She knew what he was really doing, however.
Attempting to think up lies.
“You just said mobsters. That was the word you used.Mobsters.”
“Well, they weren’t exactly mobsters.”
“Oh my god. So now not only are you competing in a sport you hate, you’re competing in a sport you hate that mobsters are trying to control in some kind of illegal gambling ring.”
“It sounds way out there when you put it like that.”
“How else would you put it?”
He shrugged one shoulder, expression suddenly sheepish.
“Kind of exactly like that.”
“But you didn’t say yes to them, right? You laughed and walked away.”
“I don’t think you really want to be laughing at these guys. One of them looks sort of like a lizard in a real fancy suit. Like, the suit had a little pocket for his handkerchief and everything.”
“I don’t know how it’s possible, but that somehow makes it even more disturbing.”
“Yeah, I sorta figured that. My first instinct was: don’t get involved with a guy who has a handkerchief that looks like a dagger coming out of his breast pocket.”
“I would definitely agree with that assessment.”
“Plus, you know the amount of money they were offeringwasterrifyingly huge…”
She didn’t like the way his eyes slid to one side as he trailed off.
Like he didn’t want to meet her gaze while considering just how huge it was.
“Tate. Tate, just hold on here. Tate.”
“Like, massively ridiculously enormous.”
“No, Tate. No, this is a no.”
“More money than I’ve ever seen in my life.”
“Tate, seriously. Not a good idea.”
“I could buy fifty of the trailers I grew up in.”
“Still, not a good idea.”
“My mom would never have to work again.”
He almost got her with that one. Well, that and the one before it combined. She got a little flash of what his home had looked like when he saidtrailer,and the memory wasn’t a good one. Even then, at the height of his awfulness, she had seen the rust and the way it leaned, and his mother outside struggling with the laundry, and felt a twinge of sympathy. Now the twinge was a great bleeding hole in her gut, gushing freely with each new revelation. She had to put a fist in it just to keep on this track.
But it was definitely the right thing to do.
She didn’t like how he looked—shifty, she thought.
Like he might just go out and get himself killed right when they were just starting to be friends.
“I get that, but no. You can find another way to be happy. Maybe make yourself a nice side career in movie reviewing or gradually dial back the wrestling once you’ve earned enough cash. Findyourselfa boyfriend with a beard who can earn enough to pay for the fancy New York apartment.”
