Chapter 5

That afternoon Sam went to the Nasty Burger, as agreed, and found Dash already seated in a small booth fit for two people. She slid in the opposite side and made sure to let him know she still wasn't thrilled about this meeting, let alone the reason behind it. Her immediate death gaze had no effect and his cocky smile told her he thought it was comical. She sighed and looked down at a menu.

"Order whatever you want. My treat," he said as he threw one arm over the top of the booth.

She rolled her eyes. "Such a gentleman." Then she frowned. "This isn't a date. I don't like being indebted."

"Just because I'm paying doesn't mean you owe me anything," he replied. "I'm trying to be polite here, at least humor me."

"Didn't I already humor you? Or does that not count because I only agreed to this stupid thing so you would lay off my only two friends."

"Yeah, I was pretty rough on Fenton. Foley, too," Dash said. "Listen, Sam, I'm not a monster. I only pounded them a little harder than normal to get your attention. I plan to keep my end of the deal. Fenton wins too, you know. He gets to do whatever he wants to the person he hates most."

"Yeah," she scoffed. "Meanwhile I take the punishment later, right?"

For a moment he looked confused. "What punishment? I never get physical with girls. Every time you did something I hate I took it out on Fenton. You'd basically be doing the same thing for him, just, without the pain and…you know, everything that comes with it. Not to mention you can call this off any time you want. Even now."

"But if I do, Danny goes back to being your preferred punching bag." She sat back and crossed her arms. "And then Tucker becomes your second favorite."

He chuckled. "That was the whole point of the deal."

"Why do you even want me? Why not Star? Why not chase Paulina again and try to win her back? If she sees you with me your reputation goes down the drain."

"I have my reasons, and we won't be seen with each other. Of course, if you do anything to ruin me, Fenton and Foley will pay your price."

"Which means I'm stuck making sure I don't ruin you."

"Hey, if I do something stupid myself then that's on me. If you or your buddies do something, it's on them."

"So much for not being a monster then."

He took a deep breath. "I know monsters, and I know how not to be one. Think of this as more of an insurance policy. Like you said, me being seen with you will ruin my reputation and I've spent my entire high school career building it. Of course I want to protect it."

"Then why risk that with me?"

"Again, I have my reasons." He took his arm from the booth and used it to lean forward onto the table. "Look, you should appreciate this a little more than you do. Think about it. You get to save your friends from my fists. Name one other nerd in the entire school who has that going for them."

"What do you plan to do with me? We both know Danny won't stop getting back at you anytime soon. We both know you've made it way worse when you started hitting a little harder. What kind of insurance policy do I get?"

"If you're asking what you personally are getting out of all this, I'd say I'm a package in and of myself," he answered as he smiled arrogantly.

"And I'd say otherwise." She picked up the menu and browsed it. "I'm getting a guarantee for my friends, not myself. That about right?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much, but I'll also stop what I'm doing if you say to."

"Except Danny and Tucker take the heat."

"No, I mean in the moment. Sure, you can call the whole thing off, but when you do—if you do—that guarantee you were just talking about expires. But if I'm doing something and you say no, I'll stop and no harm comes to your geek friends."

"And if I choose to say no every time?"

"Well that kind of defeats the purpose and at that point you're just telling me you're done with the deal."

Dumb as it sounded, she was sort of hoping that was her loophole. Ultimately saying no once or twice wouldn't faze him, but to continue saying no only meant Danny and Tucker went back to what they were going through now, and the only reason she was here with Dash right now was to work out a deal that would guarantee their safety.

"So when I say no, what happens to the boys?" she asked.

"Well, that depends on how often you say it. If it's a lot, you're not really holding up your end of the deal so…"

Of course.

"Who gets to decide where the line is drawn?"

"Hm?"

"I mean at what point do you consider yourself to be going too far with something?"

"I'm thinking like kisses, maybe light touching or something, not BDSM or some kind of dominating porno reenactment, if that's what you're worried about."

"Touching where?" Although his answer did alleviate some of those concerns—the visions of all the disgusting and painful sexual torture she could be put through. This was Dash, after all, and he was definitely the type to dominate in a relationship, and even with Paulina he wasn't afraid to be an alpha male. He was right in that he—to her knowledge—had never hit a girl before though.

"I dunno, face, shoulder? Back? Maybe thigh?"

She still doubted Dash of all people would be that chaste with her. On the other hand, he wasn't very interested in her romantically.

"And this will be enough for you? Nothing more that I should know about before I agree to any of this?"

Dash tapped his chin for a moment before shaking his head. "Don't think so."

He held out his hand and she hesitated to shake it.

"Just don't forget why I'm doing this in the first place. You don't mean anything to me and this is only until you get back together with Paulina. I'm just her temporary replacement. Got it?"

"Of course. Any other conditions you'd like to work out?"

"Just one," she said. "Danny and Tucker cannot know about this. Ever. I have a reputation of my own, I'll keep this a secret from your group and you'll do your absolute best to keep this a secret from mine."

"Sounds fair. Anything else?"

She wanted to find some loophole Dash wouldn't see, but, at the moment at least, everything seemed airtight. Perhaps she was overlooking something and would find it later. But for now…

She reached out and shook his hand.

"No," she answered. "Nothing else."

"Then it's a deal."

A/N

Short but sweet. And, honestly, I wasn't sure what else to add to this chapter without a big ole time skip. Almost done with the next one! Truth be told I thought I updated this already, but then this chapter was laying around, already written, and I realized I did NOT update it and yeah, apparently the next chapter has already been mostly written as well. So I'll try to finish that up when I can.