“You’re critiquing my methods. I don’t appreciate it.”
“Criticism is good for the soul. Especially when it’s constructive.”
“You just graduated. I thought I could avoid more talk of grades until Bump is in kindergarten.”
She wrinkled her nose at me, but the knife was returned to the chopping board and she stepped closer.
“You’d really let me give you advice?”
Because I could see she was intrigued, I hid a smile. “It depends.”
“On what?”
“On if I consider it satisfying enough.”
That had her pondering my words. “What if no one annoys me—”
“Speaking of, you only told me that he propositioned you. You didn’t tell me Forrester was trying to blackmail you so that you’d get valedictorian.”
Heat sparked in her eyes. “Iknewyou were messing with Forrester. Stop lying to me, Eoghan. It’s starting to hurt my feelings.”
“My protecting you is hurting your feelings?” I grumbled.
“Yes! I don’t need you to protect my feelings.”
“Just your honor.”
“Exactly.”
“You told me I could deal with him after you graduated.”
“I didn’t mean the second he’d handed me the damn diploma, Eoghan.” Her eyes narrowed. “If that’s how we’re going to play it, then I need to get creative with my phrasing.”
I smirked. “Loopholes are everywhere.”
“Aren’t they?” Inessa hummed. “Okay, so, whatever you did to him you considered satisfying, right?”
“I did. In my shoes, what would you have done?”
She paused, hesitated. “You really want me to answer that?”
“You’re the one who wants creative input on my methods.”
Seriously, everyone was a critic.
She pursed her lips, apparently attempting to judge if I was being serious or not, then she murmured, “I’d have kicked him in the balls then taken a hammer to the windscreen of that Porsche of his.
“He thinks he’s the bee’s knees because he has a fifteen-year-old German model car.” She sniffed. “Prick.”
“That’s it?” I scoffed. “Inessa, are you holding out on me?”
Red blossomed on her cheeks. “No.”
“Now who’s lying?” I retorted, but curiosity had me straightening on the stool. “Tell me what you’d really have done.”
Her nails started tapping against the counter, and as she looked at me, she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth.
That convinced me, more than anything, that she was hiding something from me.