Escorting the Player (The Escort Collection 3)

And if the thing that hurt the worst was my heart, there was no way in hell I was ever going to show it.

* * *

Before I went out to meet them, my phone buzzed. It wasn't Elena's number this time.

My stomach dropped. That meant it had to be my sister.

"Lila?" I answered the phone, almost in a whisper.

"Is that you, Avery?" she practically screeched. "Are you Chase Layne's girlfriend now? Holy fucking fuck!"

"Wh-why are you calling me?" I asked. "I told you to only use this number if it's an emergency—"

"Because my baby sister's on the news!" she interrupted me, sounding much too excited. "I saw your pictures at the restaurant and at that club and I had to check in. So, how are you? More importantly, how the hell did you end up moving in with Chase Layne and being his insta-girlfriend? What is up, seriously?"

"I'm fine." But now that she'd called me, I was anything but. Lila never just 'checked in'. She found me when she needed something, which was usually in the form of some sort of bailout.

"So…are you actually, suddenly and out-of-the-blue, dating Chase Layne? Or is this one of your jobs?" she asked.

I bristled, not wanting to hear her say it out loud. I wished I'd never confided in my sister about AccommoDating. "It's none of your business, is what it is," I said stiffly.

"I just think it's funny—not funny ha-ha, but funny coincidental—that you finally managed to get ahead on our rent, say you're heading out of town, and the next day, I see you in the news with the Warriors quarterback. And you look as if you're madly in love with him!"

"He's really nice," I offered lamely.

She snorted. "The money, plus the fact that you never mentioned this guy before makes me…suspicious. That this isn't the real thing, you know?"

She was fishing. There was the bait, but I wasn't going to take it. I said nothing. I was too busy counting backward from one hundred so I didn't jump through the phone and throttle her.

"C'mon. You don't have to be shy with your own sister…"

"Do you want something, Lila?" I asked flatly. It wasn't really a question. Of course she wanted something.

"Well, he's a multi-millionaire. And if he's paying you enough to cover our rent, I was hoping there was something extra," she said innocently. "You know—so I don't starve."

"You could always get your own paycheck to ward off starvation," I offered.

"You don't have to be so high and mighty." Whenever I recommended that she work for a living, I was being high and mighty. "It's not as if you have a lot of room to feel superior to me."

I said nothing. Let her starve.

"Are you really going to be mean to me like this?" she asked, her voice a whine. "There's seriously nothing to eat."

"Fine," I mumbled in defeat. I didn't want to keep supporting my sister and her bad habits, but I couldn't say no to her. She always made me feel so guilty. I also didn't want her interfering with my life right now.

"Great." Her tone turned instantly brighter. "Can you do it sooner rather than later, though? Like today?"

I could feel a Lila headache coming on, which was actually worse than the vodka one I'd had yesterday. My sister seemed hell-bent on draining me financially and emotionally. "There's a safe in the kitchen, in the cabinet next to the microwave," I said. "Go get it. I'll give you the combination." There was a muffled pause as I heard her moving through our tiny apartment, locating the safe. I gave her the combination and I heard her sharp intake of breath as she counted the money inside.

"Shit," Lila said. "You've got two thousand dollars in here. You've been hiding this from me?"

"Not hiding," I said. Protecting. I'd put the money in there after Elena gave me the advance, just in case Lila came sniffing around, looking for a handout. "It's an emergency fund. It's all we've got."

Lila snorted, and I could picture her pocketing the bills. "I betcha Chase Layne's got a lot more than this," she said. "But it'll do. For now." She would probably go out and buy weed, then buy herself an expensive new outfit and get her hair and nails done. She was beautiful, but she was vain, and she'd always had a taste for the finer things in life. Champagne taste on a Boone's Farm budget, just like my mother.

"Thanks, Ave. You always come through. See ya around," she said.

"Lila. Wait." I clenched my fist, not wanting to have to ask her for a favor, but not having a choice. "You can't mention this to anyone."