I didn't hear most of what he said. I was trying to figure out how he knew there was a girl involved. I was pretty sure I hadn't specified a gender, which was intentional.
“How did you know it was for a girl?”
“I didn't. Not really. I just assumed.”
I felt like an i***t for falling for that trick. Wasn't exactly original, but then again, Doug wasn't exactly an original guy. He couldn't even pick out his career path. He let our mother do that for him.
“I don't see why that matters anyway,” I said. “Girl or guy. The fact is she's a friend and I want to help her.”
“Then you'll have to find another way to do it. Sorry, Ivan, but I can't loan you the money. I have a mortgage, bills, car payments, kids. I can't just hand over that kind of money knowing I'll never see it again.”
Even though
