Page 39 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 11

Saturday

Hey, guys!" Rob said as we stepped off the elevator. "Why won't you die?"

I looked over at him. He was sitting on the couch with a videogame controller in his hand.

Sitting right next to him was…Brendan. I knew what he looked like because I’d lightly stalked him after Penny told me they’d kissed.

And by I, I mean I’d had Ian do it and he sent me a whole background check on the guy.

Fuck, I still needed to tell Penny about Ian.

I blinked, hoping I was imagining Brendan sitting there.

What the fuck is Brendan doing in our apartment?

"Boom, suck it!" Brendan stood up and made a rude gesture toward Rob.

Rob threw his game controller at him. "Suck that."

Brendan caught it in one hand and looked over at us. "Hey, Penny." He was smirking at her.

This pompous ass…

"Hi, Brendan,” she said.

I tightened my grip around her waist. Breathe.

"Oh yeah, Penny, I ran into your friend in the elevator," Rob said. "If I had known he was so good at this game I never would have asked him to play, though."

"You're such a sore loser." Brendan tossed both controllers down on the couch and walked over to us. "Hey, man. We haven't officially met, but I've certainly heard a lot about you." He put his hand out for me. "I'm Brendan."

I took another deep breath. He was being nice. I could play nice too. I let go of Penny’s waist and shook his hand. "I think I owe you a thank you for taking Penny to the hospital the other day."

"No problem."

"I'm glad to see you're still alive," Brendan said to her. "I've been waiting for your call all week." He leaned down and hugged her.

"Sorry," she said and awkwardly patted his back.

"Yeah, I'm thankful for what you did." I put my hand on Brendan's shoulder. "But I don't appreciate the fact that you made out with my girlfriend."

Brendan released Penny from his hug and laughed. "Oh. You know about that? Well, she wasn't exactly your girlfriend when that happened. Either time."

"Either time?" I said as calmly as I could. Breathe. What was this asshole talking about?

Rob laughed and ran over to us. "Seriously? You hooked up with Penny? This is just too good. Anyone want a beer?"

"What do you mean either time?" I asked again.

"The second time doesn't really count I guess," Brendan said and leaned against the kitchen counter. "I kissed her, she didn't kiss me back."

"When?" I turned to Penny.

"In the hospital," she said quietly.

I clenched my jaw. He’d been there with her before I even knew she’d been admitted. So they’d kissed before I showed up? I’d just thanked him for being there with her when I should have been wringing his neck.

"Don't get mad at her,” Brendan said. “I'm pretty sure she was doped up on morphine and she still pushed me off. Clearly she chose you. I didn't even get a thank you for sending her flowers. I'm not used to losing. I'll have a beer," he said to Rob.

That didn’t make it better at all. He’d kissed her when she was high. That was just as bad as what McCarty had done. And Tyler. Freaking Tyler.

"You got it." Rob slid a beer down the counter and Brendan picked it up.

"I do really appreciate the fact that you were there when Penny fainted," I said. "But I think it's probably best if we don't make it a habit to hang out here." Fucking creep.

"Calm down, James,” Rob said. “Brendan's cool. He even apologized for hooking up with your girlfriend. That's a quality guy. Besides, you can't blame him for trying. That's the risk of having a hot girlfriend."

No, they were supposed to be terrified of hitting on her in front of me because I’d kick their asses. This was just another reason why I needed my ring on her finger. "I'm not sure I'm completely comfortable having two guys here hitting on her," I said.

"I'm not hitting on Penny," Rob said. "She's the one that clearly wants me." He winked at Penny. "Was she a good kisser, Brendan? I bet she was a good kisser."

"A great kisser." Brendan smiled at her.

"I knew it," Rob said.

This was fucking ridiculous. I was just about to open my mouth, but Penny beat me to it.

"Okay," she said. "Will you all just stop? Stop talking about me like I'm not standing right here. James.” She turned to me. “Brendan's just a friend. I told you that.”

True. But she was also just friends with Tyler Stevens and that guy definitely had ulterior motives. He’d given her roses for fuck’s sake.

“And actually, you should be thanking him because I talked to him that afternoon when I left your place confused. And he told me to choose you. He was actually really nice and helpful."

"That's true," Brendan said. "She told me you were a better lay than Tyler, so I told her she should choose you.”

I stifled a laugh.

“I didn't even hit on her. Or wait. Maybe I did. I think I probably said that if she really wanted to know what a good lay was she should call me."

