The Billionaire Boys Club (Billionaire Romance Series Book 1) (16 page)

Ryan shook his head no. “You can take a cab. Do you need money?”
 

Kelsey stood up.
 

“Ryan, I thought we were on a date.”
 

“Dating is boring, Kelsey.”

“You don’t want a relationship with me?” she asked.

“A sexual one, sure. Otherwise, no,” Ryan replied.

Kelsey felt a catch in her throat. How could she have been so wrong?

“OK,” she finally said, and she walked toward the door.

“I’ll see you at school,” Ryan said. “No hard feelings.”
 

“No,” Kelsey said, confused. She put her hand on the door and let herself out. She leaned next to the closed door for a moment, to gather herself, then walked to the elevator and pressed the down button.
 

A few moments later, as the cold Seattle air hit her face, Kelsey began to cry. Not because of Ryan, who was clearly a jerk, but for being so naive. Tears rolled gently down her cheeks as she walked toward downtown.
 

An hour later, Kelsey’s phone rang. Her tears had stopped falling and had given way to anger. She was sitting outside an office building, on a concrete bench. She glanced at the phone but didn’t recognize the number. She picked up anyway. What difference did it make? She was in a terrible mood already.
 

“Kelsey?” said a voice she recognized. “Where are you?”
 

“Tyler?” Kelsey asked.

“Where are you?” Tyler repeated.
 

“Downtown,” Kelsey said.

“Where?” Tyler asked again. Kelsey sighed and looked up. She hadn’t walked far, just out of Belltown. She had been walking to one of the big hotels to have them get a cab for her, but she had stopped to think.

“Bell and Ninth,” she replied.
 

“I’ll be there in five minutes. Stay there,” Tyler said, and he disconnected.
 

Three minutes later, a white Audi pulled in front of the office building and Tyler jumped out.
 

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“What are you doing here?” Kelsey asked him.

“Are you okay?” he asked again.

“Yes,” Kelsey said. “Why are you here?”

Tyler looked at her before answering.
 

“I have no idea,” he replied. “Get in. I’ll take you back to school.”
 

Kelsey shook her head. “No, thank you,” she said.
 

Tyler sat next to her.
 

“You’d rather take the bus?” he asked.
 

Kelsey sighed. “I’m not ready to go back yet,” she replied.
 

“Fine,” Tyler said. He looked around. “Get in the car. I’ll get you something to eat.”
 

Kelsey looked at him, and sighed again.
 

“It’s cold, Kelsey,” Tyler said, standing. Kelsey stood up and got into the Audi. Tyler joined her, and he drove across the street. He took a sharp turn into an underground parking lot and parked the car.
 

“Have you eaten?” he asked Kelsey.
 

“No.”
 

“Come on then,” Tyler got out of the car and Kelsey followed him. They walked to an elevator and took it up. The doors opened on the blindingly bright florescent lights of Whole Foods. Tyler and Kelsey walked out of the elevator, Kelsey squinting from the glare.
 

“What are you in the mood for?” Tyler asked her. Kelsey looked at him blankly. Ten minutes ago, she had been sitting glumly in the cold darkness, and now she was standing in a grocery store being asked what she wanted for dinner. This was turning out to be a strange evening.
 

“Let’s see what they have,” Tyler said, walking towards the deli.
 

Kelsey followed him. Although it was a Saturday evening, or perhaps because it was Saturday evening, the store was crowded with shoppers. Tyler strode across the store and stopped in front of the pizza.
 

“Do you want pizza? I think that they make sandwiches too.” Kelsey looked at him in disbelief. Why was Tyler Olsen standing here with her?

“I’m starving,” he said, as if he read her thoughts. “I think I’ll have a reuben.” He glanced at her. “Pick something. It’s my treat.”
 

Kelsey looked at him, as he looked back at her patiently. He really was expecting her to order something. “Fine,” Kelsey said. “Lasagna.”
 

Tyler peered through the glass case. He said, “A reuben and two pieces of spinach lasagna, please,” to the employee behind the counter. The man nodded and went to prepare their food.
 

