Page 53 of Forbidden Billionaires, Vol. 9

"Hey, guys!" I called as I walked into my apartment.

Rory turned his head toward me, but I didn't look at him.

Jackson and Connor were sitting in the living room with him, watching a baseball game.

I stumbled slightly as I kicked off my flip flops and walked over to them.

One bottle of wine had quickly turned into two.

The more I had to drink, the better and better Jim's advice seemed to be.

I had hatched a plan in my head that I thought was pretty good. And it started with me ignoring Rory.

"Are the Phillies playing?" I asked.

"Do you follow baseball, Keira?" Jackson asked.

"A little. Mostly I like watching the sexy players." I sat down Indian style between Rory and Connor on the couch. My knee was pressed against Rory's thigh, but I pretended like I didn't notice. "Cole Hamels is a total dreamboat."

"Typical," Connor said.

"Don't be so quick to judge me, Connor. I'm just not that into baseball."

"So what sports do you follow?"

"Football. I'm a huge Eagles fan. And it's not just cause of the tight pants."

"Really?"

"Why are guys so surprised when I tell them that?"

"Sexism at its finest," Jackson said.

"Thank you, Jackson!"

"Well I don't believe you. Girls always pretend to be fans of the local teams. And then you actually sit down and watch a game and they don't even know what a field goal is. I bet you can't even name any of the Eagles' past quarterbacks," said Connor.

"Psh. McNabb, Vick, Kolb, and Foles. Boom." I made an exploding noise and spread my fingers in the air.

"You are full of surprises, Keira." He lifted up his beer bottle to me. "But I really wish you would stop booming me. That is so 2009, right Jackson?"

"So 2009," Jackson agreed.

"You guys are weird," I said.

"What were you up to tonight, Keira?" Rory asked. It was the first time he had spoken since I arrived.

"Actually, I had an amazing evening. I went out with some friends." He didn't need to know that going out meant hanging out talking about him. And that my friends were Emily and her husband. I looked over at him. "What were you up to tonight?"

Rory put his hand out, gesturing to his friends, somehow flipping the switch so that it looked like I was the one that was curious about his life.

"Oh, come on!" Connor yelled at the T.V. "Well, that's the end of that game. Why do they suck so much this year?" He switched the channel to ESPN.

"You know, I never understood why guys love this channel so much. You literally just watched everything that happened. Why do you need to hear about it again?"

"Apparently you wouldn't understand because you're a woman," Jackson offered.

"Mhm. Does anyone want anything?" I asked and stood up. They were all silent. I took a step and tripped over Rory's foot. Before I could fall, he grabbed my waist with both his hands. His fingers slid up slightly underneath my shirt.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." It felt like my heart was beating out of my chest. I loved his hands on me.

He slowly let go of me. I smoothed my tank top back down as I walked into the kitchen.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Connor whispering something to Rory.

Weird. I took a deep breath and leaned against the counter.

Rory had to have felt that too. There was just something between us that I couldn't put into words.

I grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge, walked back over to them, and sat down between Rory and Connor again.

"I think we're actually gonna get going," Connor said and stood up.

"Right," Jackson agreed.

"Geez, I won't complain about ESPN anymore. You guys can watch whatever you want. I was just curious."

Jackson laughed. "I'm actually just really tired from the party last night. See you later, guys."

"Later," Connor said and followed Jackson out.

I looked over at Rory and instantly snapped my head back to the T.V.

He was staring at me so intensely. Had he asked them to leave?

Whatever I was doing was clearly working.

My knee was still pressed against his thigh, and now it was hard to ignore it.

Maybe he was going to suggest a repeat of last night.

I stared at the T.V. screen without actually seeing it.

"Are you drunk or something?" Rory finally asked.

"What?"

"I don't know, you're acting weird."

"Trust me, you'd know if I was drunk. I get like ridiculously horny when I'm drunk." What the fuck?! "I mean corny. Ridiculously corny. I just can't stop making stupid jokes." I could feel my face turning red. Calm down. I had been doing so well. I took a deep breath.

"Good to know."

"Why did you ask your friends to leave?" I wanted to be bold. I wanted to follow up with, "Did you want to be alone with me again?" Instead I pressed my lips together, hoping I wouldn't say anything else stupid.

"I didn't ask them to leave."

"Um...I'm pretty sure you did."

He put his arm behind me on the couch, making sure not to touch me. "Actually, I was hoping to talk to you."

"About what?"

"I just want to make sure we're okay."

"We're fine."

"When you disappeared all day, I thought...well, I just wanted to make sure you're okay with me still living here." He scratched the back of his neck with his hand.

"Trust me, Rory, we're fine. Geez, you're acting like I'm in love with you or something. It wasn't even the best sex I've ever had."

He lowered his eyebrows slightly. "Okay then."

"Let's just pretend it never happened, buddy," I patted him on the shoulder.

His eyebrows lowered even more.

I'm so good at this. "Do you want to watch a movie or something?" I grabbed the remote and turned on the T.V. guide channel.

"Sure."

"Actually, you know what? Watching all those hot baseball players really got me hot and bothered.

" I stood up and looked down at him. "I just started this great new book called Made of Steel .

I think I'm just going to spend the rest of the night in my room, if you know what I mean.

Night, Rory!" I turned around before I could see his reaction.

I hoped I hadn't taken it too far. Confessing that I was reading an erotic novel and was super turned on by it probably just freaked him out. Or maybe it made him think I preferred a book over him. I closed the door behind me and sighed. This was going to be so hard.

I sat down at the desk in my room. I looked down at the notes that I had taken the other day, about how dating had recently turned into meaningless hookups.

The front door opened and closed. Rory was probably going out to find some girl to hook up with.

Just the thought made me feel jealous. And angry.

And depressed. Somehow I needed to stay on track with my plan.

I sighed and looked back down at my notes.

I lifted up my pen. Maybe writing about my experiences would make it less personal and more like work.

It was time to take Jim's advice and completely turn the tables on Rory.