Chapter Eleven: Kissing Her

Jesse's POV:

Waiting outside Tamara's apartment, I felt an unsettling mix of anxiety and desperation. The stakes were higher than ever, and my father’s expectations were like a noose tightening around my neck. I picked up my phone and called her.

“Tamara, it’s Jesse. I’m outside your apartment. Can you please come out?”

After she hung up, I waited anxiously in the car. The cold leather of the steering wheel grounded me as I wrestled with the enormity of what I was about to ask.

When Tamara finally appeared, my heart pounded louder. This wasn’t how I envisioned my life, coercing a student into a charade for the sake of familial duty.

She got into the car, her eyes wide with curiosity and trepidation. “Tamara, I’m sorry, but our deal has to continue,” I said, my voice tinged with urgency and guilt. “I promise I’ll pay you more this time.”

Her disbelief was immediate and palpable. “What do you mean, continue? I thought it was a one-time thing.”

“My dad wants me to go with yo