Page 189 of A Million To Fall

Tries again.

“I wasn’t planning—”

Another cut-off followed by a quiet, frustrated breath.

“The night of your birthday…” he finally says, resigned, “Jake’s mom propositioned me.”

My jaw clenches, fingers back to fisting the hem of his hoodie, but I don’t move otherwise.

“I was in the kitchen, getting a glass of water when she made a move. She told me she knew about my situation, that she could help me. She offered me five hundred bucks to sleep with her that night.”

He risks a glance at me, but I remain stoic. At least externally.

“There was no way I was going to sleep with my best friend’s mom. There was no way I was going to sleep with anyone. I was already…” He breaks off. Takes another breath.

“Then Cassie called.”

Oh god.

Of course that was the trigger.

Boston’s siblings.

Not money.

Not sex.

Cassie and Bronx.

The breath leaves me all at once.

How did I not see it?

“They were being moved again. Another foster home, more strangers, more change. All that instability.” He swallows what must be a lump the size of a car. “She was sobbing, begging me to come get them.”

“But you couldn’t.” The words escape my mouth in a rush of air.

He dares another look at me. This time, it holds.

“Suddenly, saying no to one night, one hour with Jake’s mom in exchange for five hundred dollars didn’t feel like an option anymore,” he says with the tiniest shrug of his good shoulder. He shakes his head, his eyes moving to Jake. “I felt horrible. Wrong. But… I needed that money. So desperately.”

I allow my face to soften, my eyes widening as I fight the anger, the feeling of betrayal still digging its spiky claws into my heart.

“It was supposed to be a one-time thing,” he continues, voice flat. “One night. Five hundred dollars.”

“Then why didn’t it end?” I ask, half accusatory, half afraid.

“Because I’m an idiot,” he says with a humorless laugh. “I was going to leave Jake’s the next morning. Go back to sleeping in my car. Anything felt better than… than sleeping in the same house as the woman who bought my body.” His voice cracks. “But the next morning, she offered me a thousand dollars a week to be available to her whenever she wanted.”

“A thousand dollars, Skye! A week,” Jake repeats quietly, like he wants me to understand how much money that is, especially for Boston.

“And you agreed?” I ask, still hoping he’ll deny, even though my head and heart already know the answer.

His nod comes too quickly. “I didn’t think about it hard enough. I just thought I’d have to do this for a few weeks—until I had enough saved for an apartment, the legal retainer. I thought maybe I’d have to… service her”—he glances at me to gauge my reaction—“a couple times a week. Maybe until the end of summer but—” His voice breaks.

“She fucking blackmailed him,” Jake says, his voice sharp.

I gasp, balling the fabric of Boston’s hoodie in my fists like it’s the only thing anchoring me to my chair.