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“My Uber will be here soon.” I take a deep breath, an awkwardness hovering in the air. I don’t know how to leave things. I suck at this apparently. I slide my phone back inside my bag. “So where is the cookout tomorrow, if I’m still invited.”
“You’re still invited, if you want to come.”
“Sure. Might be cool to meet some locals.”
“Alright. Where should I pick you up? Or would you prefer to drive there yourself?”
I start to tell him yes but then I realize it might be better if I let him get me. I’m not going to get close enough to meet King if I keep pushing him away. “Atwood Village is a bit of a drive from my hotel.”
“I don’t mind.”
I tell him where I’m staying and I catch a gleam in his eye. Maybe he thinks he won’t be driving back to his sister’s after he drops me off tomorrow night.
Maybe he won’t. And that thought alone is enough to send me reeling.
Chapter 12
“I might have to sleep with him tonight.”
Rigger shifts in his seat, tightens the grip on his coffee mug. B.B. King plays on a table speaker as we sit in a crowded 50’s theme diner. “You don’t have to do anything.”
“You know what I mean.”
The way he looks at me, like he knows me better than I know myself, causes doubt to surface.
I’ve never slept with a guy, never done anything sexual willingly. Choosing to do something so intimate, that makes me sweat with fear, doesn’t make me feel any more powerful than choosing to say no. So no matter what I do, I’m screwed. At least sleeping with Benny the pedo, I have a shot at getting what I want.
“You can drag it out a little longer. A lot of guys like girls who play hard to get.”
“Do you?”
“Depends on the girl.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re a lot of help.”
“My point is …” Rigger leans back, takes a deep breath as though he’s reaching for something big. “You’re in a candy store right now. And yes, the candy store will eventually close but it won’t close for a while. You can take your time picking out what you want.”
I scrunch my forehead. “Is this one of your complicated analogies where I have to get drunk to understand what you’re saying?” He stares me down. “Because what I’m picking up is that I can sleep with him, or someone else, or even someone else.”
Tossing his hands up, he’s either given up on me or feeling victorious. I’m too stressed to figure it out so I dab my french fry in some ketchup and consider my alternatives.
One, I back out altogether. The cops could eventually be on to me and I could spend the rest of my life behind bars if they connect me to the murders.
Two, I let Rigger take care of it, which looks more and more appealing based on the fact that I don’t know if I can ever sleep with a man, given my past.
Or three—and this is the best-case scenario—I find out who Ben’s partner is without having to sleep with him at all. This is the best option because I can still revert to option one or two without selling myself out and spreading my legs.
“You can always change your mind, Tove. No matter how deep into it you get. Don’t forget that.” Rigger’s jaw ticks and I’m hooked on his deep green eyes, boring into me with all the seriousness of a parent right now.
“I know.”
“And I’ll be ready to come and fetch you if things go south.”
“I appreciate that. But I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
Rigger rubs his mouth, looks to the side. “I don’t like this. I don’t like it at all. I’m just going to be straight up with you. I think it’s risky.”
I hold back a shocked smile. “Rig. You know what I’ve done to grown ass men. In their homes, their cars, in the darkest corners of back alleyways …” I think about Mortimer Dante, the guy who was so easy to kill because he was so hooked on my chest he didn’t even see the blade coming his way. Kind of like Peter Snowden too.