“Want a drink?” Tyler said to Kelsey, walking away toward the drinks cooler. Kelsey watched him as he picked out two bottles and brought them back.
 

“Lemonade?” he asked. Kelsey nodded.
 

“Can you hold them?” Tyler asked, handing the bottles to her. Kelsey took the cool bottles, while Tyler got a tray and set it on the deli counter. When the food was ready, the employee set it on the tray and Tyler thanked him, then carried the tray to the checkout. Kelsey followed with the bottles.
 

Tyler paid for the food, and the two of them walked to the corner of the store where there was a small seating area. It was empty, and Tyler put the tray on a table by a window. Kelsey sat, and Tyler walked over to get utensils. He returned and put them on the tray. He opened the paper wrapper of the sandwich and took half of it. He took a bite, and looked at Kelsey.
 

“Are you sure that you’re okay?” he asked her. “You’re less feisty than usual.”
 

Kelsey picked up her fork. “Nothing happened,” she replied.
 

Tyler smiled. “Yeah, I heard that.”
 

Kelsey set her fork down. “He called you?”
 

“WhatsApp,” Tyler replied, taking a bite of the sandwich.
 

‘’What a jerk,” Kelsey said, violently sticking the fork into the lasagna.
 

“I told you,” Tyler said, taking another bite.

“You’re a jerk too,” Kelsey exclaimed.
 

“Me? Why?” Tyler asked.
 

“Why do you call me Princess?”
 

Tyler laughed.
 

“I don’t know. I guess you remind me of one.”
 

“Right,” Kelsey said.
 

“You do,” Tyler replied. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know it bothered you.”
 

“Well, it does,” Kelsey said, taking a bite of the lasagna.
 

“I’ll try to stop,” Tyler smiled. “I did warn you, you know.”
 

“Do you always have to be right?” Kelsey snapped.
 

“Yes,” Tyler replied seriously, taking another bite of the sandwich.
 

“That’s irritating too,” Kelsey said.
 

“Anything else?” Tyler asked.
 

“No,” Kelsey said, eating. The lasagna was really good.
 

They ate the rest of the meal in silence.
 

As Tyler gathered the wrappers and tray, he asked Kelsey.
 

“Do you want dessert?”
 

“Yes,” Kelsey said without hesitation. This was definitely a pint of ice cream kind of night.
 

They cleaned off the table, recycling what they could, then they walked across the store to the bakery. They were greeted with an array of colorful desserts under the glass.
 

“What do you want?” Tyler asked Kelsey.
 

“Everything,” Kelsey replied.
 

“Order that, then,” Tyler said. Kelsey looked at him. “You’ll burn it off in the gym anyway,” he added.

“Can I help you?” the employee behind the counter asked.
 

“Chocolate cupcake,” Kelsey said.
 

“Make it two,” Tyler added.

“Boxed up?” the employee asked.

“Absolutely not,” Tyler said.

The employee placed two fat cupcakes with icing on the counter and handed them napkins and the pricing sticker. They walked back over to the checkout to pay, then Tyler led them outside. They sat on the steps leading to the Pan Pacific Hotel. Kelsey licked icing off of her fingers.
 

“How did you get my number?” Kelsey asked.
 

“Your roommate. I told her I needed to talk about Legal Writing. She wouldn’t give it to me otherwise.”
 

Kelsey smiled. Jess was so loyal, even though she didn’t think Tyler was a bad guy.
 

“I see,” Kelsey said, taking a bite out of the cupcake. She licked her lips, then said, “You didn’t have to come.”
 

“I know,” Tyler said, as he wiped his fingers on a napkin.
 

“Thanks,” Kelsey said.

“You’re welcome,” Tyler replied, taking another bite.
 

They finished the cupcakes and walked back into the store. They took the elevator down to Tyler’s car and got in. Tyler started the car and they drove back to campus in silence. They walked from the parking lot, and back to their dorm. As they reached Tyler’s floor, Kelsey turned to him.
 

“Good night, Tyler,” she said.
 

“Good night, Princess,” he replied mischievously. Then he walked down the hall.

