The QB's Nerdy Addiction novel · Chapter 11 of 24

Chapter 11: Apron

On Tuesday night Gage stood on my landing with an envelope in his hand.

"No," I said, before he opened his mouth.

"You haven't heard it."

"You're holding a check. I can see it through the paper."

"It's six thousand, eight hundred dollars." He said it fast. "It's your mother's bill."

"How do you know about..."

"I called the billing office. They'll take it directly."

"You called my mother's billing office?"

"Dani gave me the number."

I made a note to kill Dani.

"Gage, I can't."

"You lost the job because of me. I got you into the room with my father. I'm the reason you're here."

"I told the truth in that room. I chose that."

"Then let me fix the part I can."

I stepped out onto the landing and pulled the door shut behind me.

It was cold, and the street light buzzed.

"Sophomore year I dated a pitcher," I said. "I wrote his lab reports for a semester."

Gage went still.

"He told his friends in the dining hall that I was useful."

I hugged my arms.

"He said it where I could hear. Everyone laughed. He wasn't even being cruel. He meant it as a compliment."

"I'm not him."

"I know that. I know it all the way down."

"Then what is it?"

"Everyone who has money thinks it's the same as an apology," I said.

"If you pay my mother's bill, I'll never know what I am to you. I'll just be one more thing you fixed."

He looked at the envelope for a long moment.

Then he put it back in his pocket.

"Okay," he said, and his voice was rough. "Okay. I hear you."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You're right." He kissed my forehead, gently. "I'll find another way to say it."

He went down the stairs.

I stood in the cold, wanting to run after him, and did not.

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