Page 271 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 9
I grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the sand. “Please don’t leave.”
“I’m third-wheeling so hard right now and I hate it.”
“God, I swear it’s not a date,” I said. “I barely know him.”
“That’s what dates are for, Mila. It’s a chance to get to know each other.”
“So…he’ll get to know you instead.”
“You are the worst,” Kristen said.
I laughed.
She shook her head and started laughing too. “I hate you.”
“You love me.”
“No, I hate you,” she said.
“Please don’t leave.”
“You’re forcing me to be the opposite of a wingman. I should have taken that shift.” She started laughing again. “You’re insane, you do know that, right?”
I stuck my bottom lip out at her.
“Put that away.” She pressed her hand against my face, making us both laugh again. “So what exactly was your plan here?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know…I thought maybe it would be good for me to go on a date with someone new. J.J. clearly isn’t into me like that. But now that I’m here? I just miss him.”
She sighed. “Fine, I’ll stay and be a total cockblocker. You’re lucky that Reggie is really cute. But here’s the new plan…we need to find J.J. If you’re going to spend all night being awkward anyway, you might as well be making J.J. jealous.”
“I don’t know…”
“Give that dirtbag a taste of his own medicine.”
“He’s not a dirtbag.”
“Actually, he kinda is. He’s the reason my girl is always sad. So tonight we’re going to flip the script on him. Do you see him anywhere?” She started scanning the crowd. “I’m going to go look. I’ll be right back.” She disappeared into the crowd.
Instead of looking for J.J., I stared down at the sand. This was a bad idea. A really bad idea. I already felt guilty for trying to force Reggie and Kristen together. But using Reggie to make J.J. jealous? This was a mess. And even if I did do it…J.J. wasn’t going to change his mind about me. We were destined to be friend-zoned forever.
"Mila!" someone shouted.
Speak of the devil.I looked up at my lifeguard. He was holding two shot glasses and smiling as he wove through the crowd. He sat down next to me in the sand.
"I was hoping you'd show up. Here," he said as he handed me one of the shots and tapped his cup against mine. He downed his shot.
He hoped I’d show up?If he hoped I’d come, why hadn’t he asked me himself? "Hi, J.J." I tried not to wince at the burn in my throat as I drank my shot.
"I came by the ice cream shop yesterday but your friend said you had left early because you weren't feeling well. I guess you're doing better now?"
"Oh, yeah. I'm feeling better now. Are you here with someone?" Pushing him away always felt like the easiest solution.
"All my friends are over there. Come hang out with us."
I didn’t want to hang out with him and all his friends. That always just ended up with him flirting with some other girl. Kristen’s voice was in the back of my head, urging me to go forward with the plan. And then I saw her in the distance walking back toward us. She had both her thumbs up, thinking I was already partaking in it. I took a deep breath. What was the worst that could happen? "I'll ask Reggie what he wants to do when he gets back."
"Reggie?"