“If I see him, I’ll kill him,” Jessica said over brunch the next morning.

“It doesn’t matter,” Kelsey sighed. “It isn’t like Tyler didn’t warn me.”
 

“I can’t believe he’s like that. He seems so nice,” Jessica said, taking a forkful of eggs.
 

“Yeah. I thought so too,” Kelsey said.
 

“You cannot tell who to trust around here,” Jessica said.
 

“It’s just another lesson,” Kelsey replied.

“So why did Tyler come get you? Guilt?”

Kelsey shook her head. “He warned me about Ryan. He doesn’t have a reason to feel guilty.”

“Maybe he likes you,” Jessica said.

“I’m done with boys,” Kelsey replied, taking a bite of toast. “I’ve learned my lesson. I’m going to focus on studying only.”
 

On Monday, Kelsey went through the usual order of her day. Exercise in the morning at the same time as Tyler, who acknowledged her presence with his usual nod. Civil Procedure sitting between Ashley and Jessica, and Torts, in her usual spot next to Tyler. Unlike the past couple of weeks, Kelsey appreciated the fact that seat he occupied put more space between her and Ryan Perkins.
 

Tuesday, Ryan ignored her to start chatting up a potential new plaything. Kelsey noted that his new attraction was blonde as well. It didn’t matter to her, because she thoroughly enjoyed watching Ryan crash and burn the following Thursday as he was asked to discuss a Property case that clearly he hadn’t bothered to study.
 

“That’s the way to impress a girl,” she overheard Tyler say to him as they were leaving the classroom.

“Shut up,” Ryan growled.
 

On Friday, in Legal Writing, Kelsey sat next to Tyler, who was typing into his smartphone. He only looked up when Keith walked into the room.

“Hello, everyone,” Keith said. “Today,” he said as he shook a stack of loose papers in his hand, “I will assign your team your first writing assignment. It will be due two weeks from today.”
 
Keith walked around handing out pages as he spoke. “You will be writing a legal memorandum, and each team has a different topic. For the first hour today, I’ll start talking about the steps that you you should take in writing and organizing your ideas, then for the second hour, I would like you and your partner to start brainstorming how you will approach the assignment.” Keith handed the sheet to Tyler, who placed it on the table in front of them. It read.
 

Jones and Smith are neighbors. Last Friday, Smith’s dog, ‘Bunny’, bit Jones on the ankle. In your memorandum, discuss whether Jones has a potential claim.

Kelsey bit her lip. She was nervous but excited. Here was the first memo she would write. Even though it was simple, she knew that it was a stepping stone to something bigger. She smiled as Keith continued.
 

“All right, let’s discuss how to approach this,” he said. For the next hour, Keith discussed the issues that needed to be addressed, where to find the information that was necessary and how to use the tools on the internet to get the cases and to make sure that the memo was complete.

“One final thing,” Keith said seriously. “We will be running your memorandum through our copy screener, so make sure that you don’t just copy something off the internet and turn it in. You need to do your own research and come up with your own conclusions, so think like a Darrow student and do the assignment properly. Please go ahead and talk with your partner, and you’re free to leave once you’re done.” And with those words, Keith left the room.

Tyler stood up. “Let’s go,” he said to Kelsey.
 

“What? Where?” she asked.
 

“Somewhere quieter,” Tyler replied. He picked up his bag and began to head out of the room. Kelsey grabbed her own bag and joined him. She followed him out of Darrow Hall, across the damp quad, and into the coffee shop on the first floor of the library.

“Do you want anything?” Tyler asked, placing his backpack on one of the tables. Kelsey shook her head and sat down. A few moments later, Tyler returned carrying a tall coffee cup. He sat.
 

“Where do you think we should start?” Kelsey asked seriously. She had taken out her tablet and prepared to take notes.

“At the beginning,” Tyler said coolly, taking a sip of his drink.

“Funny,” Kelsey said in irritation.

“Have you written a memo before?” Tyler asked her.

“No,” Kelsey responded.
 

“I see,” Tyler said.

“What does that mean?” Kelsey asked.

“It means I see,” Tyler replied.