High Bid

By Avery Adams

Patience is a virtue I don't possess and now I may be paying the ultimate price for my impetuosity.

Since I couldn't wait a year until I came into my trust fund, and also neglected to do my due diligence, I borrowed money from someone I shouldn't have—  my old high school nemesis, Tomas Malone— and now it's coming back to bite me on the ass.

I need to come up with a quarter-mil fast— like, yesterday— or I could end up as gator bait. So how do I go about solving this conundrum? Genius that I am, I auction myself to the highest bidder— and end up jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire when Tomas bids on me… and wins. Now I'm in deep doggie doo… or am I?

Still, things are not always what they seem.

This is a friends to enemies to lovers second chance m/m romance with a blend of drama, light angst, and sweet and a bit of heat.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cindy Cowles
• Release date: Apr 25, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201966775

Book preview

cover-image, High Bid

High Bid

Avery Adams

License

Thank you for purchasing this e-book. This work is the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied or distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes.

This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

All characters are adults, 18+ in this story. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to purchase their own copy and discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

*The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction. The publication/use of these trademarks is not associated with or sponsored by the trademark owners. *

Copyright © 2022 C Cowles

All rights reserved.

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High Bid

1

Felix

Let me get this straight. Jay McCulan, my best friend in the entire world, covers his face with both hands and peeks at me through the gaps between his fingers, "Even after knowing that Grady works for Tomas, you still borrowed money from him?"

I duck my head, I didn’t think it was Grady. He said he was Grady’s nicer twin brother, Chester, and he’d cut me a good deal on the downlow as long as I promised not to tell anyone.

"He actually said it like that? He actually said I’m Grady’s nicer twin brother… and you fell for it? Jay drags his fingers through his messy pink and purple mohawk, laughing uproariously. It doesn’t even sound legit, bro. We went to high school with that idiot— when he wasn’t suspended for smoking in the bathroom or beating up other kids because they owed Tomas money, anyway. Did you ever— even once— see a twin brother?"

N-no. I collapse in on myself, feeling like a world-class idiot.

So, what does that tell you?

After thinking about it, I lift my head higher, feeling a little less stupid for about half a second, Actually, I thought of that, too, and I brought it up…

And?

I wince, And he said he was a sickly child, so his parents homeschooled him while Grady attended regular school.

Did he look like he’d been sick as a child?

No, I squeak.

"And you still bought it?"

My whole body droops beneath the heavy weight of shame I’m feeling. Swallowed it whole, hook, line and sinker. In my defense, though, it sounded legit at the time.

"How could that possibly ever sound legit? It sets off every internal red flag I have and I’m just hearing it secondhand through you."

I sigh, grudgingly admitting, I might have been slightly influenced by the gorgeous, fully loaded, black X5 M we were standing in front of at the time.

He groans, shaking his head, "You can’t afford a BMW X5 M, Felix."

My whole body stiffens, buoyed by pride. "I can afford any car I want…"

Really? His bushy brows fly up. How—

I finish my sentence, raising my voice to talk over him, …next year, when I get my trust fund.

He barks out a half-choked laugh, That’s next year and this is now. Those things aren’t cheap by anybody’s standards, and borrowing from Tomas’s group inflates the interest to astronomical levels—

He said that as long as I’m never late it’s interest-free.

Okay, he nods, it sounds great in theory but—

I jump in, And I was going to pay the balance as soon as I got my hands on my trust fund.

"That’s an excellent idea but…" he shrugs, hands in the air, the epitome of cluelessness, "how were you planning to pay your loan in the interim?"

He had to ask, didn’t he? I wince, snagging the bottle of Rémy I stole from my father’s mini bar from its spot on the coffee table. Pouring a shot with shaking hands, I wipe up the spilled droplets with a piece of Kleenex before tossing the top shelf cognac down my dry throat like water. Shivering convulsively, I mutter, My credit card.

"You mean your father’s credit card?"

Ouch! Low blow, bro. No, I mean my credit card. The card is mine. I know I sound defensive, but I can’t help it. It has my name on it and it’s in my wallet.

Yeah, but who pays the bill?

My father, I concede. I may have forgotten that minor detail in my excitement. May have? Ha! It completely slipped my mind in my singleminded lustful pursuit of one of my dream cars… and now I’m paying the price— potentially with my life. Bypassing the glass, I turn up the bottle and chug it.

