Top Love: An Alpha Billionaire Romance (Young Adult Stepbrother and Billionaire Romance Stories) (21 page)

She spent most of her time with Missy as she made the rounds. They had been particularly close during the last two years of school. They hadn’t had much in common but had a tremendous amount of fun. Missy had been overly athletic but had also been very involved in church and had remained a virgin through high school, making her instantly unpopular. And as Lauren had started to gain weight and, thanks to jerks like Jason Gellman, become something of an in-joke in the school, she’d started to have less and less friends. So it made sense that the two of them were feeling so connected in the midst of all of the familiar faces.

It was just after nine o’ clock when Lauren found her second rum and Coke empty. She headed back to the little bar area with Missy and ordered another. The DJ was playing “Name” by Goo Goo Dolls now and the overall vibe of the party was incredibly vibrant and happy.

As Lauren waited for her drink, she noticed someone coming in on her right, sliding up next to her. By the time she realized who it was, it was too late to turn away.

“How are you, Lauren?” Jason Gellman asked.

She turned towards him but only half-looked at him. “Jason. How are you?”

“Not as good as you, apparently,” he said. “Word has it that you’ve had a really good year or so.”

“Yes, I’ve been blessed,” she said.

“Sounds that way.”

Lauren saw that the bored-looking woman that had been with him was nowhere to be seen. She was also pretty sure that Jason was drunk. He was looking at her like something he had just stubbed his toe on. Lauren just hoped she’d be able to get her drink and make her escape before anything bad could happen.

Of course, that’s just not the way it went.

“You’re no different, you know?” he said. “Big shot job, some rich famous asshole you’re banging on a regular basis…that doesn’t mean you’re any better than you were in high school.”

His words hurt, but she was no longer the weak and feeble girl she’d been in high school.

“Let’s say that’s true,” she said, now looking directly at him for the first time. There was a fire in her glare and she hoped he felt it. “If that was true, why is it any business of yours?”

Before he could answer, Missy was at her side and, getting close to drunk herself, had a few cents to throw into the fray.

“Because he killed a football scholarship at UNC with cocaine, his first wife left his ass after less than a year and while you’re making bank in a city far far away, little Jason here can’t get out of the grease pit of the auto garage in Brenton.”

Jason’s eyes flickered over Missy long enough to say, “Bitch.” His eyes then went back to Lauren. He was apparently very much bothered with her newly transformed life. Deep down, this pleased Lauren to no end.

“Let’s head back to my car like old times,” Jason said. “If you could land a rich guy that every woman here is drooling over, you must be awesome in bed.”

Lauren couldn’t help it. She felt her arm moving before she was aware of it. By the time she knew what had happened, the sound of her slapping Jason in the face had already sounded out, temporarily breaking the beat of Dr. Dre’s “Let Me Ride.”

Jason’s response was nearly instantaneous. He actually smiled at her and took one huge stride directly towards her. His hand went to her arm, not in a rough way, but still uninvited all the same.

“You can probably get away with that in your big city,” he said. “But here, a man will kick your ass for that.”

Another voice joined in and hearing it made Lauren’s heart soar in a very sudden way.

“Kicking a woman’s ass means you’re not much of a man at all.” It was Riley’s voice and he was suddenly stepping between Jason and Lauren. “So let’s say you back off before you get yourself embarrassed.”

Jason smirked at Riley, unmoving. “What are you going to do? Throw your heavy wallet at me?”

“No,” Riley said. “Just a right hook. Back off and it won’t happen.”

Jason seemed to consider it for a moment and then shrugged. “Hey man whatever. You’re into fat chicks, so that’s your choice. I don’t—,”

Jason faked Riley out, cutting himself off and throwing a hard right hand at Riley. It landed to the left of Riley’s mouth and might have done some real damage if Jason hadn’t been so drunk. As it was, the blow only caused Riley to stumble back a bit.

Jason advanced to throw another punch, but Riley was much faster and coherent. He threw out a right-handed jab that caught Jason right between the eyes. Jason’s eyes grew wide and he looked totally sober for a moment. He stumbled and then kept coming forward. He threw a punch that Riley easily dodged, countering with another right. This time, Riley’s punch connected with the side of Jason’s head. He spun around and fell to the floor.

Cheers erupted from the crowd. Jason got up slowly, his bottom lip bloodied. He sneered at Lauren and Riley, but the defeated look in his eyes was proof that he wasn’t going to cause any more trouble. Resigned to the fact that he had been beaten and, unlike high school ten years before, he didn’t have many friends that would take his side in the watching crowd.

He then cast his eyes to the floor and walked to the doors in a hurried sort of slouch. He made a dramatic scene by kicking the door open and stumbling out into the hallway. Someone in the crowd started laughing and a few others made more cheering noises.

“You okay?” Riley asked.

“Yeah,” she said. “Are you?”

“Yeah,” he said, although he was massaging his wrist.

As they spoke, a few of the spectators came up to him and patted him on the back. Someone placed a beer in his hand and said, “You’re my hero, dude.”

“Seven months together and this hasn’t come up somehow,” she said. “But how many fights have you been in?”

“Including this one? Two. And I lost the other one pretty badly. I was in middle school and thought it would be safe to pick on the smallest kid on the baseball team. Bad call.”

“Whatever,” Missy said, interjecting. “You looked like you knew what you were doing.”

Suddenly very proud and, if she was being totally honest with herself, turned on, Lauren kissed him and put her arm around him. The DJ started playing “Inside Out” by Eve 6, people starting talking again, and the party went back into full swing.

