing financial assistance to someone else.”
That gets Davis back to looking at me the way he usually does. “The fuck?”
“Cece. You’ll be making Stabbies—fine,Afterglow—a part of your angel investment program.”
“W-What? I don’t… What are you talking about?”
I groan as I reach for my margarita. “It’s getting late, Davy-D, so how about we don’t play this game? Your Financial Service Providers Register number is 25799-L3331270, correct?”
“How did you…?”
“Publicly available information, Davo. Keep up. So your number is linked to two businesses. Dynamic Finance, which is your day job, and the Ten-Eleven Fund, which was founded three years ago by yourself and Blake Anaru. Who I assumed was a dude until I found…” I unlock my phone and scroll to the right picture, “… this delightful pic of you two doing a double beer bong.”
Davis flinches at the sight of himself and a stunning Maori girl chugging beer at what looks like a university party. He leans back, stunned. “Blake’s the real founder, I’m just?—”
“The shadow partner, sure. But it’s still your business. A business that specialises in microloans for female-owned establishments, which is very admirable of you two. Still, Blake being an extremely hot woman led me to think you might be banging?—”
“We’re not.”
“—until I found her socials, which are extremely heavy on the rainbow flags and rock climbing. So my new guess is you’re high school besties. Actually, that’s not a guess. I found your yearbook online, and if you didn’t put ‘BA + Davy = frenz 4 life’under your picture to throw me off the scent seven years in advance, I’m gonna go ahead and close the file on that one.”
Davis reaches for my half-drunk margarita and drains it.
“Fair,” I say, placing my fingertips on the table. “In summation, Blake’s gay, you’re a dork, I clocked you to hell and back, I approve of your business, and in exchange for a little recreational security work, I’ll help you to help make Stabbies a success through your fund. Which will lead to Cece’s undying gratitude toward you, Davis MichaelSanderson.”
“Jesus, you’re crafty.”
“Is that a yes?”
He narrows his eyes. “It won’t work. I tried offering Cece a loan before. She wouldn’t look at me for a week.”
“Ah, but this time you’ll have me on your side, and as you’ve just acknowledged,” I tap a nail on my notebook cover. “I’m a crafty bitch.”
“I’ll think about it.” Davis’s head tilts, puppy dog style. “Iwouldlike to help Cece.”
“I know you would, bud.” Help her straight down the wedding aisle. Poor man’s been floundering like a fish on concrete, but now I’m here, and everything’s going to work out. “We done?”
“Seems that way.” He gets to his feet.
