Tainted by A. E. Rought Read Free Book Online Page B

and munches a French fry while surveying my pile of shopping bags. “So, what is the current gift-to-guilt ratio?”
    Bastard.
    “I am not guilty.” Salt escapes the folds of paper when I crush my pretzel wrapper and sling it at the trash can.
    He sighs and shakes his head. “Have you told Emma?”
    “No.”
    Apparently, judging by the look on Jason’s face, keeping it from Em for her comfort is a bad thing. “You need to tell her,” Jason says.
    “You don’t understand.” I’m getting defensive, and there’s a shift to darker and scratchier tones in my voice. “Look. I know I haven’t said much about my past, and I appreciate you not prying–”
    “You’re welcome,” he interjects.
    “As I was saying, there’s a reason I haven’t told Em. My father was into some questionable stuff at the lab. Hailey works there. She hid the information. Now she’s trying to blackmail me with it.”
    There. Enough said without telling him everything.
    “And Hailey is your ex?”
    My expression says it all.
    “Not good, man. I still say you need to tell Emma.” He stands and boots his chair in with a foot. “That girl is head over heels for you. She’s also not stupid. No girl is. Eventually they find out everything you’re hiding.”
    Hailey is the last skeleton I want Em finding in my closet. My ex-girlfriend will ruin Emma just because she can, just because she stands between Hailey and what she wants.
    Since I’m baring my soul… I put my phone on the table in front of me, and open the text folder. My ex-girlfriend’s thread is the only one indicating a new message, and a photo attachment. Oh God. Lifting a glance to Jason, I hold my breath and click on the thread. Almost immediately, a picture of me and Hailey – less-than-fully-clothed – from last year looks up at me. One arch of Jason’s eyebrows asks permission to see it, and I nod and show the phone to him.
    He exhales a little huff of breath, his head tips slightly as he looks from the picture to me, and then back again.
    “Yeah,” he says, “I can see where that could be trouble.”
    I stand, and gather my bags. “Still think I should tell Em?”
    “Soon,” Jason stresses. He looks one more time, then shakes his head. “Before Em sees something like that,” he adds on his way out of the food court.
    “Yeah.”
    Wind whips past the opening doors, sucking a sheet of packing paper out of one of my bags. It whisks over the filthy packed snow of the parking lot, falling to its death beneath the tires of an oncoming car.
    I know exactly how it feels.
    The world is black and white and blowing snow as I drive away from Jason and the Ford Bronco’s death rattling engine.
    My phone vibrates, alerting me to another text message.
    Not Hailey again. When will she get the clue? I free the phone from my pocket, and breathe a sigh of relief.
    Emma Gentry , the display screen reads.
    Didn’t want you going to bed tonight without a goodnight kiss :-*
    So different from what Hailey might’ve said.
    The protective side of me hates to admit Jason’s right. Instinct says to keep the two girls as far apart as possible, but Emma needs to know about my ex-girlfriend before Hailey makes the introduction herself.
    Ignoring Hailey hasn’t worked. Being nice didn’t work, either, despite my Gran’s insistence it would. There has to be something Hailey wants more than me… God knows there’s nothing I want more than Emma. That will never change. And I don’t think Hailey will either. The only person who might have had any power over her is dead. But my father left someone in charge in his absence. Maybe Paul has an idea.
    I quick text Em back.
    :-* Sleep well. Talk to you soon!!
    With a sense of direction, finally, I steer the Acura through a gas station and stop at the curb. Before driving to Ascension Labs, I send Emma one more message;
    Truth is, nothing makes me happier than you.

CHAPTER SIX
    “You know…” The intercom by Ascension Lab’s main door