Page 62 of Love your Billionaire Boss

“Okay. Well, thanks anyway.”

He turned and walked out of the kitchen. He could have sworn he heard Elle mutter the word “asshole” under her breath, and he couldn’t disagree with her. He walked back to the party and found Justin on his second slice of cake.

“She left.” Kenny sighed.

“Well, it’s not like you don’t have her number. Or know where she works. Or know where she lives,” said Justin sarcastically.

Kenny rolled his eyes, but his friend was right. He needed to step up to the plate. Something he knew how to do quite well in baseball, but not with the opposite sex. He decided he would talk to her in person. It was the right thing to do.

The next day, he spent hours working up the courage to go talk to her. He didn’t want to show up at her house again. He didn’t think he would be as welcome this time. Instead, he headed to Murphy’s to see if she was working. He assumed she was because it was the weekend. He arrived at 4 p.m., just as the bar was opening for the night.

He pushed open the bar doors and looked around slowly as his eyes tried to adjust to the dim lighting. There were two men sitting at the bar who glanced at him and began whispering to themselves excitedly. He ignored them and looked behind the bar, but didn’t see her. Maybe she was in the back. He saw Bridget behind the register and gave an awkward wave. She didn’t look pleased to see him. That was weird. Maybe she didn’t realize it was him. She was always so friendly when he and the team came in.

As he started to walk toward the bar, Bridget walked out from behind the counter and met him halfway. She crossed her arms and stood in front of him as if to block him.

“Kenny. You shouldn’t be here,” she said shortly.

“What?” Kenny was taken aback. She definitely knew him and wanted him out.

“She’s not here.”

“But I—”

“Look, Kenny. She’s not here. It’s probably best if you just leave her alone.”

Kenny felt like he was having déjà vu. First, the icy encounter with Elle, now this with Bridget. What the hell was going on? Sure, he messed up, but he didn’t think everyone knew about it or that he would be shunned like this. He shook his head in frustration before heading toward the door. He pulled open the doors and strode to his car.

In the driver’s seat, he ran his hands through his hair and took a deep breath. He grabbed his phone and typed out a text:

Cleo. Can we talk?

He waited impatiently for a response. After ten minutes, he called her. It rang once before going to voicemail. He decided to make the drive to her house. On the way there, he had a pit in his stomach. Something was wrong, and it was more than just him screwing up. He pressed his foot on the gas with the need to get to her quickly. He didn’t care anymore if he was welcome or not. He had to see her. He had to find out what was going on. He had to fix it.

Kenny pulled into her driveway and looked up at her house for a moment before getting out. He remembered how differently he had felt the last time he showed up unannounced. There was anticipation and lust and another feeling he wouldn’t admit. Now he was just filled with dread and guilt.

He couldn’t tell if she was home or not. She still hadn’t texted him back in the twenty minutes it took him to get there. He climbed out of his car and jogged up the sidewalk to the front door. He rang the doorbell and waited, tapping his foot anxiously. After a minute, he rang it again. He could have sworn he had heard the television on at first, but now it was silent. Maybe he had imagined it or maybe she really was ignoring him?

He pressed his forehead against the door and closed his eyes in defeat.

“Cleo, it’s me. Please open up,” he said through the door.

He waited a few more minutes, but no one came to the door. He was beginning to feel helpless. This was his only chance to see her for a while. He and the team were heading on the road early the next morning for a week.

He banged his fist on the door in frustration before walking back to his car. He peeled out of the driveway and headed home. His emotions were riding high with anger, frustration, and worry. When he walked into his condo, he threw his keys on the table roughly.

“You okay, man?” Nico looked at him curiously from the couch.

Kenny plopped down beside him and rubbed the sides of his face with his hands. “I messed up. Bad.”

“What? How?”

Kenny finally came clean about everything with Cleo as Nico listened intently.

“I knew you two had a thing going on,” said Nico, slapping his leg with his hand triumphantly.

“Yeah, but I screwed it all up. I was too scared at the party to talk to her, and now she is definitely ignoring me.”

“Can you blame her?”

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