"Stop that! Jay snatches the bottle from my grasp. That’s an insult to fine cognac everywhere. Why are you trying to get plastered, anyway? Did he discover the charges and cancel your card or something?"

Yeah, I barely breathe the word, praying that if I don’t say it too loud, it won’t be true.

What? His eyes bug out so wide I can see the whites all the way around his eyeballs. He cancelled your credit card? Wow, that’s fucked up. I was just joking. I never dreamed—

I collapse against the pricey leather couch we’re sitting on, fighting tears. "That makes one of us, cuz I wasn’t joking— and that’s not the worst of it. He cut up all my cards— even the ones I got on my own— and told me I’ll have to make do with the allowance I get from my trust fund because he’s disowning and disinheriting me."

He can do that?

What? Disown me?

No, cut up the credit cards you got without his help.

No, but it didn’t stop him, and by the time I get the new ones in my hands, it’ll be too late.

Oh shit. He apparently forgets what he just said about insulting fine cognac because he takes a long pull straight from the bottle. What about the townhouse?

I force a chuckle that doesn’t sound even remotely amused, and half-heartedly tease, Worried you might be homeless?

Don’t be an ass. I’m not thinking about myself. He closes the bottle and puts it down. I have somewhere to go if I ever find myself in need of a bed, and as long as I do, so do you— that’s what friends do— but all your shit’s here, so… he shrugs, there’s that to consider.

Yeah, well… I look around the room, that’s the only upside to the whole mess. The townhome is part of my inheritance so he can’t touch it.

Niiiice.

I grin, Yeah. Gramps didn’t like my father so he made his lawyer the trustee—

He stiffens, Bypassing—

I nod, Yep, bypassing Mom— strictly for the purpose of cutting him out of the equation, of course.

Wow, I bet that went over well. He laughs. Was your mom mad?

Nope, I shake my head. Mom didn’t care. She knew why he did it. But, don’t bet anything important— like your life— cuz you’d lose that bet. My father was pissed off.

He flips me off. Hello? Sarcasm?

I ignore him and continue my explanation, The lawyer manages everything, up to and including paying the taxes and utilities from the funds as they come due. We ain’t gonna be homeless.

So…, he scratches his head, what’s the problem, then? If the trust fund pays the utilities, why can’t you use your allowance to pay the loan payments? Better to be broke than…

Dead?

I didn’t say that. He looks like he swallowed a bug— green and ready to spew.

I laugh, You didn’t have to. It was the pink elephant in the room.

The what?

It’s a metaphor.

I know that! I’m not stupid.

Agreed, he’s not stupid— but he didn’t know that. I try to put him on the spot and take the heat off myself, Then why—

Here’s a question for you, he expeditiously sidesteps my question before I can get it out, "Why are you avoiding my question? He lunges to his feet, startling me and making me jump. Why can’t you use your allowance to pay the loan if it’ll save your life? Hell, why not ask your mom for the money, for that matter— or even the lawyer over your trust fund?"

"That’s actually four questions." I smile innocently and hold up four fingers to demonstrate.

He balls his fist, Felix, I swear to God—

I roll my eyes, Fine. I can’t ask Mom. She’d probably do it but it’d just cause problems between her and Dad and that isn’t fair to her.

Fair enough. The lawyer?

It was written in the will. I can’t touch any of the money other than my allowance until my twenty-fifth birthday.

And your allowance? Why can’t you use that?

Because it’s too late.

What do you mean, it’s too late? He throws his hands up, frustrated.

I meet his eyes. "Exactly what I said. It’s. Too. Late."

He drops back down into the chair behind him, How—

He wants the whole amount.

But why not before it— you know— before it—

Before it became too late? I wait for him to nod, and scrub my face. Because I didn’t know.

He shoots me a blatantly skeptical look, "Bro… how could you not know?"

I shrug, I was using convenience checks so I’d have a paper trail if Ches— er, Grady, tried to cheat me.

Good plan.

I nod, I thought so too but, unbeknownst to me, my father discovered what I was doing. Instead of confronting me like a normal decent human being, he assumed it was drugs and reported the card stolen.

"Yes, because you do so many drugs." He rolls his eyes.