“How do the payments work?” she asks quickly.
“The money for the trip gets wired to a business account before it’s paid out to the driver. Minus taxes, obviously. Tips are all yours to keep.”
“So, does this gig pay well? How much are you guys bringing in a month?”
I think for a moment. “Well, it depends how busy you are. Personally, I do about four hundred a week.”
“Four hundred?” Her head yanks up. “That’s insane!”
“That involves a lot of driving, though,” I warn.
“And a lot of tending to your reputation…”
“Nowyou’re getting it!”
Our eyes meet.
“I’m really trying, here.” She sounds so serious—it’s sweet.
“Think of it as a way of getting your life on track. That was the plan, back when you left New York. Right?”
“Right.”
Her eyes are shining. I can tell there’s a battle raging between her innate fieriness and the new-and-improved Amy she’ll need to become if she wants to join us, and I like seeing her rattled.
I should focus back on my screen, but she’s just so intense, with her lips parted in concentration like that, her breath hot against my skin—it’s like I’m being drawn into her mouth. All I want to do is lean into her for a taste, and the way she’s looking at me says she wants me to, but…
Don said not to go there.
And he’s right.
Campus is teeming with other girls. Easier girls.But they aren’t Amy.
Everything about her is one giant walking red flag, but that just makes me want her even more. I’m squeaky clean—a grade-A kind of guy. She embodies everything I don’t want to be, and that’s exactly why I’m so drawn to her.
Enough.
I need to wrap this thing up and get the hell out of here.
Before I seriously mess things up.
Her room is like a vortex, and if I’m not careful, I’m about to get sucked into something I’ll never escape.
18AMY
Lewis left five minutes ago—so why am I still standing here in front of my door? I just spent what felt like an eternity wrestling with my feelings, and I’m exhausted. He was right there next to me, lounging on my bed, talking me through the app, explaining how to become a better version of myself, and when our worlds brush up against each other like that, I start spiraling. I can’t do this. Whenever he’s around, all I can think about are his arms wrapping around me, and I don’t like it one bit.
It’s like I just survived some kind of mental earthquake. Like Lewis and I are tectonic plates that should never have rubbed against each other in the first place. I wish things were different, but the truth is that spending time with him throws my inner compass out of whack, grinding my self-control down into a fine dust, until the only thing I know for sure is that I definitely cannot do this.
Stars blossom before my eyes. I’ve been here before. I need air. I need to speak to RJ. Iknowthis goes against everything I said I’d do, but this is the only way I know how to make things right in my head again. That run before Lewis came over was supposed to chill me out—pull me back from the brink. It hasn’t worked.
I shrug on a sweater and race down the stairwell, praying I don’tbump into Raven on the way. Nobody can read me like her, and I don’t want her knowing what I’m about to do. I sprint around the garage, dragging open the doors and bellowing into the half dark.
“Ronny! Where you at?”
“Over here!”
He’s frowning as he steps out of the tire room. Guess my voice says it all.
