Page 153 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 11

“I don’t understand,” I said. He gave me his crown. He said I was the prettiest princess he’d ever seen. Wait. No. He didn’t. He said he always used to tell me that when I lost the game. He didn’t say he still thought it. He just said his crown looked better on me.

He shrugged. “What’s not to understand? It’ll be fun.”

It didn’t sound fun to me. It sounded like slow torture.

Like the rest of my life had been. Sure, he wouldn’t be dating anyone else.

But it would be like a ticking time bomb.

Just waiting for the year to end. When he’d start dating someone else and I would have wasted another year of my life. On him.

“I thought you didn’t want to waste any more time,” I said.

“And I won’t be. By not wasting time on some girl my senior year that means nothing. Especially when I’ll be going off to college and we’ll have a time limit on it anyway.”

“So you’re planning on leaving everything behind when you go to college?”

He shrugged. “Isn’t that what everyone does?”

I shook my head. “No. Not even close. My dad, Uncle Rob, Uncle Mason, and Uncle Matt were friends in high school and are still friends now.”

“Yeah, but they were childhood friends. That’s different. Like us.”

Childhood friends. Yeah. I loved Axel. I think a part of me always would. But I think it was time that I grew up. He’d always be my first love. But he wasn’t going to be my last. He couldn’t be. Because he’d never love me back the way I loved him.

We’d be friends. Forever. But that was it.

The realization should have hurt. I should have been crying and melting down onto the dance floor. But if I was being honest with myself...I already knew the truth. I’d known it for years.

Jacob had told me I lost my confidence. But I was pretty sure he was helping me find it again. And I was done drowning. I was done having Axel let me. I took a deep breath. “Friends forever,” I said and forced a smile onto my face.

Axel didn’t smile back.

“But if you’ll excuse me. Luis is waiting.” And he was. The song had changed a while ago. But he was keeping his distance. Probably because Axel had been so hostile earlier. I’d thought it was kind of romantic. But now it just seemed like he was being an asshole for the sake of being an asshole.

“I told you what would happen if you danced with Luis,” Axel said.

“Do whatever makes you happy, Axel.” Because that’s all I really wanted. For him to be happy. And I was finally ready to admit that I wasn’t the one that was going to do that for him. I stepped back from him.

He scowled at me.

I turned away and walked right up to Luis.

Luis smiled and pulled me in close.

Whatever buzz I’d had earlier was gone. And for some reason I couldn’t make my hips sway to the music the same way as before. I just wanted to go home.

For a few minutes there, I’d felt confident. The realization that it would truly never happen suddenly hit me like a brick wall though. I’d already known it. Of course I’d known it. But it felt real this time. Axel and I were never going to happen.

Never.

Nunca. I smiled thinking of Jacob. But my smile faltered. Because I was pretty sure that was never going to happen either.

“Nice crown,” Luis said.

“Do you want it?”

He laughed. “No thanks. It looks good on you.”

I sighed. “What cologne do you wear?”

“What?”

“And are you cheating on your girlfriend with anyone besides George?”

“I’m not gay, Scarlett.”

“Do you think William is? I know everyone said he was. But I want to make sure. Because this thing is ending tonight. I’m just so tired.”

“I don’t know what is happening,” Luis said.

“Have you seen Jacob?” I asked.

“I think I saw him leave with some blonde chick.”

He’d left? My heart sunk. I couldn’t even blame him. I’d been dancing with everyone other than him. I’d put unmaking the kiss thief’s identity as my top priority. When I should have put Jacob first.

But it was just a few weeks ago when Jacob had told me he’d always liked me. When he’d kissed me because he’d been dying to for years. Only to have me flub it. I knew this thing between us was supposed to be fake. But it didn’t feel fake when he was kissing me.

What did I know though? I’d only had my first kiss a few weeks ago. I wasn’t exactly an expert. Jacob probably kissed Olivia differently. Since he actually liked her.

“You okay?” Luis asked.

“You didn’t answer any of my questions.” I leaned forward and smelled him. “Very sweet. Almost floral.”

“What?”

“Are you wearing perfume?” I asked.

Luis laughed. “It’s probably my girlfriend’s.”

“Or George’s.”

“Are you talking about Georgia?”

