Jared bolted out of the shack, completely forgetting that he was stark naked.
"Sam!"
"Sam!"
"Listen to me, let me explain!"
He yelled into the morning air, desperate to stop her from leaving.
By the time he stumbled out the front door, Sam had already mounted her bicycle. She was pedaling hard up the coastal slope, heading away from their isolated stretch of beach.
Jared prepared to sprint after her, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone walking across the nearby bridge.
Realizing he was completely exposed, instinct took over, and he ducked back inside the house.
He waited ten agonizing seconds before poking his head out again.
By then, Sam had crested the hill and disappeared from sight.
Jared opened his mouth to shout again, but the words died in his throat. In a fit of impotent rage, he slammed his fist into the wooden siding of the house.
Inside the bedroom, Amanda heard the loud thump.
She curled her lip in disgust, but kept her eyes closed, feigning sleep.
Last night, after picking up that handsome Asian tourist at the club, they had returned to his hotel for a very thorough "negotiation." During their post-coital chat, they struck a deal.
The guy had his eyes on Jared's girlfriend, Sam. He was willing to pay Amanda $100,000 just to seduce Jared and get caught.
Initially, Amanda had thought Jared was decent-looking—rugged and athletic. She figured she might as well enjoy the process.
But after sleeping with the Asian guy—who possessed the stamina and strength of a machine—her encounter with Jared felt like a joke.
"What a letdown," she thought to herself. "He looks built, but he didn't even last half an hour. I don't know what a girl like Sam ever saw in him."
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of heavy, rapid footsteps approaching the bed.
Suddenly, a pair of large hands grabbed her bare arms, hauling her upright.
"Wake up! Wake the hell up!"
Amanda gasped, her eyes snapping open. She found herself staring into Jared's bloodshot, furious eyes.
Internally, her contempt for him deepened.
"Couldn't catch Sam, so you're going to take it out on me?"
While she sneered at him mentally, she was genuinely cautious. He was a rough, unpredictable guy, and she didn't want him getting violent.
Drawing on years of experience faking her way out of messy mornings in New York, Amanda's survival instincts kicked in.
She squeezed her eyes shut and grimaced in pain.
"Ow! Stop, you're hurting me!" she whined, reaching up with one hand to grab her head.
"Ugh... what did you guys give me to drink? My head is spinning..."
She hunched over, gagging dramatically as if she were about to throw up.
Seeing her state, Jared's blazing anger fizzled out slightly.
He remembered how aggressive Amanda had been last night, but he also had to admit the truth: he was the one who had failed to resist. He had chosen to carry her into the bedroom.
Realizing he couldn't push all the blame onto her, his grip loosened.
Sensing his hesitation, Amanda immediately dialed up her performance.
She blinked around the room in exaggerated confusion.
"Huh? Jared? What are you doing here?"
She rubbed her temples. "Where... where am I?"
She played the role of a blackout drunk perfectly, acting as if her memory had been entirely wiped.
Jared fell for it completely. Seeing her genuine-looking confusion, his anger gave way to a grudging resignation.
"You're at my place..."
He frowned. "Amanda, how did you even know where I live?"
Bryce knew where he lived, but Amanda certainly didn't. When Bryce arrived from the US playing the part of a rich lawyer, Jared's pride had prevented him from inviting them over to his rundown shack. He had always gone to Bryce's luxury villa instead.
It was a valid question: how did a drunk Amanda find her way here?
"Water," Amanda rasped. "Please, I need water."
She gagged again. Jared quickly let go of her and hurried to the kitchen to fetch a glass.
Gulp, gulp.
She downed it eagerly—she really was thirsty.
Wiping her mouth, she looked at him with innocent, confused eyes. "I don't remember much. I was dancing at the club... someone kept buying me shots, and then everything went blank."
She rubbed her forehead. "I vaguely remember someone asking me where I lived. I thought it was you or Bryce, so I just said your name and told them to take me to you."
Jared's eyes widened in sudden realization.
He wasn't a virgin. When Amanda threw herself at him last night, he had noticed certain... signs that someone else might have been there first.
Now, her story confirmed his suspicions.
But instead of blaming her, his anger redirected entirely.
"It must have been one of those creeps who's always harassing Sam!" he snarled, pacing the room. "Bastards! If I find out who it was, I'll kill them!"
"They brought you here to set me up! If they hadn't dumped you at my door, none of this would have happened, and Sam wouldn't have walked out!"
Jared knew Sam too well. They had grown up together. He knew she wouldn't come back from this.
Watching him construct his own conspiracy theory, Amanda laughed inwardly.
But she kept her face perfectly panicked.
She looked down, let out a piercing shriek, and yanked the bedsheets up to her chin.
"Oh my god... what... what happened?" she stammered, staring at him with wide, horrified eyes. "Jared... did we...?"
Jared, who had been busy stressing over how to win Sam back, froze.
Looking at the naked woman clutching the sheets, guilt washed over him. He had definitely taken advantage of his best friend's girlfriend.
"Look, Amanda, I..." he stammered, unable to meet her gaze, his bravado entirely gone.
Amanda watched him squirm, reveling in his stupidity.
Not only had she easily secured her $100,000 payout from Hunter, but looking at the broken, desperate Jared gave her a new, highly lucrative idea.
Two days ago, while diving, they had stumbled upon a sunken cargo plane.
Jared had pulled a brick of cocaine from the wreckage. According to him, the plane was packed with the stuff.
As a New York club regular, Amanda had never dealt pure cartel weight, but she knew the street value of narcotics. She knew exactly how profitable a haul like that would be.
At the time, Sam had thrown a fit. She had practically forced Jared to slice the brick open and dump the powder into the ocean.
But now? Sam was gone.
And Amanda knew that the handsome Asian guy who hired her would make sure Sam never came back.
Without Sam acting as his moral compass, Jared had no reason to hold back.
If she could convince him to dive back down, pull up the rest of the cocaine, and help her sell it, she wouldn't just be $100,000 richer. She could be a multi-millionaire. She would never need to rely on men like Bryce again.
As she looked at Jared, the calculating glint in her eyes burned hotter.
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