The Bet (The Bet 1)

Char swore. “You’re more loyal than my dog, and he’s blind, meaning he depends on me for everything, including when and where to go pee.”

“Your encouragement is astonishing.” Kacey smiled sweetly and followed her shot with a large gulp of water. She needed a clear head if she was to adequately plan how the weekend was going to progress. One thing was for sure. Jake couldn’t touch her — he couldn’t put one of his hands on her. If he did, she wasn’t sure if she would be able to say no.

“…and another thing…”

Oh gosh! Was Char still talking about her damn dog?

“If you let him touch you, or kiss you...” She slammed her fist on the table, her eyes slightly glazed over from the tequila. “If one of his perfectly manicured hands even grazes across your bare flesh, I’ll castrate him.”

Kacey pursed her lips together and nodded. “Thanks, Char. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Me eisher...” Char hiccupped and Kacey motioned for the check. Truly, it’s not every day a friend gets wasted on your behalf. But Kacey knew better too. Char was the truest type of friend. When Kacey cried, Char cried. When Kacey threatened to kill Jake, Char offered to pay for a hit man, and when Kacey finally moved on and only mentioned Jake as the man who shall not be named, Char went ahead and nicknamed him Bastard for her sake.

If anything, Char was just trying to help, though her methods were a little extreme.

Kacey laid out a couple of bills on the check and helped her friend out, all the while wondering how she was going to get through the next week without dying.

Chapter Three

“Are you out of your mind?” Travis yelled. “You blackmailed and then hired Kacey? As in the same Kacey you used to take baths with? That Kacey?”

Jake wasn’t in the mood to defend himself to his brother. Seriously, why was it such a big deal? So what that he’d called in a favor. “Sorry, man, I have a lot of work tonight. Can we do this later?”

Travis was silent for a while, which really wasn’t a good sign. It meant he was thinking, which meant he was probably going to get a headache and then blame Jake for it in the morning. He and Travis hadn’t talked much in the past few years. That is until their grandmother began meddling in their lives this past year. Poor Travis had been left out of it for the most part, but his number was almost up.

Out of the two brothers in the family, Travis had been the protector, the one who always played by the rules. When Jake and Kacey would set off fireworks at 2:00 a.m., Travis was always the one who took the fall. He never liked seeing Jake in trouble, or Kacey.

Which is why, when Jake messed up so horribly in college with his best friend, Travis had sworn he would never forgive him for being such an ass to the one girl who seemed to have it all. Though Jake hadn’t told Travis the real reasons they had a falling out, he assumed his brother probably thought the worst. If Jake hadn’t been so sure of Travis’s feelings towards Kacey, he would have thought his big brother had a bit of a crush on her.

But that was impossible. If anything, Travis tortured Kacey more than Jake did, which was really saying a lot, because he had pulled his fair share of pranks when he was little.

Travis, however, took the cake. A day didn’t go by where he wasn’t pulling Kacey’s hair, throwing rocks, or starting a Girls are Ugly and Stupid Club, and then electing Kacey as its mascot.

The silence on the other end of the phone broke. “I’m just not sure it’s the best idea, man. I mean, this is the girl who saw you naked before you hit puberty. Mom’s gonna know something’s up.”

“No.” Jake cursed and ran his fingers through his hair. “She won’t know because we won’t be the ones to tell her, will we, Travis?”

“You do realize that out of everyone in our family, I’m the worst liar?” Travis asked.

“No, no, you’re not. Kacey is…”

“Oh well, in that case…” Travis cursed on the other line.

“It doesn’t matter. It means too much to Kacey at this point. Plus, do you really want Grandma to die?”

“Um, she’s going to do more than die if she finds out you’re lying. Ten bucks says she has a stroke then pleads with God to let her come back to kill you herself. Trust me, if anyone’s got the in with God, it’s Grandma. Geez, He’d probably help her plan your demise…”

“Are you done? I wasn’t kidding about the work. If we’re supposed to be in Portland by Friday, I have to get all this paperwork cleared.”

Travis sighed on the other end again, probably cursing Jake to Hell for making him swear his loyalty and silence. “Fine, but when this blows up in your face, and it will, I’m feigning ignorance.”

Jake snorted. “Trust me, nobody’s going to believe you were part of such a brilliant plan.”

“Right, well, good luck. You’re going to need it.” The line went dead, leaving Jake alone with his thoughts.

Perhaps it would be best not to tell Kacey that her childhood nemesis would be present at the weekend retreat with his family. After all, if she knew Satan (her words, not his) was to make an appearance, she’d back out in a minute.

The computer hummed from the cluttered desk. He was all alone in his office with a mountain of paperwork. Paperwork he wasn’t very inclined to finish since seeing Kacey that day.