Page 38 of The Billionaires' Gamble

He pulls me in for a kiss. “I’m good with pizza.”

I’m the last one to get dressed, and as I’m standing at the sink trying to brush the tangles out of my hair, my phone rings. Since I’ve already blocked my mother, my blood pressure stays in the realm of normal. Crossing to the tub, I pluck up my phone and see Simon’s name across the top.

I put him on speaker phone and finish brushing my hair. “Hey Simon.”

“Katrina, great news! The jade plant is ready for its new home.”

I’d totally forgotten about the giant plant Roman and I helped Simon and Bonnie free from its old pot. Was that really a week ago?

“I have bad news,” I say, picking up my phone and wandering downstairs in search of the guys. “I’m locked out of my apartment at the moment. There was a water leak. They’re still investigating and won’t let any of us in.”

“No way! That’s awful. Is your place okay?”

“I don’t know.” I’ve been trying to keep my cool about it, and distractions help, but not being able to go home is the weirdest feeling. Like limbo.

“When did it happen?”

I fill Simon in on the details and go find the guys in the den. Gabe and King are wrestling over the remote. Alex sits to the side, sprawled, a beer in hand, content to watch the throwdown. Leaning against the door frame, I take in the shenanigans, my heart full.

“I don’t know if you should deliver it here or wait until I’m back in my apartment, whenever that is.”

Gabe, who lost the war of the remote, turns to me, a question on his handsome face. I hold my phone to my chest and explain my dilemma.

“Have him bring it here.” He crosses the room.

“Are you sure? This plant is as big as I am. It’ll be a bear to move again.”

He glances over his shoulder at King, and for a second, I think he’s going to volunteer my bestie to move said plant. But his expression softens. “I thought we might stay here for a while. Joshua doesn’t need the place. In fact, he told me he’s thinking about selling.”

“Really?” King chimes in.

“Simon,” I say into the phone. “Why don’t you bring it here?”

Gabe rattles off the address, and Simon promises to text when he’s on his way over tomorrow. Disconnecting the call, I glance up at Gabe.

“You really want to stay here?” Didn’t he just outfit his apartment for all of us?

I miss my place. My closet. My plants. My things.

“Don’t you?” he asks, bending his knees so he can look me in the eye. “There’s space for everyone. The location’s killer. We have one of the only townhouses with an attached garage. We only need to use the elevator if we want to. And there’s a backyard with your name on it.”

Butter me up, why don’t you?

“Okay, I do like that part.” Blasted man knows my weaknesses. Not all of them, I amend.

He takes my hand and tugs me toward the sectional, positioning me between the others. King mutes the television. “Is he really thinking of selling?”

“That’s what he said.”

Gabe brings me a beer, twisting off the top. I love watching his hands move.

“I wonder what he’d take for it,” King muses, looking out the window.

“You in the market?” Alex asks, thumbnail peeling back the label on his bottle.

Kingston shrugs. “Never know. I like my sailboat, but I don’t think we’d all fit.”

My shoulders drop, and the tiny balloon of hope deflates. Of course he makes a joke. It’s silly to plan out a whole future in my head when we haven’t even discussed it yet, but even so, I see it so clearly. I want it. I want them.