Free Trade Me by Courtney Milan Page B

to pretend to be polite, and I suspect that everything he says from here on out will only get worse. Fine. If he wants to play that way, I can come along for the ride.
    “No,” I say with my most charming smile. “
You
probably can’t. Five minutes of your time is worth a fortune. But my time is worth basically nothing. So if we want to keep staring at each other, I’ll win. Eventually.”
    He leans against the booth, letting his arm trail along the back. He has Blake’s wiry build, but there’s an edginess to him that Blake lacks, as if he has a low-voltage current running through him at all times. He drums his fingers against the table as if to dispel a constant case of jitters. His glare intensifies.
    “Cut the innocent act. If you’re smart enough to hold Blake’s interest, you’re smart enough to know what I’m talking about. My son is obviously emotionally invested in you, and I’d rather he not be hurt any more than necessary. If all you want is money, I’ll give you fifty thousand dollars to walk away right now.”
    I pause, considering this. On the one hand, fifty thousand dollars to walk away from a nonexistent relationship is a lot of money. On the other hand, technically, at this point, Blake has offered me more. Besides, I doubt Mr. Reynolds would ever actually pay me. He’d just spill everything to Blake, assuming that revealing my money-grubbing status would end this relationship.
    In other words, true to form, he’s being a dick.
Surprise, surprise.
    “I see you’re thinking about it,” he says. “Chances are this thing, whatever it is, won’t last. We’ve established that you don’t really care about Blake. The only thing left to do is haggle over the price.”
    “That’s not what I’m thinking.” I pick up my own water glass and take a sip. “I think we need to make the stakes even. I’ll accept sixty-six billion dollars. I take cash, check, and nonliquid assets.”
    His knowing smirk fades. “Now you’re just being ridiculous.”
    I set my glass down. “No. I’m simply establishing that you don’t love your son, either.”
    He almost growls. “What the fuck kind of logic is that? Sixty-six billion dollars is materially different than fifty thousand.”
    The bathroom door opens behind us, and Blake starts toward us. Mr. Reynolds looks away from me in annoyance. Blake approaches the table and slides in next to me. He sits so close I can feel the warm pressure of his thigh against mine.
    He looks from me to his father and back. “What’s going on?”
    The fact that I’m not actually dating Blake, and don’t care about the state of his relationship with his terrible father, makes this extremely easy.
    “Your father and I,” I tell him sweetly, “are arguing over how much he’ll pay me to dump you. Stay out of this; we’re not finished yet.”
    “Oh.” A curiously amused look crosses Blake’s face.
    “He offered fifty thousand bucks,” I say. “I countered with sixty-six billion.”
    Blake’s smile widens.
    “She’s not negotiating in good faith,” Mr. Reynolds growls. “What the fuck kind of girlfriend did you bring?”
    “Don’t mind me.” Blake crosses his arms and leans back. “Pretend I’m not here. Carry on.”
    Son of a bitch. Blake probably
knew
something like this would happen. He set me up. He did it on purpose.
    “I don’t have to negotiate in good faith,” I tell his father. “You brought money into this in the first place. That was a dick move. Why should I play fair?”
    “You’ve admitted that you’d sell him out,” he snaps. “That at some point, money is more important than he is.”
    “
You’ve
admitted the same thing. If I’m a faithless whore because I’ll take a check to break up with Blake, you’re the asshole who values his company and lifestyle more than your son.”
    “That’s not just my company. That’s my life. It’s his life. It’s—”
    “Oh, and you think it’s just money for me?” I glare at him.