Penny groaned. "I said stop talking. But yeah. See? He was just being a good friend. Despite that last part. And Rob," she said, turning to him. "I don't want to sleep with you. I'm in love with your brother. So please just stop saying super weird things to me. It's really inappropriate."

"I do like you," Rob said. "You're like a million times better than the troll. Feisty too. I like a girl that can stick up for herself."

"Oh my God. I asked you to stop."

Rob smiled at her. "Stopping." He pretended to lock his mouth and throw away the key. "And Brendan's not going to hit on Penny anymore either, right Brendan?"

I wasn't at all surprised that Rob had immediately started talking right after he had thrown away the key. He didn’t know when to shut up.

He never had. But I couldn’t help but smile.

Having him around really did feel like old times.

Him being here plus me being so happy with Penny made me feel young again.

It was hard to be upset about Brendan, or Tyler, or anyone else when I was so damn happy.

I still preferred him not in my apartment though.

"Sure, I won't hit on her anymore," Brendan said. He took a sip of his beer.

"How about you two go hang out at Brendan's place?" I said.

"But I just set up the Xbox! Let's all play Golden Eye. We can shoot it out." Rob patted my chest and walked back toward the living room. "Besides, Penny promised to school us."

"I doubt that," Brendan said and followed him back to the T.V.

I sighed. "Of course Rob had to befriend Brendan," I whispered to Penny. "I don't like this at all. I want you all to myself."

She laughed. "James, they're just joking around. You do have me all to yourself."

"They're not joking around." I smiled down at her. "Even three men flirting with you isn't enough to make you realize how beautiful you are."

"You're the only man that makes me feel beautiful." She wrapped her hands behind my neck.

"Hey, love birds! It's game time!" Rob called over to us.

I leaned down and brushed my lips against her ear. "Let's take them down."

"Okay, partner." She reached down and squeezed my ass.

I laughed and grabbed her hand. "Rob is right. You are feisty. And all mine. I can't wait to move and have you all to myself again. There are so many things I'd rather be doing than playing videogames right now." My eyes fell to her tits. Yeah, I’d much rather be playing with them.

But I could behave myself for a few hours. I led her over to the couch and pulled her onto my lap as I sat down.

She laughed as I wrapped my arms around her.

"You guys can't seriously play like that. Come on, I need help killing Brendan." Rob handed us each a controller.

Instead of moving off of my lap, she looked down at the controller. "Wait, why are there two joysticks?"

"This is going to be hilarious," Rob said and restarted the game.

"Wait, you have to tell me how to use this."

I kissed the side of her neck. "So, the right joystick lets you move your view up and down. And the left one lets you move your guy around."

"Why did they make it more complicated? Aren't advancements in technology supposed to make things better, not worse?"

I laughed and kissed her neck again.

After we selected our characters, the screen split into four quadrants. I was pretty sure I knew which one Penny was…the girl continuously running into a wall. This was definitely a lot different than N64.

"Crap, why is this so hard?" She slid off my lap as she tried to focus. Her girl started running in circles, staring at her feet.

"Speaking of hard," Rob said. "Penny sitting on your lap got you a little excited there, James."

"What?" I looked down at my pants. "I don't have..."

Rob snuck up behind me in the game and shot me in the back of the head.

"Asshole." I reached around Penny and shoved his arm. "Game on. I'm going to kill you next."

"I have a better idea," said Brendan. "Let's see who can kill Penny first."

"No! Just give me a second to figure this out." She had just tilted her head back up when blood filled the screen.

"Gotcha!" Brendan said.

"Damn it, Brendan!"

He started laughing as Penny’s character came back from the dead. Rob immediately shot her in the face and started laughing too.

"What is wrong with you guys? Just give me a minute to learn what to do."

I couldn’t help it. I started laughing too. Why was she so terrible at this?

"Hey." She nudged my shoulder.

"I thought you said you were good at videogames," I said and smiled down at her.

"I am good at videogames! I don't know what this crap is." Her character reappeared on the screen again.

I lifted my gun to her face.

"Don't you dare, James."

I immediately shot her.

"James! You're supposed to be on my team!" She started laughing too.

"What?!" Rob yelled. "You're both supposed to be helping me kill Brendan!"

"I can't kill anyone, this game is impossible." She fired her gun at the floor.

"Maybe we should all play a different game?" Rob asked. "I know you're fond of pool, Penny."

