Pandora’s box, and it was terrifying and thrilling at the same time.
Shot chuckled again, but this time it was sultry and sexy sounding. “If I give a favor, I expect one in return, Pres.”
No one ever shortened my name. Mostly because I was never casual or the kind of close with anyone for them to be comfortable enough to give me any kind of nickname. And Ashby always said it was lowbrow to shorten our unique names. Shot calling me “Pres” was one more way he was breaking through the walls I’d isolated myself behind for all these years. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t like that I didn’t hate it.
“If you do this for me, I’ll owe you one.” It was like I was signing a deal with the devil. Even though I’d considered it silly that he ever felt like he owed me in the first place, or that he was responsible for me because he’d saved my life once. I knew he was big on give-and-take. There was no asking him for something without him expecting something in return.
“We’ve been here before, haven’t we? One of us owing the other seems to be our thing.” He sounded amused.
I sighed. “I really need your help, Shot.”
“What do you need?”
Closing my eyes and putting a hand to my chest where my heart felt like it was tied in knots, I responded with a whisper I wasn’t even sure he could hear, “The truth. I need the truth.”
No matter how high the price I had to pay.
Chapter 9
Shot
Picked a weird place for our first date, didn’t you, Pres?”
I asked the question as I took a seat in a rickety plastic chair at an equally rickety table located in the back of a busy truck stop halfway between Ivy and Loveless.
Presley lifted her head from whatever she was looking at on her phone and blinked her emerald-colored eyes at me in surprise. “This is a date?”
She sounded so genuinely baffled that I couldn’t hold back a slight chuckle. I really did find her innocence charming and refreshing.
“You asked me to meet you somewhere out of the way and offered to buy me coffee. It’s not the best date idea I’ve heard, but it’s also not the worst.”
She blushed a pretty shade of pink and nervously fiddled with her phone. “I’ve never really been much of a dater, so I probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a good one and a bad one.” She lifted her gaze back to mine. “Thank you for agreeing to meet me.”
Like I had a choice. As soon as she called and asked for a favor, I knew there was no way I could turn her down. Same as when she asked to meet in this out-of-the-way spot so she could tell me exactly what she wanted from me. The word no never even crossed my mind, even though my sudden availability for this woman and this woman alone had my club questioning my sanity.
“Don’t thank me until I come through on the favor.” I waved her off when asked if I wanted her to grab the coffee she promised to provide. I didn’t want to spend any more time at this truck stop than necessary. The rough crowd didn’t bother me much, but I didn’t like the way the men looked at Presley on their way to the bathroom or how their eyes tracked her as they lingered at the counter of the small concessions stand. She was dressed in a pinstripe blazer with some kind of silky shirt underneath. She also had on a pair of tight white pants, paired with shiny black heels. She was by far the best dressed in the room, making me think she’d come from work. “Talk to me. Tell me who you need me to get the truth from.”
She turned her phone so the screen was facedown and folded her hands together on the table. I could see she was struggling to keep her emotions in check, and I barely stopped myself from putting my hand over hers as her knuckles turned white. Normally when I promised someone everything would be okay, it was because they were paying me a hefty sum to make sure things went in their favor. For the woman seated across from me, I wanted to make the promise free of charge. I wanted her to know she could rely on me and trust me. Which was a first. I’d only