Page 19 of Nefarious
His eyebrows shot up. “It’s a deal.”
Val’s eyes refocused on the article before her. Ten years had elapsed between the New Year’s Eve in question and the night they finally consummated that bet.
She’d never forgotten the morning she technically won that wager with Dane. The first time she lost him.
Finals had rolled around, and Val aced her Programming exam, but Dane still hadn’t gotten laid. In just a couple of weeks, she’d have to fulfill her end of the bargain. His time for finding another willing partner was ticking away, and with the end of finals, the campus emptied. She’d begun to suspect he wasn’t even trying anymore. She’d worked this miracle and had begun to hope he was stalling because he wanted her to be his first.
The holidays on campus were a depressing affair. Most of the students had gone home, so there weren’t many parties. For New Year’s Eve, Dane and Val were planning on a night out clubbing in town. She pictured them together at the stroke of midnight. He’d say to her, “You lost.” But she’d be thinking that she’d really won. And they’d kiss and go back to his room since her roommate had stayed in town as well. She didn’t know what would happen beyond that. They’d never talked about it.
She woke up at ten a.m. on New Year’s Eve, just as her roommate, Kate, came crashing back in after an all-nighter. Kate was laughing when she dropped onto Val’s bed.
Val yawned. “What’s so funny?”
“I did it! I took pity on the poor boy!” Kate was cackling. “It’s done.”
Val sat bolt upright. “You did what?”
“I found Dane last night at a bar, and he was well lit. And hot. Honestly, he’s one of the best-looking guys on campus right now. If you can get him to stop talking about computers for an entire night, he’ll be damn near perfect.”
“What happened, Kate? What did you do?”
“What you’ve been trying to make happen for the past three months.” She grinned, pleased with herself. “I did you a favor and slept with him. You won your bet!”
Val pulled the pillow over her head, pretending to go back to sleep, hiding the tears.
She shook her head at the irony that here they sat years later with the exact reverse wager. But this time, she didn’t intend to lose him.
She started to close the document when it occurred to her to wonder what Noelle had been doing with a nearly five-year-old article about Dane and her. What was she playing at with her passive aggressive email? Noelle was in no position to be angry or jealous about Val’s relationship with Dane. Noelle couldn’t cry foul now since she’d kicked Dane to the curb even before Geraldo made the entire board aware that Val had finally slept with Dane.
Then again, since Val had filled Noelle’s head with Dane's many misdeeds to lead her to his public humiliation, she could understand Noelle’s confusion. Val bit her lip and giggled. That was bad of her, but she found it amusing how willing Noelle had been to believe the worst. If only Geraldo had been as pliable.
A light tap at the door disrupted Val’s concentration. She lifted her head, but her eyes cut over a moment later, glued to the computer screen as long as possible. Selena waited in the threshold, passing her hand over her skirt to straighten out invisible wrinkles. Val nodded, inviting her in.
“Selena?”
“I’m so sorry to bother you, but I find myself in a bit of an ethical dilemma. I hate to tattle, but I’m concerned that I might get into trouble if I don’t speak up now.”
“Oh? What kind of trouble?” Val gestured to a chair across from her desk and leaned forward.
Selena sat and dropped her face into her hands. “I’ve always been taught that I need to follow not just the letter of the law but the spirit as well.”
Val bit the inside of her lip to keep from laughing.
Selena lifted her head, eyes so sincere and guileless. “I wanted to do better than this.”
Val closed her laptop and moved around her desk to a chair beside Selena. She took the girl’s hands in hers. “Could you please just start at the beginning? What kind of trouble could you have gotten into running trade simulations?”
“It’s not the work. It’s personal. I’ve developed a bit of a relationship already with one of the interns.”
“And? That’s not off limits. It certainly can complicate things, but—”
“And after you separated us, he began sending me emails. I asked him not to, you know, because it’s an abuse of company resources. I knew it was wrong.”
“Okay. So then, what’s the problem?”
Selena took a deep breath and looked at her hands. She glanced up at Val then dropped her gaze just as fast. “I—”
Val rolled her eyes.Get to the point, girl. “You what?”
