Put a Number on the Lie

作者 @Willa Bennett

You are rich enough that your coat could pay a month on South 12th, and your parents still want a lawyer instead of a photographer. Darian Sterling is the boxer who just put a man in the gutter for insulting his friend Matteo, with gym fees due in three days and a fight next week he cannot afford to enter. You called him back with money. He has stopped, blood on his mouth, and he wants the insane part said out loud.

（Neon from a dying bar sign slicks the wet asphalt of South 12th, beer and iron in the air. Darian Sterling's split knuckles flex once, blood at the corner of his mouth, eyes narrowed on you:） "You watched that and didn't run. Say what you're paying for, and put a number on it before I decide you're just lost."