Page 30 of Wild For You
Pulling out my wallet, I slapped my black card on the table, knowing Harold would scoot back around for it. She leaned back against the booth and crossed her arms against her chest, pouting like a toddler.
“You have medical bills to pay for. I know how pricey that can be, even with insurance. I can cover my share.”
I knew she was being serious, but all I could do was laugh. My outburst caused people at surrounding tables to turn around and gape in our direction. Probably because they’d never heard the jovial sound come out of me before.
“Sweetheart, do you have any idea how much money I have?”
“I… I didn’t mean anything by the comment, Andrew.” She obviously thought my question was coming from a place of wounded male pride, as if I might be offended she thought I might struggle to pay my bills.
It didn’t. The thought was just sincerely laughable, knowing the truth of my bank account.
“I know you didn’t. That’s why I’ll tell you. I invested in Nate’s software when he was first starting out. That investment has had anexponentialreturn.”
“I don’t know what that means, and I really don’t need to.”
“Kelsey, I’m worth almost as much as Nate, and he’s a billionaire, all because I believed in him. Which wasn’t much of a gamble, because he was a damn genius even back then. So, please, if I want to buy your lunch, let me.”
Harold picked up the check and my card, and Kelsey narrowed her eyes in my direction as he stepped away.
“Am I supposed to act differently around you now?”
I blew out a puff of air and relaxed back against my seat, stretching my other leg out so that my calf brushed against hers. She immediately stiffened, and that rosiness I loved so much blossomed across her chest and cheeks.
“I sure as hell hope not.”
“Okay, good. Because even if you’re rich, you’re still an asshole most of the time.”
Chapter Eight – Kelsey
As I pulled the truck out of the parking space, I felt like Andrew and I had turned a new leaf. I had instantly clicked with his family when I first met them, feeling like I’d been a part of them for decades, but when I met Andrew, I could tell he kept a mile-high wall up around himself.
I knew it would take time. I figured I could get him to start opening up after a few days and was shocked it took three whole weeks. But now I was seeing the parts of him he kept hidden away. The soft parts. The silly parts. The affectionate parts.
Not that I’d let him know I liked seeing those bits and pieces of him. Because the one thing I learned about Andrew over these weeks was if he was called out on something, he’d clam up.
It’s why I didn’t push about his past, or the whole story behind the accident that caused his injury, or why he didn’t want his family to visit. I knew Andrew was going to be like baking a good loaf of homemade bread. To get the best results, you needed to give it time to rise to the occasion.
All that to say I was surprised to find out Andrew didn’t have any of the monetary worries that plagued me. And very few things in life surprised me anymore.
Not that it changed my opinion of him. If anything, it worried me more that I was friends with a millionaire. Or billionaire. I was too afraid to ask him to clarify… because of my mom. I’d been putting off her calls since I arrived at Andrew’s house, but I finally succumbed this morning when she messaged an SOS. When I called her back, she went on to tell me thatshe met a man a month ago, which I immediately realized was when she asked me for the money last time, and they’d broken up. Now, she had nowhere to live, and she wanted to know if she could stay with me while she was between flights.
It took a lot of convincing on my part to explain that I was busy and working different hours every day, and I couldn’t put her up. Goodness knew I did not want her at my apartment while I was gone. When I returned, I would’ve either ended up in a barren space because she sold all my belongings, or I’d find my place taken over by all things Tasha McKinnley. My mom only cared to visit me when it suited her. It was something my father warned me about, but with his death, I had hoped my mom would become that missing piece for me.
I was finding out I’d been oh-so wrong.
Since this morning, when I turned down giving my mother a key to my place, she’d been messaging me nonstop, but I ignored her. Did she know where I lived? I couldn’t remember. She hadn’t wanted to visit me since I moved in two years ago. Did she know how to find out where I lived if she didn’t already? Yes. She had Caleb’s number saved from the time my phone died, and I needed to pick her up at the airport. So she had a way to find out, then she could sneak herself into my building and break into my home like she’d done at my old apartment.
I already called Jackson and asked him to stop by to check on my place. The only girlfriends I had lived in Ashfield and had the maiden name of Easterly. In my line of work, female friends were hard to come by. They either wanted you to help them meet a professional player or hook them up with tickets. Even the girls I met in college had fallen by the wayside. I just preferred my own company to that of shallow acquaintances.
“So,” I began, breaking the silence in the truck. I couldn’t see him, but I was sure Andrew was rolling his eyes. Something I mentally teased him about, but never to his face though. He could be scary when he wanted to be, and I was not the kind of person to poke a bear unless it was to get what Ireallywanted. “How would you feel about heading somewhere today?”
“Didn’t we already do that?”
“Yes, but that was for me. This would be for you.”
“No.”
“You haven’t even heard my suggestion.”
