Page 59 of Stuck With the Billionaire Grump

A laugh bursts out of me. “You’re probably right. You’re the only person I’ve ever really consistently butt heads with. Otherwise, I’m pathologically determined to get along with everyone I meet.”

“So, what you’re saying is that I’m incredibly unique and special?”

I laugh again. “Look at you, telling jokes.”

“I can be funny. I can be a lot of things, I think. I’ve never really tried.”

“If it helps, I think I’d like you no matter what.”

“But you hate me.” This time, however, the words come out teasing and playful.

We have moved past our history. We never hated each other. We were just young and confused and a little lost. We saw each other and recognized a part of ourselves, like looking in the mirror. Perhaps the real problem was that we highlighted our biggest fears about ourselves. When I looked at Theo, I saw a moody boy who didn’t care what anyone thought about his antisocial behavior. As someone whose primary survival mechanism was to be everyone’s best friend, that terrified me.

I understand now. When Theo saw me, he saw a person he could never be. Someone who was constantly bubbly and positive and giggling. Someone who moved through life effortlessly and never felt like they couldn’t belong. He knows now that I was just pretending at all that.

The masks are off. There’s nothing left to fear.

“Theo,” I whisper.

He’s close. So much closer than he was half a second ago. I feel his hand bracing against the wall beside my head. My body, still leaning back against the wall, screams for him to close that last tiny bit of distance.

“Hm?” he replies, sounding vaguely distracted.

“I think I want to know what it would feel like to fall in love with you, too.”

All the air rushes out of him. I feel his warm breath, scented like spearmint and champagne, ghosting along my jaw.

“I guess we should do it, then,” he murmurs. “Try to fall in love.”

“I think it might be easier than we imagine.”

“I think so, too.”

“Theo?”

“Lucy.”

“How will you love me all the way from California?”

“Oh. Well. See, the thing is, I’m thinking about moving to Boston.”

I jerk back slightly, which is hard to do, considering the back of my head is already touching the wall. “Seriously?”

In the sparse glow of the light creeping through the cracks in the doorway, I can see Theo biting his lip.

“Is that weird?” he asks.

“Why would that be weird?”

“Because it’s quite random. And I’m mostly doing it because it means I’ll be closer to you.”

“And you made that decision, like, prior to this moment?”

He chuckles. “Yes, Lucy. As I said, I’ve been trying to make sense of my life for days now.”

“And this makes sense to you?”

“Does it make you uncomfortable that you are my primary motivation for wanting to move across the country?”

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