When Perfect Meets Crazy

31 - Absolutely ridiculous vs unbelievably brilliant?

"Came from where?" I inquired.

"I lied before."

My eyes narrowed, fingers stilling in the act of wiping his split brow. My body tensed.

"What did you lie about?" My voice could've easily cut glass.

He flinched.

I was ready to feed him to the wolves if need be.

He drew in a deep breath, mentally readying himself for the confession. All around it was a smart move seeing as I more than prepared to orchestrate his demise.

"I lied about school. I'm not in high school. I'm in my first year at Yale. I didn't lie about Yale." He pinned on the last part as though that could somehow excuse the lie he did tell.

I bared my teeth in a predatory snarl even though, luckily, what he lied about was something I had already figured out a long time ago. It wasn't particularly betrayal worthy but a big part of me was already prepped for some big secret/betrayal so even though I knew already deduced the revelation a long time ago, I couldn't keep myself from reacting in an unsavory manner.

From the beginning, it had been obvious he wasn't in high school because no high school would just sign off on a senior taking time off from school or not attending classes. High schools weren't liberal that way, unlike colleges.

"Never again," I commanded in a tone as cold as ice, "lie to me."

"Okay," he agreed, relief spreading across his features.

"Go on."

"So I took the semester off and came down here. One time, I went to watch a match and I ran into Agent Townsend."

I arched a brow, wordlessly asking who Agent Townsend was.

"He was one of the guys who worked on my dad's case. I almost blew his cover." He smiled inwardly. "Anyway, there was a lot of back and forth until eventually, it was decided that the best way was for me to sign on as a contender with him as my manager and help him work the case from the inside. In return, my dad gets fined heavily if he is involved as opposed to jail time."

I nodded.

I could pretty much piece that rest of the story together on my own. The partner he worked with was clearly this 'Agent Townsend'. The reason he was following me around was to make sure I didn't blow their cover.

"That's a sweet deal," I said offhandedly, as though he didn't just confess to being an undercover agent. "I had you pegged for one who would bargain for more jail time though."

"He still my father," was his explanation.

I understood him completely. After all, mine too was more sinner than saint but I help keep his secret regardless, even from my mom.

"Fair enough." I nodded. "It's your call."

Tilting his head back for a easier access, I turned my attention to cleaning up the bruised eye.

I soon found out that the position left him with only one place to look; me.

After the heavy personal back story, his gaze on me like that was most uncomfortable so I did the only thing I could.

I placed my hand over the right eye, pretending it was more convenient for me to tilt his head that way. It wasn't but it got his intent gaze off me as he was forced to close the eye.

"Okay." I released a sigh of relief as finished with his brow, letting his head fall to its normal level. "I get the gist but you need to fill in a few blanks."