The Bet He Lost

Lincoln was searching for me like a madman, asking everyone about me, but I was already at the school farthest away from him. I had blocked and deleted everything connected to him.

I didn't leave a single trace. He probably couldn't figure out why the girl who'd given in to him every night, who never once told him no, had suddenly vanished.

But that night, I'd heard him brag to his friends with my own ears: "Three days, and I got her. You all lose." He thought I was the prey he'd won in that bet.

What he didn't know was that from the very beginning, I'd just been going along with it, enjoying his face and his body.

Chapter 1 Nineteenyearold guys all seem to have endless energy. Lincoln, a pampered, fussy, hardtoplease heir whose family had been rich for three generations, was no exception.

It was the seventh day since we'd graduated and left school. It was also the third day since he'd told me he liked me. So we were still more or less strangers to each other.

After the first time ended in a hurry, he rallied fast. The second time, he was a lot more sure of himself. To him, my body was like a new, fascinating toy.

He couldn't keep his hands off it, exploring it feverishly, losing himself in it. The stubble he'd shaved clean off his jaw had grown back at some point.

When he pinned me down to kiss me, it scraped my chest until it itched and stung. I couldn't help it. I bit him. That only seemed to excite him more.

When it was over, he still wouldn't let go of me.

He looked sated, but not quite satisfied. "Macy." He kissed my soft earlobe, then slowly worked his way down. "Go take a shower, and then one more time?" Then his voice suddenly softened a little. "But it's your first time.

Can you handle it?" I bit my slightly swollen lip. Under his gaze, I shyly closed my eyes. But I still nodded like a good girl. Lincoln carried me to the bathroom.

An hour later, I stared blankly up at the ceiling, my eyes barely able to focus. Who would have guessed it? Lincoln had been the aloof heartthrob of our school.

His family's elders turned up in the financial news all the time. And now he had an ordinary girl from the bottom rung pinned beneath him, kissing every inch of her body.

When the sky outside the window was about to lighten, Lincoln finally stopped.

He lay heavily on top of me, his face buried in the side of my neck. "Macy, did you like it?" "If you did, why don't you come over every day?" I was too exhausted to open my eyes, and I made a drowsy sound of agreement.

Lincoln's phone seemed to be ringing. Suddenly the weight lifted off me. He'd gotten out of bed, picked up his phone, and answered it. He must have seen how deeply I was sleeping.

Lincoln was tired too. So he didn't leave the room. He just sprawled on the couch beside the bed and took the call.

When the call connected, the other end was a noisy mess. "What's all the racket?" Lincoln's voice was a little hoarse, but thick with a satisfaction he couldn't hide.

Someone on the other end immediately hooted, "Wait… did you just finish?" "Mm." Lincoln answered lazily.

But the smugness in his voice came through anyway. "Three days, and I got her. You all lose." "Did you pop her cherry?" "No shit." "Holy shit, you beast.

She looked like such a good girl." "So what? Look who we're talking about. When our Linc makes a move, is there a woman he can't get?" Chapter 2 "I don't buy it.

Macy's pretty innocent.

Last time I talked to her, she blushed." "Exams are barely over and you've already gotten laid and bagged her?" "Believe it or don't." "Not unless you send a bed pic.

Oh, right, that's what we agreed on when we made the bet.

You only really win if there's a bed pic." Lincoln agreed without hesitation. "Hang on." As he said it, he got up and walked over to the bed with his phone.

I was lying on my side, curled into a small ball the way I always did. My hair, which only came to my shoulders, was a spill of black, dark as a crow's wing.

It was damp with sweat, stuck to my thin, pointed face. I'd cried twice in the middle of it. My lashes were still wet. Long and thick.

They cast wide shadows across a face like white porcelain. My lips were a soft pink, but I'd bitten through the skin, and one spot had swollen.

I was sleeping deeply, breathing long and slow. Every so often, though, a hurt little sob still slipped out.

Lincoln's hand, about to pull back the covers, stopped on some impulse he couldn't explain.

Then I felt him pull the covers up higher, tucking them snugly over my neck so only my face showed. Only then did he take a picture of my sleeping face.

Soon his phone rang again. "Weak, Linc. Why didn't you shoot a little lower?" "Get lost." Lincoln's voice was a little cold.

And a little impatient. "Whatever else she is, she's my girlfriend right now.

So you guys watch yourselves." "Got it, got it, got it." "But Linc, how long are you planning to date Macy?" "How long could it be?

A week at the shortest, until I leave for New York at the latest." "Right, you're going back to New York." "But what if she latches onto you and follows you to New York?" Lincoln laughed. "New York's huge.

Trying to find somebody there is like looking for a needle in a haystack." "True.

With Macy's brokeass background, you two would never cross paths anyway." Actually, he wasn't wrong at all. My mom had done two years for accidentally hurting someone.

Now she pushed a breakfast cart around, selling breakfast. My dad died a long time ago.

Every school break, I had to stay at the stall, helping my mom roll burritos, make coffee, and take the money. The greasy smell of the burrito stand often clung to me.

No matter how much I showered, I never seemed to get rid of it completely.

When Lincoln first started coming around, he'd asked, "What's that smell in your hair?" "Probably from helping my mom sell burritos," I answered honestly.

Then I added carefully, "Maybe don't stand so close?

