Page 160 of The Revenge Game

“It’s okay. Andrew’s paying,” Justin says with a smirk in my direction.

His mother frowns. “I’m sure Andrew doesn’t just want to fritter his money away. What is it that you do anyway, Andrew?”

“Uh…I’m in IT,” I say.

“Oh, I guess that pays quite well, doesn’t it?”

“Ah…yes, it pays quite well,” I say, shooting a look at Justin. He suddenly has a freaked-out expression, like he’s just realized he’s going to have to break the news to his mother about who his boyfriend actually is at some point.

But I’ve had my own realization. This is the one silver lining for how we fell in love. I will never doubt that Justin’s feelings for me are completely unrelated to my net worth.

“Justin, honey, before you leave…” His mom gestures toward a spare room. “Would you mind helping me fix that shelf in my craft room?”

“Sure thing, Mom.” Justin sends a glance at me. “It shouldn’t take too long unless you want to help?

“Given my DIY skills rate somewhere around my cooking skills, I’ll skip it,” I say. “Besides, I need to call Leo.”

Justin nods and follows his mother into the spare room while I step out onto the small balcony.

The faint sound of Justin’s and his mom’s laughter drifts through the screen door as I pull out my phone.

“Hey, Andrew.” Leo sounds flustered when he picks up.

“Hey, how’s it going?”

“Uh…I’m not having the best night, actually,” he says.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s kind of a long story. Anyway, how is everything with you? Did you sort things with Justin?”

“That’s why I called. I wanted to let you know we’re back together.”

“That is really great news,” Leo says.

“It is, isn’t it?”

“Justin’s seen the absolute worst of you, so if he still wants to be with you, then I think you’ve got the basis of a successful relationship.”

It doesn’t sound all that romantic when Leo phrases it that way, but hey, I can’t help agreeing with the underlying sentiment. Justin and I definitely do have the basis for a very successful relationship.

“So, what’s your long story?” I ask.

Leo laughs a dark chuckle. “Well, remember I talked about getting revenge on Vaughn?”

“Vaughn Mansley, the guy who stole your idea and used it to get a promotion ahead of you.”

“Yeah, him.”

“What happened?”

“Well, I ran into him, and an opportunity came up to exact some revenge, so I decided to take it, but…uh…things have gone slightly wrong.”

“What went wrong?”

“Well, I may or may not have accidentally got my revenge on his brother instead.”

“What? What happened?”