Page 134 of Forking the Billionaire

“I want to move there,” I said. “But we didn’t talk about that. She might not want?—”

“Go,” Oscar said.

“I have a business here. I can’t ask my assistant Marc to keep working on this place. I need to do it myself.”

“What do you need to do?” Sebastian asked.

“Manage the contractors, mostly. A thousand final details before she’s ready for market.”

“I’ll do it,” Sebastian said with a shrug like it was nothing.

“It’s a lot,” I said.

“I have the time,” he said.

They both looked at me. I couldn’t believe they were here giving me the push I needed. I couldn’t believe I was going to drop my entire life to move to another country.

I grabbed them both and hugged them.

I loved Esme, even if I didn’t deserve her. I couldn’t see how that could be enough, but maybe she would see it.

Maybe love was enough.

I just needed Esme to give me a chance.

Finally getting my head out of my ass, I got to work on what I needed to do to win her back, including a ton of paperwork, and making a ton of calls, including investing in a particularly risky venture.

The separation from her still hurt like hell, but at least now I was doing something about it.

I left Brenda behind and didn’t look back.

I wanted something different than I’d thought. I wanted to fight for love, and for the woman who I’d loved in one form or another for our whole lives.

THIRTY-SIX

ESME

I tossed and turned in bed, frustrated with the dream that kept relentlessly parading through my brain. No matter how many times I woke up to try and reset, the dream kept repeating.

I was at the costume party.

But instead of a faceless astronaut rocking my world, it was Jasper. I could see his face, touch his skin, and hold on so tightly to him that it would be impossible for him to ever leave.

When I opened my eyes, the warm feeling faded along with his clean, yet wild, scent.

And I was alone, shivering in the darkness, wishing both that he was here, and that I’d stop tormenting myself. He was the one who’d left. He was the one hiding the truth from me.

He rejected me.

The sooner I moved past this very clear fact, the sooner I could be happy again.

I stared at the ceiling, way too awake.

I didn’t want to relive the dream or those feelings again. I wanted peace.

I climbed out of bed, tossed on some pants and shoes, then skateboarded down the street, hoping fresh air would help me calm my agitation.

Quickly I found myself standing in front of the ruins. This was the last place I needed to go if I didn’t want to think about Jasper.

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