Page 69 of Romance with Mr. Bossy Pants

Next, Chloe’s cold eyes when she walked away and didn’t look back.

Eventually, I must have passed out because I jolt awake to the harsh sunlight streaming in through the window and the sound of my doorbell being pressed, over and over again.

I hesitate but drag myself up from the couch and peer through the window. My brothers’ shouting breaks through my stupor. “We know you’re there, dude! Open the door!”

Ugh! I shouldn’t have initiated the drunken video call to rant to these two last night.

Drunk me really needs a filter.

With a groan, I open the door, trying but failing to block their entrance. They just breeze past me into the house.

Ethan is the youngest brother by five years and the most successful of us all—a world-renowned plastic surgeon. I only see him once a year because he lives in Miami and is always busy.

“How did you even make it here this fast, Ethan?”

“Wow, good to see you, too, bro. Private jet, remember? Come on now, where’s my ‘I haven’t seen you in ages hug,’ buddy?”

“Make yourself at home,” I say with an eyeroll. I thought I was bad about flaunting my wealth.

Ethan stands in the middle of my living room, hands on hips, while Garamond thrusts a massive coffee into my hands. “Drink up. You’ll need it.”

“Can’t this wait?”

Ethan sniffs at me, recoiling, “You still reek of last night’s booze”

I shake my head in denial, trudge back to the living room, and collapse onto the couch. My head is pounding, and I’m not in the mood for whatever nonsensical intervention they’ve planned.

They trail behind me, and I instantly regret choosing the center seat. Had I sat at the edge, I wouldn’t be sandwiched between them.

Garamond is the first to speak up. “Enough.”

“You’re fired.”

“Well, you’d need to be my boss to fire me. You’re acting like a petulant child. Do you even know your employees?”

“Get lost, brother.”

“Feeling’s mutual.”

Then Ethan chimes in, “You had your day. That’s all you’re allowed.”

“And what if I decide to take more time off?”

Ethan folds his arms. “We got a plan.”

“What plan?”

“A rotation to babysit you. Until you’re back at work and living life, one of us will be on your tail.”

“You came all this way to babysit me? You could’ve done that from the phone.”

“I came here to help my bro in a time of need,” he bites back.

“I need some painkillers.” I get up and head for the kitchen.

Surprisingly, they don’t follow. Alone in the kitchen, I down a few glasses of water.

But my solitude is short-lived. They sit at the island, their eyes unwavering.

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