A Way to Get By by T. Torrest

anything to do with helping you?”
       A sly grin preempted his arrogant reply. “Because it would help her, too, and you’re a sucker for her happiness. Plus, I can make it worth your while.”
       The last time this guy tried to “make it worth my while,” he was offering me fifty grand to cancel the wedding. I punched his lights out, ripped up his check, and threatened to cram it down his throat. Bren and I were married a month later.
       I was about ready to tell him he could shove this meeting right alongside that rejected check when he asked, “Did she ever talk about me?”
       I guessed it wasn’t enough for Brummel to assume she thought about him from time to time. He was trying to make sure I knew she did. I wanted to smash his face in all over again, but instead, I decided to be honest. “Yeah. Your name came up sometimes.”
       “We’ve always had a really intense… connection . Looks like not even you could break it.”
       The smug smile on his smarmy face almost had me launching off the chair. But I wouldn’t be doing myself any favors by beating the snot out of him. Not just yet, anyway.
       “Why don’t we just get down to business, Brummel.”
       Beau gave an impressed nod of his head as he straightened behind his desk. “Interesting choice of words. You were always smart, Edwards. I’m counting on you to be smart now.” He opened a side drawer and the scent of lavender-tinged cedar wafted in the air between us as he pulled out a leather-bound checkbook. “Here’s the deal: I’m going to cover the filing fees to the court. That’s my gift to Brenda—and myself, if I’m going to be honest.”
       “Honest? Why start now?”
       There was nothing honest about this guy. He was always taking the shortcuts. When we were back in school, I helped him cheat on his mid-term exams, a move that ultimately got him accepted to Princeton. He wasn’t such a monumental jerk back then so we were essentially kind of friendly, but not close enough for me to put my ass on the line just to help him out.
       He’d originally come to me to tutor him. I was flattered by that. Most people had no idea that I was actually really smart. Brummel not only noticed, but offered to toss me a couple bucks for my services. Believe it or not, the money wasn’t my biggest motivating factor; it was how desperate the guy looked when he’d asked. Plus, he’d just gotten dumped. By Brenda. To go out with me.
       Maybe he was only using the tutoring thing as an excuse to size me up because he spent more time poking his nose into my relationship with Bren than he ever spent studying. However, once Exam Day approached, he genuinely panicked. That’s when he hashed his plan for me to simply help him cheat.
       To this day, I still don’t know why I went along with it. I think I was just trying to get rid of him. Hell, if he got into Princeton, he’d be moving away, right? He couldn’t keep hanging around Bren and me, circling like a buzzard, waiting for our relationship to die. If it would get him out of our lives, why not toss the poor bastard a bone? The fifty bucks he tossed me was simply a bonus.
       It wasn’t until I was older and wiser that I realized how much more my help had been worth to him. He would’ve probably landed on his feet regardless—given his daddy’s money—but my assistance ensured a quicker ride. We both knew it.
       He ignored my jab for the time being and continued. “As a way to show your appreciation , I’m going to ask you to stay out of my way while I pursue her. As a way to show mine, I’m willing to throw in a little extra to ensure that you do just that. Would you like to haggle over price or shall we do this in a civilized manner?”
       Civilized? The guy just said flat-out that he was planning to “pursue” my wife. Despite our current marital status, that took a lot of nerve. This guy was just about on my last one.
       I had to unclench