“Yes. The girl you’re cheating on your girlfriend with.”

“It’s not like that,” Luis said.

“Oh, really?”

“Really. She likes it. I tell her everything I do with Georgia. It turns her on.”

I scrunched up my nose. “There’s no way she likes that.”

“No, she does. Well, mostly. Every now and then she keys my car. But it’s just part of the game. The makeup sex is so worth it.”

I just stared at him. Because I had no idea what to say to that.

“It seems like you and Axel are into something similar.”

“What?”

He gestured toward my right.

I turned to see Axel slow dancing with some blonde cheerleader. His head was turned away from me, but the angle made it seem like he might be kissing her.

I quickly turned away just in case. I didn’t want to see that.

“The makeup sex is great, am I right?”

“No, you’re not right, Luis.” I shook my head. “Axel and I aren’t dating. I’m with Jacob.”

“So they’re sharing you?”

“What the hell are you talking about? No.” I was honestly surprised Luis had never dated Sophie. Because they had similar views on jumping to wild conclusions about threesomes.

“Oh. Well...if you’re looking for a little fun. I bet my girlfriend would really love hearing about us hooking up.”

“I’d rather jump off a cliff.”

He laughed. “You haven’t lived at all, Scarlett. Come on. It’ll be our little secret. Well, and my girlfriend. It’ll be a fun game.”

Luis was disgusting. I felt bad for drawing a similarity between him and Soph.

But I had a sick feeling in my stomach. Was I already part of some twisted game between Luis and his girlfriend?

Was he hooking up with me in dark closets and then describing it to his girlfriend so he’d get his car keyed? I shuddered.

“You didn’t answer my question,” I said.

“You asked a lot of questions all in a row. Are you talking about William? Because yeah, he’s definitely gay.”

That was the least of my worries. “Are you cheating on your girlfriend with anyone besides George?”

“Georgia. And you tell me, babe.” His hands slid to my ass.

I pushed him off. No. My kiss thief wasn’t a creep. At least, I hoped not. It could easily be Luis. Or Mr. Halifax. Or Leo. Or someone that wasn’t on my list at all. Ugh.

“Text me if you change your mind,” Luis said and walked away.

Text? No. Noooooo. Was that a confession? Because I’d texted my kiss thief a ton. And I didn’t have Luis’ number. Unless he was my kiss thief. God.

I opened the lid of my water bottle and took a huge sip. I just wanted to feel like I had half an hour ago. Before my dad sent Axel over to babysit me.

“So?” Sophie asked. “Did you get a good read on his height?”

I cursed under my breath. “I forgot.”

“Scar!”

“Soph! He was asking me to be his third or something. He’s repulsive.”

She laughed. “He already has a third. George.”

“Okay...his fourth then. And he told me to text him if I change my mind. Text! Sophie! My kiss thief is Luis.”

Sophie put her hands on my shoulders. “Take a deep breath.”

Instead of following her instructions, a sob escaped my throat.

“Oh my God, what’s wrong?” She pulled me into a hug.

“I broke up with Axel.”

“What?”

“It’s super done, Soph. He doesn’t like me. We’re friends. We were always just meant to be friends.”

“Oh, Scar.” She hugged me tight. She held me silently for a moment. “Are you sure though? That you’re just friends?”

“Of course I’m sure.”

“But he gave you his crown. I saw the whole thing. It looked super romantic.”

“He just said he used to think I was the prettiest princess. When we played that game when we were little.”

Sophie ran her hand up and down my back. “He said that? That he used to?”

“Pretty much.” I sniffed. “Justin is going to kill me.” I pulled back and tried to wipe under my eyes.

“I’ve got you.” Sophie wiped the corners of my eyes. “You’re okay.”

I wasn’t. Not even close. “And I took too long to figure everything out. It’s the spin the bottle situation all over again. Jacob left with Olivia.”

“You sure about that?”

“What?”

Sophie subtly gestured over to the bar.

Jacob was standing there slowly sipping from a water bottle that was most likely filled with vodka.

“He’s been staring at you for a while,” Sophie said.

“He has?”

She nodded. “Angrily drinking that as Luis touched your ass.”

“Really?”

“Please go tell him how you feel,” she said.

I slowly nodded.

“Team Jacob,” she said.

“Team Jacob.”