Page 38 of Stuck with a Billionaire Rockstar

“Great,” Mallory says with a bright smile. When I give her a stern frown, she shrugs her shoulders like it’s no big deal. “What? I was getting used to my bestie becoming a sister-in-law.”

“Woah, that’s a bit much, don’t you think?”

She rolls her eyes and sits up to look straight at me. “It’s not much when you see love in your brother’s eyes for the first time.” That throws me off, and I lock my eyes on her. “He does, Jules.”

If he does, how come he’s making everything so damn difficult?

It doesn’t matter.

I shake the thought away and take a deep breath, then grab my phone to send a quick text to Brent about whether he’s back at the suite or not. It doesn’t take him long to respond, letting me know that he is on his way back, and I briefly wonder if he’s been waiting for me to text him.

It only takes a few minutes to send my response, asking him to let me know when he gets to his room so I can stop by and talk to him. When he texts back, he doesn’t give me a single hint, only a simple okay, and I still can’t help but wonder what that could mean.

Does it mean his feelings aren’t the same? Am I alone in them?

That might be the most terrifying outcome of all. I don’t want to find out that everything I’ve been feeling is one-sided. It would hurt like hell.

Mallory quietly makes her way into the bathroom while I sit at the edge of my bed and pick nervously at my nails as I wait for Brent to text me. Mallory doesn’t take long in there, coming out only a few minutes later and sitting next to me on the bed, and she links our arms together with a sigh. “I’m sure the talk will go okay, Jule. You don’t need to worry.”

And even though she’s saying that, I can tell by the softness in her tone that she’s not even sure about herself anymore.

This could be it for me and Brent. The end of what I’ve come to see as the best time I’ve had in my life. He opened up a different side of me, one that no one else would be able to, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to find someone like him in the future. I want him to be my future. My heart races when my phone pings with a text from Brent and I lift from the bed with ragged breaths while giving Mallory the most confident smile I can manage. “Wish me luck.”

She gives me a thumbs up, then silently watches me walk out of the suite as my heart falls into my stomach with a heavy thud.

It takes a short time, shorter than I had hoped, for the elevator to open up to his floor, and I slowly make my way down the hall to his door. Brent opens it swiftly, a blank expression on his face as he leans against the door frame and crosses his arms, then sighs.

“Why is he looking at me that way?”

He doesn’t say anything for a long moment, and I hope he’s trying to figure out how to tell me he feels the same way. Instead though, he gives me a look full of pity before saying, “This was supposed to be temporary, and I think our time has come to an end. I’ve helped you all that I could.”

Mallory told me he felt the same way and convinced me to come here and talk to him, but now I feel like a fool. I shake my head and start backing away from him, tears already clouding my vision as I look up at him.

I need to get out of here fast.

20

Brent

Julia sucks in a sharp breath, tears threatening to spill, and she shakes her head before rushing down the hall back toward the elevator. My chest is aching at the sight of her tears, knowing that I’m the reason for them, but I didn’t know what else to do. I know my feelings for her are true, I thought hers might be as well, but the moment she begged the photographer to get rid of the picture was a breakthrough for me. . She doesn’t feel the same way.

This was for our own good.

Was it really for hers, though? Nothing about the emotions crossing over her face told me it was a good thing for her and that she wanted me to say those words. What did she come to my room for in the first place? It looked like she needed to say something, but I took over the conversation, and she never got the chance to say anything else.

Instead of wrapping her in my arms and claiming her lips with my own, like I crave, I pushed her away until she could no longer look me in the eyes. I close my eyes so I can imagine my hands roaming over her smooth skin, how quickly it would pebble with goosebumps in their wake, and I clench my fists at the image. That’s what we should be doing.

I ruined that, though.

Since I can’t think of a better way to get Julia out of my head, I storm into the dimly lit bathroom and start the hot water. I watch the steam swirl through the air, then up into the vent, disappearing just as quickly as Julia did when I opened my mouth, and it has me growling as I lean into the bathroom sink.

Will I ever be able to escape her?

My brain is telling me that there’s a good way to stop thinking about her, but my heart is pleading with me to run after her and tell her the truth. I want to listen to my heart, but when has that ever gotten me anywhere good? The last time I let my heart lead me, I walked away with it shattered in pieces because I shouldn’t have trusted the woman.

Would Julia have done that, is that the kind of person she showed me she was?

When I think about it, no, and that only makes me feel worse for the things I said moments ago. If I look back on my previous relationships, I guess there are red flags I chose to miss with them – how one of my exes would constantly deny going out on movie or restaurant dates but was eager to attend some of the parties I got invited to where she would show off to the world. She never wanted to do anything more romantic, and it only made sense when I found out she had a boyfriend behind my back who didn’t have as much money. The only reason she got with me was because she hoped that my fame and fortune would get her and her boyfriend into a new home where they could start their future.

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