Page 86 of Billionaire Devil

“Good luck, Lila,” Olivia calls after us. “Don’t fall for it!”

I wonder if he’ll remembermethree months from now. I picture us running into each other at some party in New York, a new girl on his arm and that same bored look on his face he just gave Olivia.

I pull away from him. “I can’t do this.” I start walking away. I have to, before he completely breaks me. I’ve been broken once, and it was my own fault. I’m not going to let that happen again.

“Lila—” Colton grabs my arm. I know how strong he is and I can tell he’s taking care not to hurt me. I’m able to pull from his grip, and I stare up into stormy sapphire eyes.

“The problem is, Colton, I don’t know if I can trust you.Trust is something I have trouble with anyway, and everyone keeps warning me that all you are is a mess of red flags. I don’t want to dance with you. I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t even want to look at you right now. I want to go and enjoy my friend’s wedding without it being all about you. So, please, leave me alone.” I walk away, willing myself not to cry again. I can’t handle his harem making its way into my bestie’s romantic happily ever after. I need to get away from him.

But as I push through the crowd, I bump into someone.

Someone solid.

I’d completely forgotten he was coming. The one person I haven’t been able to get out of my head for the last four years.

It’s Troy Beckett.

29

“Hey, Lila.”

“Troy.” My voice sounds breathless.He remembers me. He knows my name.Once this realization would have sent butterflies through my entire bloodstream.

Now, it has…absolutely no effect.

He looks different. Older. Heavier. His bed-head of thick brown hair looks thinner. More groomed in a way that makes him look…tame. He doesn’t look like a hotshot hockey player anymore. More like a middle management lawyer who doesn’t win a lot of cases. I don’t know why I say that, I have no idea if he wins cases or not.

The Troy in my memories was bigger and more imposing. He was almost god-like, built up by my dazed adoration. Now, he looks ordinary. Tired and unimpressive. His brown eyes are dull-looking, especiallycompared to the vivid blue ones I’m used to. And his suit is cheap-looking and doesn’t quite fit.

“Wow, Lila,” he says. “You look amazing.” His gaze drops to my low-cut neckline.

Once this might have thrilled me. That he notices me. That he is, in fact, checking me out sort of…tactlessly.

“How have you been, Troy?”

“Oh, you know. Fine.”

“You didn’t end up going pro?”

“No.” He runs a hand through his hair, regretfully. “Tried to, but couldn’t quite get there.” His face looks puffier than it used to, his body paunchier. I knew it so well, once. I kept a photo of him that had been taken for a magazine, shirtless and holding his hockey stick, in my wallet all through college. I gazed at it so much, it grew dog-eared.

God, what a waste.

“I’m a high school coach now,” he says.

“I thought you were a lawyer.”

“Yeah, well, that didn’t quite work out. I got disbarred.” He laughs. “One little mishap with some misappropriated funds and they never forgive you.” Like it’s a joke.

“Oh.”

“How are things with you?” he asks me.

I have no desire to tell him anything about myself. My hopes. My dreams. My regrets. “I’m a designer now,” I hear myself say. It’s actually true. It’s no longer just something I say because it’s a pipe dream. I’ve got over a thousandorders waiting to be filled that people actually want.If I can do it without him, that is.

“That’s great.” It barely registers. He’s too busy staring at my tits. “You look really fucking hot, Lila. But then, you always did. Do you want to, like, go somewhere, just you and me? Let’s take a walk and get to know each other better. I don’t know why we didn’t get together years ago.”

Because you were too busy fucking every female with a heartbeat, maybe?

---