It'd be bad if it got on you." "What's the big deal?" Lincoln smiled, like he didn't care in the slightest. "Your mom's probably a really good cook. Bring me one tomorrow?

I don't eat for free. I'll pay you." He took out a hundreddollar bill and pushed it at me, not taking no for an answer. I didn't want to take it, but I couldn't win against him.

The next day I brought ten burritos. Lincoln's was the most loaded kind, the biggest one, with the most meat. The rest went to his friends. But those guys wouldn't touch them.

Only Lincoln ate his. But he frowned as he took that first bite. After I went into the classroom, he threw the rest of it, more than half, in the trash.

After that, he never asked for a burrito again. Instead, he gave me some really expensive body wash and shampoo. I didn't even recognize the brand.

I looked it up secretly, and the price was shocking. Before I came to see him tonight, I'd showered with what he gave me. I smelled good, without a trace of that weird smell.

When Lincoln held me, he was very pleased. Chapter 3 Not even a hint of a frown anymore. I woke up to Lincoln kissing me.

The moment I opened my eyes, he flipped me over. "Macy." He leaned down, his firm, burning chest pressed flush against my slender back.

Lincoln kissed my ear, his breathing growing heavier. "Don't go home today, okay?" I bit my lip. Embarrassing sounds slipped out between my teeth. "I can't.

I have to help my mom with the stall…" "You're my girlfriend. I hate seeing you work so hard.

Besides, this is just pocket money for you." Lincoln's movements got rougher and rougher. But his voice got softer and softer as he coaxed me. "From now on, I'll give you money.

Lots and lots of money. Give me all your breaks, okay?" I shook my head, refusing. And pushed hard at Lincoln on purpose.

Tears welled in my reddened eyes. "I really do like you, Lincoln. I don't want your money." The moment the last word was out, my tears fell right on cue.

The way Lincoln looked at me then, it seemed like it really did hurt him a little to see me like that. But I knew.

When a man's in bed with you, he'd tear his heart out and hand it to you if he could. Especially since it was my first time.

Especially since he was only doing this for a bet, and already felt guilty to begin with. "I know you're not that kind of girl.

If you were, you wouldn't have turned down all those guys who went after you before.

And when they gave you expensive gifts, you wouldn't have sent every one of them back." I lowered my lashes and cried without a sound. Lincoln was not a patient person.

But he still made himself be patient, pulling me into his arms to coax me. "Okay, okay, don't cry." "I'm giving you money because I care about my girlfriend. That's all it means.

I'm doing it because I want to." "Be good, baby." I didn't say anything.

I just lifted my arms and wrapped them softly around his waist. "Lincoln, I'm doing this because I want to, too…" That day, after I got home, Lincoln wired me fifty thousand dollars.

The memo said: [Voluntary gift] I lay on the creaky metalframe bed at home and counted those zeros over and over, again and again.

No one in my family had ever seen that much money. But it was still nowhere near enough. The person my mom had hurt back then was still lying paralyzed at home.

Every month, right on schedule, his family showed up at our door demanding what the court had awarded them: medical bills and damages. It was like a bottomless pit.

But now, I seemed to see a little hope. I told myself I'd be even betterbehaved from now on. That way, Lincoln would stay with me a little longer.

Not only could I enjoy him, I could get more money too. Then I'd go to the school I wanted. Pay off the debt, and take my mom away for good.

Because we'd already graduated and it was break, no one in our old circle of classmates knew Lincoln and I were together.

And by tacit agreement, I never went near him in front of other people. But wherever he showed up, girls always gathered to watch. But I would sensibly keep my distance.

Sometimes, when he came back to the school to play basketball, the girls screamed themselves hoarse, fighting to bring him water and towels.

But to avoid suspicion, I didn't look at him even once. As I was leaving, Lincoln suddenly walked right past me. "Macy, those girls are about to eat your man alive.

You're not jealous?" He looked down at me from his full height. Arrogant, haughty, a cold smile on his thin lips.

I gripped the edge of my sleeve and shook my head meekly. "Lincoln, you're goodlooking, and your family's welloff. It's normal for them to like you. I'm not jealous.

As long as I get to be with you, that's enough." Chapter 4 I was being so good, but Lincoln didn't seem happy at all. There wasn't even a trace of a smile left on his face.

He didn't so much as look at me. He just turned and stalked off. I panicked a little, but luckily, Lincoln still asked to see me that night.

Only, that night, he seemed really angry. By the end, I felt like my bones were coming apart. All I could do was beg him through sobs.

But his face was cold. "Macy, remember your place." After that day, I was even more careful to keep to my place. I never called or messaged him first, either.

I knew his circle of friends looked down on me. Except when he wanted something, he didn't want to see me, or to be seen with me.

So whenever there was a gettogether, I used helping my mom with the stall as an excuse to get out of it.

Out in public, he never looked at me properly, and sometimes he even flirted with other girls. But in the apartment where he lived alone, he would kiss me from head to toe.

I had to admit, Lincoln's skills kept getting better.

And for me, the crushing pressure of the debt, and of waiting to hear back on financial aid, would always vanish in those moments of abandon.

Little by little, I seemed to get even more hooked than Lincoln. Lincoln was obsessed with me too. I thought our relationship would last at least until we actually left for college.

But at the onemonth mark, Lincoln suddenly broke up with me. Before I could even reply, he blocked me. When I saw that Instagram message, my mind went blank for a second