Page 49 of Her Billionaire Boss
“I didn’t want to talk about this while I was here,” Scott said, rubbing his eyes with one hand splayed over the bridge of his nose.He looked like a man watching his favorite hockey team tank in the post season.
I didn’t particularly want to talk about my best friend fucking my sister, either, but I guess we were even on that score.“No, it’s fine.You helped me out with Charlotte.I can listen to you mope about Catherine.I’m not sure what I can do.”
“You don’t have to do anything.Seriously, I’m...heartbroken.And yeah, I know you don’t understand how anybody could be heartbroken over your sister, but trust me, you don’t know her the way I know her.”
“Yeah, that’s probably for the best.”I tossed my controller down, because there was no way I was having this conversation while actively looking like I was itching to get back to the game.“Do you want to know what I think?”
He grimaced.“No.That’s why I didn’t want to talk about it in the first place.”
“Well, tough shit.”I took a deep breath.“I don’t think you’re as in love with my sister as you think you are.I think you were both going through stressful times, and you needed someone to latch onto.”
“That’s not—”
“Fair, I know,” I finished for him.“Please note that I didn’t say I think you’re stupid for what happened,or that Catherine intentionally used you because she’s a cold-hearted b—”
Scott cut me off with a look.
I redirected.“Butthead.I believe entirely that you both needed each other.You needed her more than she needed you.And that hurts.”
“She still needs me,” he insisted.“Her husband is such an asshole.I could make her happy.When we were all alone, her smile lit up the fucking room.And she was a real person.She let her guard down.It wasn’t an act.She wasn’t trying to get anything from me.She wanted to be with me.And I don’t understand how that all went away.”
I knew.She remembered how much money her husband had in comparison to what was in Scott’s bank account.
“You know what made it go away,” I said quietly.And I knew that it wounded his pride to hear me even imply it, but he had to know that it was true.
“Yeah.I know.”He leaned forward, his hands on his knees.“Look, I’m tired.I’m gonna go—”
“You don’t want to hear it, but you deserve better than Catherine.”I couldn’t let him mope off to bed thinking I didn’t understand, because I did.“You loved Lauren.And she fucked you over.And then you fell for Catherine, and she did the same thing.But I promise you, it’s possible to love someone that hard and have them love you back.”
“Well, those types of women are thin on the ground, I guess,” he grumbled, getting to his feet.
“Yeah.They are.So are guys like that.How many times have I been engaged?”
His jaw visibly tightened.“Way too many.”
“And how many times was my world entirely shattered when those relationships ended?”It was purely rhetorical; he knew exactly how big a mess I’d been after every single one of my breakups.
“And what happened when I swore off ever looking for love, ever again?”I challenged him.
He looked me straight in the fucking face and said, “You got mauled by a bear.”
I couldn’t help it.I laughed.And that’s what he’d been aiming for, because if I laughed, it would destroy my pep talk.
“You’re such a dick.”I threw my hands up.“Fine.Yes.I got mauled by a bear.But I also found true love.”
“Gross.”
“Yeah, well, suck it up.Because it’s true god damn love with Charlotte.I promise, it’s going to happen for you when you least expect it.”
And hopefully, not with my sister.
* * * *
Scott and I played until we couldn’t keep our eyes open and decided to sleep much earlier than we would have twenty years before.
“Remember when we could stay up twenty-four hours in a row?”I yawned and stretched my arms to get some blood flow back into them.They’d been in roughly the same position, clutching a controller, for much longer than I was used to.
“I think if someone were to offer me a million dollars to stay awake that long, I still wouldn’t be able to do it,” he said grimly.
