[18+] Sophia has to ignore her steamy chemistry with British popstar Teddy Stone in order to get revenge on him for upsetting her best friend.
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Pop sensation Teddy St...
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A/N: Definition of Kompromat: documents, photos etc., that may be damaging to a person's reputation, kept as a tool for blackmail. From Russian, short for komprometiruyushchiy material (compromising material).
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My ex-flatmate, Mac, had done significantly better than me since graduating, if the extortionate fees that his law firm charged were anything to go by. He still seemed as grounded as ever, though. In the same message, he'd given me details of friends at other firms who charged different amounts, so clearly he acknowledged that his own prices were at the higher end of the scale.
Reaching out to Mac sparked a longer conversation about what we'd both been up to over the past five years, and while it was nice to catch up with him, it reminded me how lonely I'd been after parting ways with Becca.
Gabby and I regularly spoke, but we now lived miles apart. Meeting up had become a less frequent occurrence that needed to be planned around her shifts, train times, and midpoint locations. At least she wasn't stuck between her two friends anymore, and that was the most important thing.
On Monday morning, a loud rap at the door interrupted my blog brainstorming session. With the rest of the house out, I trundled downstairs to answer it, expecting the postman with yet another ASOS delivery for Faye.
Instead, I was greeted by a familiar face wearing a scruffy black hoodie, baggy grey joggers, and a navy baseball cap.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I grabbed Ed's wrist and yanked him inside, my eyes darting down the street for any onlookers. "I do not want photographers and journalists stalking this house."
"Relax," he said, taking off the hat and curling it into his hoodie pocket. "I wasn't followed, and I'm in disguise."
I scoffed, my eyes travelling over his body as I folded my arms and leaned back against the door.
"Yeah. Barely recognisable."
"I come in peace, Soph. Can we talk?"
He didn't seem as tightly wound as at the weekend, so I gestured towards the sofas. Now that I had a lawyer on my side, I didn't feel quite as cornered, but I still couldn't ignore the fact that I was effectively being blackmailed into a job.
"What do you want?" I asked. "If you've come to apply pressure—"
"I haven't," he said, sinking into one of the sofas then leaning forward to rest his forearms on his knees as he stared at me. "Opposite, actually."
"You're giving me a way out?" I raised an eyebrow at him to emphasise how that would be the only opposite option.
He lifted one shoulder to shrug. "I was exhausted after the concert. I wasn't in the right state of mind to have that conversation. It was the first time I'd seen you since, well, you know... Emotions got the better of me."
