Page 51 of Billionaire Daddies Next Door

“No, you have the best life, Joanie.” I threw my hands up for dramatic effect and winced when my knuckles connected with something hard. I spun around to see what I’d hit and saw Chase holding his nose. It was dripping blood, and he was scowling even harder at me.

“Are you fucking serious?” He tipped his head back and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Did you come back just to make shit worse?”

“What? No! I came back for a meeting about the battle.” I crossed my arms and glared up at him. “It’s not like I meant to hit you.”

“Let me get this straight. You’ve ignored us for a week straight but you came back to town for the fucking battle? Wow.” He looked down at me and ignored the blood dripping down his mouth. “If you hadn’t made it so clear before that you don’t care about us, this really clears it up.”

The door opened behind him and Bear followed Smith out onto the sidewalk. They both stood at Chase’s side and crossed their arms over their chests. Smith looked upset but Bear just looked…cold.

“The prodigal business owner came back for a meeting about the battle, guys. Isn’t that great?” Chase wiped the back of his hand over his face and shook his head. “If the battle is what matters so much to you, maybe we’ll play the game.”

“I’d love to beat that dart-shooting old lady, so I’m in.” Bear shrugged and stared over my head. “Beating Joanie wouldn’t hurt, either.”

I glared at them and shook my head. “Stop it. You three are being dicks. If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at yourselves. You caused all of this.”

Smith sighed. “No, we didn’t. We found out how your old friends heard about this place and it wasn’t any of us. You can’t accept that, though. I can already see you shaking your head and thinking the worst of us. That’s fine. We can’t convince you to care about us and we shouldn’t have to try.”

I looked down at my shoes and swallowed a lump of emotion. “None of this matters, anyway. We’ve all made it pretty clear to each other that we don’t care anymore. You’ve moved on. I’ve moved on. What’s the point of this?”

“The point is that I want to ruin something before we leave.” Bear’s hard voice surprised me. “I want you and those other old ladies to lose horrifically before I leave because I’m pissed off and want everyone to feel just as shitty.”

“Why are you so pissed off? You didn’t even want—”

He cut me off. “I know that my girls aren’t your responsibility, Joanie. They’re mine and to a lesser extent, these two guys. But seeing how easily you could walk away from them just made me realize you’re not who I thought you were. You’d be terrible for them. They’ve been abandoned enough in life.”

My jaw dropped. “Are you serious? That’s fucked up, Bear.”

Smith looked uncomfortable but didn’t say anything. Chase just rolled his shoulders. Bear rubbed his hands down his face and shrugged at me. Without another word, the three of them went back into my diner, where my customers sat, watching the interaction with their faces all but pressed against the glass.

The diner looked just as busy as any other day and I felt another blow to my heart at the idea that everything was just fine without me. No one really needed me.

I was back at my car, trying to unlock it through a blur of tears, when Margaret and Coco appeared behind me. When I felt their presence, I turned around and jumped.

“Relax, Joanie. We just want to help.” Margaret rubbed her hands together. “We caught that interaction and we think we can help you.”

“Do you want to get back at them or get back with them?” Coco opened her two hands to reveal what was in her palms. In one hand, she had a stink bomb and in the other, a sparkler. “Your choice.”

I winced away from her. “Um. Neither? I just think I need to take some time to myself after everything. I’m not sure chemical warfare is the right choice.”

“You’re wrong. Chemical warfare is the world we live in. I’m going to make sure all the men in this town know who’s boss when we’re done. Women!”

I felt a stirring of excitement. Maybe that was what I needed.

CHAPTER 37

Chase

Day one of the battle had arrived. I was sick to my stomach over seeing Joanie again. I was still feeling raw from our run-in on the sidewalk. She’d looked like she needed a hug but it didn’t seem like she wanted one from any of us. She’d made up her mind and wasn’t willing to make any effort for us. We’d been sharing her and everything we had with her but she was still set on believing the worst. It didn’t matter what I wanted if she hated us.

The First Ever Annual Harmony Valley Battle of the Sexes was held in the city park. It was a multi-day event with dozens of different challenges. I’d been hearing whispers about the battle for so long that it’d just started to feel like an urban legend. The last week had made it much more real for us. We’d trained with Mayor Stevens and most of the town’s men. We’d done things that robbed us of our dignity. None of that mattered, though, when we were going to have to face off with Joanie and decide how to handle that.

Maggie and Macey were sitting on the guys’ side, cheering for us even before the first event took place. Both girls were a little angry with Joanie, too, even though we told them it wasn’t Joanie’s fault. They didn’t care. They liked Joanie and she’d run away from them. That was enough for them. They’d also noticed how sad Bear had been since Joanie disappeared and they were smart enough to put two and two together.

I sat in the short metal stands with the rest of the guys in town and watched as Margaret and Stevens moved to stand in front of us with a mic in each of their hands. I cringed, knowing we were about to be a part of an absolute shitshow.

“Welcome to the Battle of the Sexes, where women win and men come to fill spaces!” Margaret raised her fist and the park went crazy with women cheering. For a second, I had to stop and look around while wondering what we men, as a species, had done to the women. They just looked so excited about beating us.

“I think you mean where men win and women who can’t act right lose their business licenses.” Stevens rolled his eyes and then looked out at the side of the park where the men were sitting. “We’ve definitely come to win! Right, men?”

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