Read Online The Handoff (Big Play #3) by Jordan Ford - Free Book Online

of the publicity. Getting it on with my luscious stepsister makes me a king…and you a slut.” He whispers the last word, sounding like a viper. “Imagine what Mack will think when I show him. Man, I can picture the look on his face right now. Can you see it?” His lips curl with a gleeful smile.
    I want to slap him, punch him in the groin until he’s crumpled on the floor, but I can’t. Because he’s right. Exposing those photos will finish me. I’m already classed as the drunken wild child with the loud mouth; I can’t handle more. And Mack… He’ll never look at me the same. He’ll be so incredibly disgusted.
    I pull in a shuddering breath. “You wouldn’t be stupid enough to show him. He’ll beat the living shit out of you.”
    “He can try, but when he fails at that, the truth will still remain. His precious sister played Tongue Twister with his greatest enemy. And I know you, Layla. You’re not willing to risk destroying your relationship with your adored brother. You need his approval, because you’re pathetic, and without him, you’ve really got no one left who actually cares about you.”
    My chest deflates as his words hack my insides to shreds. “What do you want?”
    “I’m still deciding, but I thought you should know that I have these photos and I will be using them to my advantage.” He pushes off the wall and starts collecting them up, glancing over his shoulder with a friendly smile. “So, as long as you do everything I say, these won’t surface.”
    “I hate you.”
    He stops and faces me with an admonishing kind of look. “That’s not the best start. I think, actually, Layla, it’s in your best interest to treat me nice. At this stage, you and I are the only people who know about these.”
    “What about the party paparazzo?”
    “They’ve been paid off. You don’t need to worry about that.” He winks then wiggles his eyebrows at me. Spinning on his heel, he wags his finger in the air like he’s the professor and I’m sitting in on one of his lectures. “So, I’ve had a few ideas already.”
    “Screw you, I’m not doing this. You can’t blackmail me.”
    He turns back, mocking surprise. “Oh, but see, I can.” He pulls out his phone and starts tapping the screen. “With just a few little taps, your shame’s going to be flooding the world of social media. And we all know how vast and wide that world can be. Heck, it can probably reach all the way to New Zealand.”
    My lips start to tremble as he pulls up an image on his screen…and I do the only thing I can think of. Snatching the phone from his grasp, I spin on my heel and bolt for the front door.
    “Layla!” he yells. “Bring that back!”
    My shoes smack onto the marble entryway. Racing for the door, I yank it open and bolt into the afternoon sun. I can sense Derek behind me. He’ll chase me down and rip the phone from my hands, and then end me by posting the images all over the Internet. I can’t let that happen.
    Shoving the phone into my bag, I pump my arms and will my body to move a little faster.
    “Layla!” Derek hollers down the road. I don’t look back, instead taking a sharp right and cutting into our neighbor’s yard. Running down the edge of their lawn, I shoulder open the gate and sprint into their backyard. I have no idea where I’m going; I just need to get away.
    Derek’s no doubt fitter than me and he’ll be on my tail in a second. I have to think smart or he’s going to get me. Jumping over a vegetable garden, I leap onto the wooden compost box then brace my hands on the fence and vault over it.
    I land with a hiss, my body screaming at me to give up already. But there’s no way in hell.
    Pushing off the fence, I pump my legs and keep going.
    “Layla! Where the hell are you?” Derek’s voice isn’t too far behind me. He must have followed me into the backyard.
    I keep running, my feverish body lacking the energy I need to survive this escape. Turning left, I bust out of the