Page 100 of Just Not That Into Billionaires

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Benny’snearly his normal self the next morning. By which I mean, looking annoyed and exasperated with all the people breezing in and out of his room.

The police have Aaron in custody. They’ve reopened James’s case, too—it’s now a possible homicide with Aaron as the main suspect.

I can’t stop touching Benny. I stay for hours. When I run out of things to say, I readSpock Must Dieto him. Spock really doesn’t die in it, or more, there are two Spocks, and one of them must die. I’m hoping the real Spock lives. The best Spock.

“I can’t believe you let your old copy with all your marginalia go,” I say after yet another chapter.

“I still have it. In storage,” he says. “I socked away a lot of my old stuff from that time.”

I smooth my palm over his two-day-old beard. “It’s an amazing book. it deserves to be out on your shelf. Maybe it could even be up on the fireplace mantel, underneath the grand portrait of me,” I say.

He’s smiling. He’s urging me toward him. I climb up on the bed with him. “Are you trying to get fresh with me, Mr. Stearnes?”

“Yes, I’m trying to get fresh with you,” he says.

“Do you think that you’re going to get a hand job right in this hospital bed?” I ask him.

“I do now,” he says.

I’m just laughing. Definitely not happening.

A few days later, he gets something better than a hand job: a clean bill of health, or as much as he can have with a broken leg, two broken ribs, and a head injury.

The doctor rattles off facts about bones and she assures us that there’s no reason he can’t be 100%. I inform her that Benny would prefer to be 100.5%, and I’m sure she thinks Benny is glaring at me after that, but I know better.

Mac and Alverson and I get him home and set him up in his room. We take turns caring for him, though by day two he’s the world’s worst patient. Spencer stays by his side. It’s not ideal for Benny’s allergies, but Spencer makes him happy.

The two of us watch a ton of Netflix shows and every single one of the Marvel movies. I start experimenting with gourmet popcorn toppings; I mean, I really get into it. I always had to use salt in moderation because I had to keep my performance weight down, but not anymore! Benny sometimes teases me about how much salt I like on my popcorn, but hey! Making up for lost time here!

He’s up and around on crutches by the end of the next week—a difficult endeavor what with his not-yet-healed ribs, but there’s no reasoning with him.

I spend an afternoon at the rehearsal space giving Daneen pointers on how to navigate the strange choreography. She’ll do a great job with my part.

I’m finally getting physical therapy for my knee, and it’s feeling better. The prognosis is good—way better than if I’d gone on that tour. I officially resigned from Gotham City ballet, of course. I’ll always be able to go to classes, and I may go back in the future, just for those classes, but I’m on a different track now. I’m sad when I imagine my company doing the tour without me, but it’s the right thing to do. For them. For me.

In the meantime, Kelsey and I conduct more dance classes in the now-proper dance studio. Sometimes I dance there alone, and every single time, I can’t believe he made it for me.

As the weeks pile up, we’re fitting into each other’s lives more and more. Marriage, dating, and then we’ll think about living together maybe—that’s the joke we make to people.

When he’s fully mobile on crutches, he comes over to 341. We hang out on the rooftop with Kelsey and Jada, and sometimes Antonio shows up. We also go on a few double dates with Noelle and Malcolm. One time we go out to eat with Lizzie and Theo, and that’s the real revelation. Theo and Benny bond like freaks on science topics.

It’s hilarious.

“You’ve created a monster,” Lizzie says during one of our interminable dinners. “A two-headed billionaire monster.”

I twirl my stick around in my bubbly water. “Benny’s not a billionaire anymore. He’s off of that,” I say.

Lizzie snorts. “You guys are so weird!”

I love how she says that.You guys.We don’t even take a car around anymore. Alverson has gotten into buying rental properties.

Kelsey and I are starting to plan for a girl’s dance recital at the ruins. “Anything Goes” will be on hiatus the year after next, and that’s when we’ll do it. We’re showing the girls pictures of the Roman theater and starting to imagine a dance that would go with it. We’re also starting to raise funds.

Aaron is charged with first degree murder and attempted murder. He pleads guilty in exchange for a reduced charge of thirty years in prison. The New York Times runs a picture of him being led away in handcuffs. He looks small and angry in his orange jumpsuit, and I find myself wondering if he’s sorry.

I bring my phone to show Benny, who’s camped out on the couch with Spencer. He holds it in his hand and looks at it for a long time.

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