Page 154 of The Billion Heirs Boxed Set
I take a deep breath, realize I’m a fucking hypocrite. Chance obviously knows I’m into Sadie after the pool hall. I still haven’t told him, even earlier when both he and Austin asked what’s between us.
I suck at relationships. Or do I? I’ve never actually had one to suck at. But yeah. This is one, even if I’m doing a really good job of fucking it all up. Again and again. First by getting pissed she wanted to keep us a secret. Then by letting my past with Rhonda get in the way. If the tables were turned and Sadie told me she was pregnant because of a past fling, I’d be pissed too, even if it happened before I knew her. Pregnancy mistakes happen, man or woman.
Then there was my jealousy and how I thought she moved on to Jake. Her gay friend.
I need to get my head on straight. Stop fucking up. Sadie was hurt. Surprised. Stunned. I can’t be a dick—even unintentionally—now.
She lifts her dark gaze to mine. “I don’t know. But don’t go. Please. I don’t want to be alone.”
“Absolutely. Would you like me to make you some coffee? Tea?” I’ve never made tea, but how difficult can it be to dunk a bag into hot water?
Her dark hair slides over her shoulders as she shakes her head. “No. Maybe just some water.”
I walk into her small kitchen, search the cupboards for a glass, and fill it from the tap, adding a cube of ice from the freezer. I take it to her. She’s seated on her loveseat, so I settle next to her and hand her the glass. She nods her thanks and then takes a long sip.
“I’m so sorry, baby.” I lift my arm to wrap it around her shoulders.
“It’s weird.” She stares blankly toward her bookcase. “I don’t really know how to feel. We were estranged. When my parents got divorced, Joey was already eighteen, and he went off with my father, supposedly to work construction for his company. I haven’t seen or heard from either of them in…years.”
“Still, he’s your brother.” I temper my voice to be as gentle as possible.
“Was my brother.”
I wish I could take every ounce of sadness out of Sadie and bear it myself. I’ve only had brothers for a couple of weeks, but I sure as hell don’t want to lose one of them.
The thought surprises me, that Chance and Austin have become important to me. If that can happen in two weeks, I can’t even imagine what Sadie’s going through, estranged or not.
Of course, we’ve been dealing with one thing after another since we got here. Austin finding Carly, dealing with her horrid past and her overbearing father, the mess between that guy and our father.
Our father.
Our father.
It all leads back to him.
And now Sadie’s pulled into this shit.
She takes another sip of her water, and I wrap my arm around her shoulders. I want to ask her again what I can do for her, but I risk repeating myself and sounding more helpless than I feel. Maybe she just needs me to be here.
She finishes her water and then leans into me, nuzzling her head against my shoulder, reminding me of how much smaller she is. Fragile.
We sit there.
We sit there for a long time with only the sound of the fridge and a car driving by coming through the window.
My cock is hyper aware of the beautiful woman next to me, and it reacts in kind. The feel of her. Her scent. I force myself to ignore it all. No, not ignore—absorb, but don’t act upon it.
I appreciate every bit that is my woman.
Yeah, my fucking woman.
The old Miles might have taken advantage of the situation, advantage of a woman’s neediness.
I won’t do that to Sadie. I care about this woman. Odd, as part of me never imagined caring about any woman. But Sadie Hopkins has somehow managed to get under my skin, and she’s inching toward my heart.
It’s a scary thought, yet it’s not scary at the same time. Part of it feels as natural to me as rebuilding a transmission on a bike.
Is this what love is? Is this what Austin feels for Carly? Is this why he braved her crazy father and that storm and everything else? I haven’t known Sadie long enough to even think about love… Have I?
