“Rather not.”
“Wasn’t a question.” He placed his large hand on my elbow and raised his brows. “Please.”
Maybe it was because his skin was on mine, or the fact his chest was inches away from my face, but I sighed and let him lead me toward the gate. He smelled like soap and sweat, and heat seemed to radiate off his very delicious body. Warmth spread through my body at how my hormones seemed to completely forget he was awful to me. I could feel my friends’ stares on my back, but I didn’t care.
“What are you doing?” I whispered, glad Kayla moved back toward her house.
“What did your brother mean?”
“Why were you fighting with your dad?” I fired back, playing the exact same game he was.
His chest heaved as he let go of my arm and stared down at me. He studied my lips for a full thirty seconds before he smiled. “You blushed like this that night too.”
Good lord.His tone was dark and secretive and hot. My stomach swooped at the first mention of our night together, but I didn’t get a chance to respond. His dad came out, and he gave me one last pointed stare. “We have a lot to talk about, and I know exactly how to make it happen.”
“Hm?”
“Gotta go. I’ll see you tomorrow,Gilly.” He said my name like a promise and winked.
Okay, what the hell just happened?
Chapter Eleven
Things weredifferentat work that day, and I still couldn’t wrap my mind around it. Christopher flirted with me. I was absolutely sure of it, unless I was totally off my game, but my face warmed thinking about the look he gave me before I walked to my car.Stop. We hate him.
Do I though? Do I hate him anymore?
I groaned and gripped the steering wheel tighter as I drove to Fritz’s place. There was too much going on for me to worry about feelings for a guy who had been a total jerk to me. Not when Samantha was sneaking around and threatening to come back into our lives. She should have my focus, and that was how I convinced myself to not think about Christopher. Fritz was still in a funk, and it was my duty as his sister and best friend to help him out of it.
I parked my silver BMW outside his condo, locked the doors, and made my way upstairs to find him ina mood.“Dude, why are you grumpy?”
He frowned at me before plopping back down on the couch with his tie undone and his face set in hard lines. “Six months. She walked away without more than athis is overtext and disappears for six months. Why is she liking my posts now? Why is she in townnow?I don’t fucking understand, and I hate it. I thought I was doing fine, but as soon as I see her liking my shit online, it all comes back.”
My stomach churned like I’d ridden a roller coaster a million times, and I forced my face to remain neutral as guilt made speaking almost impossible. I cleared my throat and grabbed a pillow to hug it against my chest. “Do you…still love her?”
“No.” His eyes were hard and dark, and his jaw was tight. “I don’t, but I was going to propose to her and pictured the rest of my life with her. That is still raw and makes me never want to try again. It’s hard enough to find someone as is, but once they find out about our money, it’s even worse. Thank God our court case was out of town. I can’t even imagine living here and having every fucking person know about our wealth.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
It was like a thousand-pound weight had formed in my stomach and held me down. The sadness, six months later, was exactly why I couldn’t do love. It’s why dating and having flings were safer, easier, than ever falling for someone. Our money would always attract the wrong people.
Especially when Samantha fooled both of us so damn well when it was a con the whole time.
Would it hurt worse for him to know it was all about money? That he was a job? Or would it help him move on? My throat hurt at my lack of response, and I took a deep breath. “You can’t…let her ruin any chance at happiness.”
He scoffed. “Forgive me for not trusting someone anytime soon. God, she just ghosted me. No reason why after telling me she loved me. I just…it fucking hurts, and I thought I’d be okay by now.”
I have to help him.I had done this, and it was my duty to help him.
“Okay, new plan.” I got my phone out and started searching for free singles events in the area. Larissa always talked about thisbuddynight at a swanky brewery where people went to make friends, but they also had singles night. “We are going out tonight,” I said, using my sternest voice. “You will not argue with me.”
“But what about your budget, Gil?” he fired back, smirking like he’d one-upped me.
“How dare you insinuate I can’t flirt for free drinks? I still have some charm.”
He laughed, and the sound calmed me down and reassured me that maybe paying off Samantha, twice now, wouldn’t send me straight to hell. “Fine, whatever. Maybe it’s better to get out of this place. I swear all I’ve done is work, see you, or pout. I’m sick of myself.”
“Fritz, you will be okay and find love again.”
He rolled his eyes. “I’m not looking for love again. It’s not for me. I don’t like the dependency or the power it gives someone to destroy you. So hard pass, thanks. But a fling? Yeah. I could do that. Relive my college days.”
