Page 58 of Flirting With My Brother's Billionaire Best Friend

“What is wrong with you, Jenni?” She comes in and stares at my face, which I’m sure is puffy from all the crying I’ve been doing.

I don’t know where to start. The tears are fighting to fall again. I’ve always been the strong one who holds everything inside. And now that I’ve lost Langston, the floodgates are open.

My mom doesn’t seem to accept the fact that I’m not answering her question, so she fires another one at me. “What’s this I hear about you breaking up with Langston? Tell me it’s not true, and that this is just some little spat you’ve had.”

So she’s been talking to Laurie again. Big surprise.

“It’s true,” I choke out.

I can’t see through my tears, but then my mom’s arms are around me, and she’s patting me on the back. “There must be some way we can fix this, my dear girl.”

“There’s not. This time, everything is broken beyond repair.”

“That can’t be true.” She pulls back and strokes my hair back from my face, looking into my eyes. She’s blurry through my tears. “I’ve never seen you cry like this. What has gotten into you?”

“Mom, I’m not the daughter you think I am.”

“Nonsense, you’re still my little Jenni. Nothing you could do or say would change that.”

“I can’t give you the life you’ve always wanted as the proud grandma,” I choke out.

“You may not have been able to work things out with Langston, but there are other men. My sister has one already picked out for you in India. He’s a wonderful man. His father owns a very large hotel chain. All the best of the best resorts in Asia.”

“Mom!” I exclaim. “I don’t want to date a guy from India. I want Langston. I’m in love with him. I can’t even think about dating someone else right now.”

“Then what’s the problem? Laurie says you’ve broken his heart. Go over there and make it better. There’s still time to repair things.”

I don’t know how to get through to her that this isn’t going to work out the way she thinks. “No, Mom. It won’t be better. Langston and I can never be together.”

“You’re overreacting. You just wait. You’ll be popping out his babies before long.” She gets this dreamy look in her eyes, and I can’t take another minute of this.

“I will never pop out any babies. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

“You just need to be a bit more optimistic.”

“Optimism isn’t going to help me. I’m infertile.” There. I’ve finally said it.

My mom’s mouth falls open. “What are you talking about?”

“The doctor confirmed it. I can’t bear children.”

“No. That can’t be true.” She sits frozen for a second, like she can’t find the right words to say.

“It’s true.”

“My dear girl.” She pulls me to her and instead of being upset and crying, she just holds me. She pulls away and looks at me. “How long have you known this?”

“For about a year.”

“And you’ve just carried this news around with you, never telling us or allowing us to help you through it?” Her eyes widen in realization. “All those times I told you I wanted you to get married and have babies… You never said anything.” She looks horrified. “What you must have been feeling…” She shakes her head. “I wish you could have felt comfortable enough to tell us the truth. We only want to love you and support you.”

My heart warms at her words. “I never wanted you to feel this pain I was feeling. I knew how disappointed you’d be. Being a grandmother is all you can talk about these days.”

“And maybe that day will come. You can still adopt.”

“Yes, I know. I’ve already been thinking about becoming a foster mom. I was going to tell you soon. But I knew it would be a tough conversation, so I was putting it off. Now I wish I’d been brave enough to tell you sooner.”

“So is this why you broke up with Langston?” my mom asks.

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