Page 101 of Not In The Contract

“Which was teaching.”

“How the hell did you know that?” I gasped. I hadn’t told a soul—it had been a personal resignation, a concession after years of study that maybe school was all I’d ever be good at.

“We’re best friends, remember?” she deadpanned. “We’ve been platonic soulmates forever. I even know that you’re going to stop by that Korean place for chicken before heading back to the house.”

“You scare me.”

“Excellent,” she teased, blowing me a kiss. “But that’s not what we’re here to discuss. The main priority is what you’ll do with those resources.”

“Oh?”

I’d expected Tamera to tease me about my feelings for Alex. It seemed an entrepreneur never rested.

“Duh, she’s abillionaire, Devon,” she said emphatically. “With a ‘b’. You need to use what’s being offered to you.”

“I don’t even know what to use, let alone how to use them!”

“Honey, you want to help kids,” she said gently. “Start there.Then, we can address this massively embarrassing crush you have on your benefactor.”

“She is not my benefactor, you degenerate!”

Tamera laughed as a fry zoomed past her ear. “Hey! Don’t throw food!” She giggled, tossing a fry at me like the hypocrite she was. “You know it’s a little embarrassing, don’t be shy to admit it.”

“I suck at one-night-stands,” I grouched. “Sue me.”

“Did you tell Alex that?” she pressed. “Maybe if she thought you were interested in more than casual fucking, she’d be willing to give you the time of day.”

“That stung, you asshole.” I frowned, but a part of me agreed. I just didn’t want to face the very real possibility that Alex would never see me that way.

“But it was true, no?” she asked, eating another fry. “You’re the one studying psychology here, I’m just offering an outsider’s point of view.”

“You are far from an outsider, but I get your point.”

“Have you talked to Alex about her sister?”

I shrugged. “Once, soon after we first met,” I said. “She explained their situation and the ways that Jamie manipulates her.”

“And recently?”

“I’ve barely said five words to Alex in the last two days.”

“Damn, okay.” Tamera winced. “Does Jamie not have her own friends she can boss around? Why does she have to cling to her older sister like a child?”

“Money and power.” I shrugged, and flinched at the words.

That was harsh, I didn’t know Jamie well enough to make that assumption. But Alex had money and power and had only reconnected with Jamie once she’d secured the wealth she needed to do that. It wasn’t unheard of. But my gut roiled with disgust at my own thoughts, oily with guilt.

“You think so?” Tamera asked.

“She’s weaponized their childhood trauma and turned it onto Alex.” I sighed. “I can’t see how it could be anything else. They should both talk about it; there’s probably so much that they need to air out that’s remained stagnant in their relationship. But I don’t think it’ll ever happen.”

“So you’ve already eliminated the possibility of dating Alex.”

“In a way, yeah,” I admitted, my chest aching. “She’ll never have time in her life for another person, not when she’s already married to her job and taking care of her sister. I don’t want to be a burden.”

“I will slap that word out of your mouth, Devon,” Tamera warned but I waved her off.

“You know what I mean!” I groaned. “I’ll just be another person who has emotional needs and I don’t want her to see me as a chore or a task that needs to be checked off her list.”