Mr. Bad Influence

Chapter 18 - Part 2

Nick grinned and handed Kerri her green tea latte as she stepped aside for him to enter. "I ordered room service. I thought you'd prefer your breakfast hot."

She nodded.

Kerri was still in her robe, but her hair was wet and she looked awake.

"Why did you get up so early?"

"My lawyer called, then my mom dropped by."

"Is everything all right?"

"With my mom? I'm not sure. She was so strange, but that wasn't why I called you." She pointed to the couch. She took a seat as well, but she chose the seat on the other end of the couch.

"This feels ominous."

She pressed her palms together and tapped the edge of her index fingers on her lips. "Before I tell you anything, I want you to know that everything I did was my own choice."

He frowned.

"No one forced me to do anything."

"Kerri—"

"I'm getting to it." Kerri took a deep breath and continued. "That night we crashed, you had drugs in your car and your blood test came back positive for cocaine. That would have been your third strike."

He ran his hand through his hair. "You did something, didn't you? I kept wondering why they didn't charge me. I knew they found the drugs, and they took my blood."

She nodded slowly. "The day after the crash, after my parents and Pastor Jay left, Stephanie showed up at my ward. She said she was a DEA agent and told me that they'd found drugs in the car. Since my results came back clean, they believed the drugs were yours."

"They were."

"That was when she reminded me that you already had two DUIs, and this third charge could bring you a lot of trouble."

"Kerri ..."

"Stephanie offered me a deal. She said if I were to help buy drugs for her, your charges would go away."

"Buy drugs for her?"

"I wasn't sure what they wanted it for. They just got me to buy cocaine from high-end dealers, just a few packets each time. I didn't ask why; I just did as I was told. I never used the drugs. I just bought and handed them to Stephanie."

"Just bought and handed them to Stephanie. Do you know how dangerous that could've been?" He hadn't meant to shout, but his words came out that way.

Kerri's eyes widened, and she leaned back from him.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled. I was ..."

"Worried about me," she said and leaned forward. "It wasn't your fault."

"You took the deal to protect me. How is that not my fault?" He stood and walked over to the window. "Pastor Jay was right. I am toxic to you."

"That was three years ago."

"And you're still paying the price now. You need to stop. I don't care if I have to go to jail."

"I do." She took his hand and looked at him. "I know you're probably dealing with a lot of guilt, but as I said, it was my choice. No one forced me. I did it for you because I loved you, and I still do. Now I'm asking you not to bail on us because you're upset or think you've messed up my life. I need you, Nick. Please don't ..." She looked down and swallowed. "Please don't walk out of here thinking you're doing me a favor."

He sighed heavily and pulled her into his arms. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry to be the cause of what you've been going through for the last three years."