Page 30 of How to Train Your Billionaire

He tells me a little more about his half sister, Maddie, while I eat, and I’m surprised to learn that they actually hang out. He takes her to the mall and out to eat. He shows me a friendship bracelet she made him. In my brain, Hayes is so one dimensional that it takes me a full minute to comprehend it.

“What about you?” he asks, passing me a stack of napkins. “Family back in New Jersey, I suppose?”

I wipe my hands and shake my head. “Sadly, no. Not anymore.” I fill him in that I was raised by a single mom and that I didn’t know my dad.

Hayes looks somewhat shocked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

“I know. It’s a shock I’m so well adjusted and sweet.” I grin and take another sip of my drink.

He leans forward, placing his elbows on the table. “Doesn’t it bother you that your father couldn’t even be bothered to stick around?”

I raise one shoulder. “Not really. Everyone’s on their own path. He had to follow his. My mom took good care of me. Why should I complain? Others have it much worse.”

Hayes doesn’t seem to have a response to this, but his jaw tightens.

“Where was your first kiss?” I ask him. “Mine was at a middle school football game.”

He smiles at my rather abrupt topic change. “Paris.”

I gasp. “That is incredibly romantic!”

He chuckles and shakes his head. “Believe me, it wasn’t. My braces got in the way, and I was terrified I had bad breath. And I probably did. I’d just tried escargot for the first time.”

I laugh. “Okay. Gross. But I feel like I could go toe-to-toe with you on who’s had it worse in the dating realm, though. Trust me, I have gone out with some doozies.”

He takes a swallow of his drink, considering this. “I don’t know, I feel pretty stupid for bringing Olivia here.”

“Why?”

“Because I hardly know her. Because she was all wrong for me.” He shrugs.

I could just nod and sympathize, but something in me pushes back.

“Listen, as someone who’s made a lot of questionable dating choices, you could just take a break from dating altogether.”

He frowns. “A break?”

“Yeah. Stop looking and actually figure out what you want. Maybe the problem isn’t them. Maybe it’s you.” I give him a playful smirk to soften the blow, but the words land more heavily than I expected.

Maybe because I’ve been thinking about this myself.

About all the times I rushed into something just to feel less alone. About how easy it is to keep blaming the other person when you haven’t really looked inward.

He exhales, shaking his head. “Gee thanks.”

I shrug. “Hey, I’m just saying, maybe if you quit chasing after the wrong women, the right one might actually have a chance to find you.”

He rolls his eyes, but his silence tells me that he’s wondering if I have a point.

Since it’s possible I’ve offended him by basically saying he’s the problem, I decide to be a little bit vulnerable. “I’ve actually been on a boy ban for a while now. It’s allowed me to sort of figure myself out.”

“I’ll consider it. Thanks. And how do you know so much about all this?”

“A lot of therapy,” I answer, probably too quickly. “You pick things up.”

“Why haveyouhad a lot of therapy?”

My mouth drops open. “Seriously? I’m a walking disaster. Don’t try to tell me you haven’t noticed.” I give him a hard look, and Hayes doesn’t argue. “Anyway, it starts to get to a person.”