“Yeah, I know. I heard. As if using me wasn’t bad enough, you and Kurt made a bet about it.” She rubbed her face with both hands in disbelief. “Who the hell does stuff like that?”

Shame filled him, and he lowered his head. “I know it sounds bad. But it wasn’t like that.” He lifted his head. “I only wanted to bring in more customers and keep my business going.”

Her eyes heated and shot flames at him. “By using me to do it. That’s why you wanted to make those videos. Because the first one had gone viral.”

“Yes, but I—”

“You bastard.” Moisture filled her eyes. “Do you know how fucking humiliating that is?”

Pain and hurt flashed across her solemn face, and it made his stomach clench with regret. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry. You have nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Maybe not. But you two should be ashamed of yourselves,” she said, pointing at both of them. She apparently wasn’t letting Kurt off the hook either.

Adam nodded. “I am ashamed of myself. But I want you to understand something. We made the bet the night I met you. I didn’t know you at the time. Kurt suggested that I train you and—”

She raised her hand. “Don’t you dare do the blame game. You’re a big boy, Adam. You agreed to the bet. That makes you just as guilty as Kurt.”

He sighed. “I know. I wasn’t blaming him. This is on me. I was just explaining how it happened.”

“I’ve heard enough. I don’t need to know all the dirty little details about your stupid bet. Besides, do you really think that not knowing someone makes it okay for you to bet on their weight loss or use them like you did me? Because it’s not. Ever.”

Remorse sat in his stomach like a lead weight while guilt trickled down his spine. “You’re right. It’s not okay. I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say to make this right.”

A disgusted sound came from the back of her throat. “Nothing will make this right.” Then she turned her look of disappointment onto Kurt and shook her head, showing how upset she was with him too. “And you. I thought we were friends.”

Kurt flinched. “We are, Preslee. I’m sorry. I know you might not believe that right now, but I am your friend.”

Adam stepped toward her. “Baby, listen. Please. We screwed up. I’m sorry I hurt you. It wasn’t intentional, I swear.”

“Really? Well, then answer this for me,” she said, crossing her arms. “That day you came to the antique shop…” She paused for a moment as if rolling something around in her mind. “Did you use Josh as motivation to get me to say yes to training with you?”