Page 64 of Falling for the Wrong Billionaire

Me: Usual spot?

It doesn’t take long for Nate to reply.

Nate: Already here.

Bryan: On my way.

I pull out of the parking lot, the quiet rumble of the car the only sound as I make my way across town.

The bar is warm when I step inside, a little too bright compared to the cool evening outside.

Nate and Bryan are already seated at our usual booth near the back, each holding a beer, with a third waiting for me.

Bryan glances up when he sees me, giving me one of his easy smiles.

“You look like you got crushed,” he says lightly.

I give him a look that probably confirms it.

Nate leans back in his seat, his arms crossed loosely over his chest. “What’s going on?”

I drop into the booth, wrapping my hands around the cold glass in front of me.

For a long moment, I just sit there, staring at the amber liquid as it catches the light.

Finally, I shake my head.

“Don’t want to talk about it.”

Bryan raises an eyebrow but doesn’t push. He just takes a sip of his drink.

Nate watches me for a long time, then nods once. “Alright,” he says simply.

That’s the thing about these two. They’ve known me long enough to know when to press and when to leave me alone.

We sit there for a while, the familiar buzz of the bar filling the silence. Nate and Bryan talk quietly about a new property deal they’re working on, but I can’t focus.

My mind keeps circling back to Lucy.

Her smile.

Her laugh.

The way her eyes refused to meet mine tonight, no matter how gently I tried to get her to open up.

I don’t understand.

Did I move too fast?

Did I say the wrong thing?

I play back every moment from the past few weeks in my head, searching for something, anything, that might explain the way she’s pulled back.

But I come up empty.

I’m so lost in my thoughts I almost don’t notice the man who walks into the bar.

He’s dressed sharp — tailored suit, polished shoes, hair perfectly styled.