Page 110 of Under the Influence

"No hello?" she sighs. "Just jump straight to business?"

I roll my eyes, "Cut the shit, what's going on?"

"Nothing," she quips. "Did you listen to the file I sent you?"

"Stop deflecting."

"I'm not. Everything is fine."

"So a week ago, you were head over heels for pretty boy, and now you're over him? You are many things, Lainey, but you are a shit liar."

She lets out a breathy groan, one I've heard a million times, and I can practically picture her face.

"So now we're keeping things from each other?" I add.

She's silent. I can't stop my voice from becoming threatening, "Okay. Good to know we aren't telling each other things anymore. If you don't trust⁠—"

"Mad, stop. I trust you. You know I trust you. Why can't you trust that I'm okay when I say that I am?"

"Because I had a chat with Nash after baseball. Whatever he's said or done, it won't happen again."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing permanent," I smirk.

"Just leave it alone," she begs. "Please."

"I will find out what you're keeping from me."

Lainey sighs, "Trust me when I say that I'm doing what I need to do to protect Drayton. The best thing for him is to be far away from me."

"Just tell me, Lainey. Maybe I can help."

"No, Mad. It would kill Drayton if this got out, and I can't risk it."

I let my mind wander. What could Nash possibly know that would cause Lainey to be so worried? Better yet, if Nash has information that would destroy Drayton's reputation, why hasn't he used it yet?

I mean, that is his ultimate goal, right?

Instead, he’s using it to keep Lainey away from him. To make him suffer slowly? Sounds a little extreme for a petty fight over something Drayton has no control over. It's not like he forced Nash's mom to cheat and placed his mom right in Nathan Langdon's sights. In fact, it was probably the opposite.

I bet he hated it at first. I mean, it wasn't that long ago that his dad passed away, and that had to be hard to watch his mom move on.

"You there?" she asks, pulling me from my thoughts.

"I'm here."

"Did you listen to the file or not?" she snaps, and I decide to stop pushing her and find out on my own.

"Yes."

"Did you like it?"

"You know that I did."

"Okay, but did you love it?"

I smile, "I love it."