I looked down to see Penny’s cheeks flush.

"You're good at pool?" Brendan asked. "We could play that instead. It's too easy to beat everyone in this anyway." He shot Rob in the chest.

"Shit," Rob mumbled.

"No,” Penny said. “Actually, I kind of suck at pool.” She had finally gotten her character to run in a straight line. She hid behind a column.

Brendan’s character was approaching her from the other side of the column.

I kept my mouth shut. I really wanted to see if she’d be able to kill him. He didn't seem to realize he was walking into a trap.

"Yeah, I guess not," Rob said. "If you were I wouldn't have found your underwear all over the pool table. James clearly demolished you."

Brendan started laughing. "Strip pool? Now that's a fun game."

I would have been annoyed, but I was very entertained by the fact that Penny was definitely about to kill Brendan.

He walked past her hiding spot and Penny fired her gun. Her first shot missed, but her second shot hit him in the side of the head. "Yes!" she screamed and stood up. "I just killed someone!"

"Shit, you just killed Brendan!" Rob said.

"Nice.” I held up my hand and she high-fived me.

"See, I am good at videogames!" She high-fived Rob too.

"Yeah, I kind of thought you were lying,” Rob said. “But you just killed the master himself.” He looked over at her. “Why are you so good at videogames, Penny?"

"I was a very nerdy youth." She sat back down on the couch.

I wrapped my arm around her back. "You're ridiculously cute."

"I never would have guessed you were a nerd growing up," Rob said. "That probably explains why you're so kinky now though."

"Rob, come on," I said.

"Oh. Was that inappropriate too? I thought that was just a nice compliment. I guess I don't know where the line is."

"Obviously," I said with a laugh.

"Let's play a different map,” Brendan said. “I'm demanding a rematch. I refuse to accept the fact that I just got beat by a girl who's never touched an Xbox before."

"You're just mad because she's touching an Xbox instead of you," Rob said and switched to a snowy mountainside.

Brendan laughed. "Fair enough."

"I'm so sorry," I whispered into Penny’s ear.

"It's fine." She smiled up at me.

God, she really was ridiculously adorable. And even though Rob and Brendan were being terrible, I was glad that she liked hanging out with the guys. She was going to love Mason and Matt too. It was going to be just like old times when we moved to NYC.

***

After several rounds of Golden Eye, Brendan stood up and stretched. "I think I've redeemed myself."

"Yeah, whatever," Penny mumbled.

She had only gotten one kill since our first game. And it was because I’d let her kill me on purpose because I felt bad.

"Yeah," Rob said. "Clearly Penny just got lucky before. I think I'm done playing for the night. Who wants to go out?"

"I think I'm going to stay in tonight," I said and yawned. I didn’t need to beat up any other professors. So I wanted to stay in with Penny. Besides, it was a lot easier to not do something stupid that would upset her when I was right next to her.

"Stop being lame." Rob stood up and stretched too.

"You can go," Penny said. "Melissa asked me if I'd come over and help her get ready for the Sigma Pi formal."

Oh. "Are you sure?" I ran my hand down the side of her neck.

"Yeah, go have fun." She smiled.

Well… "Actually, I do have a few things I need to get done,” I said. I didn’t want to go out drinking again. I had something better in mind.

Rob laughed. "Crap, do we have to go beat someone else up? That was fun and all, but I have some other things in mind for tonight."

"No, nothing like that." I gave Penny a mischievous smile.

"Why are you smiling like that? I'm with Rob on this one. Please stop beating people up."

I laughed. "I'm not going to beat anyone up. Do you want me to drop you off at your dorm?" Rob and Brendan had already started walking toward the elevator.

"No, I think I'd like some fresh air after sitting on the couch all day."

"Okay." I tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Try to pace yourself tonight."

I knew I’d worried her this morning. She expected me to be hungover and I wasn’t.

Being with someone like me wasn’t exactly easy.

But she didn’t have anything to worry about tonight.

Or at all. I didn’t need any vices when I had her.

And last night I was in complete control.

Alcohol had never really been my weakness anyway.

Drugs were my real problem. Well, drugs and sex.

But I was fine. I was good. "You don't need to worry about me." I winked at her.

"What on earth are you planning to do? Now I'm more worried than before."

"There's nothing to worry about tonight." I kissed her cheek and got up off the couch. I was on a new mission, but this one wasn’t going to upset her. At least, I hoped it wouldn’t.