Lauren was more jubilant to speak to her old friends now but she knew without a doubt that the man on her arm was far superior to any of the friends or memories she’d had while in high school.

***

They left the reunion shortly after eleven. Some of those in attendance had started to get a little too drunk and other concerned parties started organizing designated drivers and calling cabs. Riley, whom only had too much to drink on very special occasions, had only had three beers in the course of the four hours they’d been there and figured he could handle the twelve mile drive back to the Sunshine Lodge.

They made it back safely and without incident but only after a prolonged goodbye from Missy in the parking lot. She and Lauren exchanged numbers, gave a series of final hugs, and then parted ways. As they pulled into the parking lot, Riley looked over and smiled at her. She wasn’t drunk, but she was extremely close.

“How you doing over there?” he asked.

“Feeling good,” she said with a little laugh. “I know we already defiled the shower, but I think you might have to put me to bed. And by putting me to bed, I mean get on top of me.”

She had a tendency to get very forward when she had too much to drink. Riley thought it was cute, but Lauren was always embarrassed the morning after.

“Well, then,” Riley said. “I guess we should get inside.”

They went to the room and just as the door closed behind them, she was on him. She kissed him hard and pressed him against the door. He returned the kiss with equal passion and she started to writhe against him a bit. Just as it was getting hot and heavy, though, she started to giggle.

“What is it?” he asked, their mouths still pressed together.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I think I had a little too much to drink. I have to pee something terrible.”

They both bellowed with laughter. Riley honestly didn’t mind. After seven months together—four of which had been spent under the same roof—things like needing to pee before or after sex were just common occurrences. Sure, the passion was definitely still there between them, but the blemishes of real life had also crept in.

Lauren went to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Riley plopped down on the bed and looked to his right hand. The knuckles had swollen a bit, but the ache he felt was nothing compared to the absolute pleasure he had taken from punching that cretin in the face. He’d never quite felt anything like it before in his life.

A few moments later, Lauren came back into the room. Her demeanor seemed to have changed a bit. She came over to him and placed her hands around his waist. She pulled him close and looked him the eyes.

“No one has ever done that for me before,” she said softly.

“Done what?” he asked.

“Fought for me.”

“Oh. Well…that guy was being an ass. He deserved it. If I hadn’t have done it, I’m sure someone else would have before the night was over.”

“Probably so,” Lauren stated. “But that’s beside the point. You know what I mean. Don’t try to wriggle out of my compliment.”

He nodded. “Okay. Yeah, I fought him because he was disrespecting you. You don’t deserve that. No woman really deserves that.”

She kissed him again and then nodded towards the bed. “Bedtime,” she said. “No clothes in the bed, mister.”

“Yes ma’am,” he said, reaching to the back of her dress and slowly pulling down the zipper.

***

The following morning, they slept in until ten o’ clock in the morning. It was the first time they’d been allowed to enjoy such a luxury in more than six months. As Lauren showered, Riley went out to get coffee and breakfast. He returned just as she was firing up her laptop with bagels and two cups of steaming coffee.

“E-mails to answer?” he asked, nodding towards her laptop. “Yeah. And a quick report to get out.”

“Sounds good. I have about fifty unread e-mails I need to get through. How about we do work stuff until lunchtime and then you go ahead and give your parents a call?”

She smiled at him as she went to spreading cream cheese on her bagel. “You really want to meet then, huh?” she asked.

“I do,” he said. “The last time I met a girl’s parents, we were in the way to prom.”

“Wow. Why is that?”

He shrugged. “The few long terms relationships I’ve had were with women that were distanced from their families. I’ve met a few siblings, but never a parent.”

“Weird,” she said. “And you’re sure you want to break that streak with mine?”

“Sure,” he said. “Unless you’re uncomfortable with that.”

“No, that’s fine,” she said, with some hesitation. “It’s just that…well, my parents can be a little much sometimes.”

“Isn’t that the case with everyone’s?” he asked, now getting out his own laptop.

“Okay,” she said with a nervous smile. “You asked for it, so I’ll grant it. It’s the least I can do for the man that defended me last night.”

“I beat up a guy that was pretty hammered,” he said. “I wouldn’t think too much of it.”

“Shut up and take a compliment already,” she said, slapping him on the bottom as he passed by her to set his laptop up on the bed.

They shared a brief kiss and then spent their Saturday morning answering work e-mails. It was inconvenient, but Lauren was happy to do it. She had never seen herself being the type of woman that would be a workaholic, but she loved her job and even now, less than a year into it, she could easily see herself doing this sort of work for the rest of her life. She was good at it and, more importantly, those above her in the org chart also saw it in her.

As they worked side by side, Lauren started to get a little antsy about introducing Riley to her parents. As a teen, her parents had embarrassed her to no end. Her father was a cheapskate and far too protective of her and her mother had a tendency to drink a little too much. As she had gotten older, Lauren had learned that these two things had gone hand in hand. Her father had been a cheapskate because his job hadn’t paid well and without much of an education, he was sort of stuck in his job at the local lumberyard. Her mother’s drinking was simply how she had coped with the financial struggle and since it kept her in a mostly jovial mood, her father had put up with it.

Of course, as a child, she’d never truly understood this cycle. She’s just seen her mother as the drunk woman that sang loudly when Lauren had company over and she’d seen her father as the man that raised hell whenever Lauren had spent money she’d earned from her high school job at the supermarket on clothes or entertainment.

Still, Lauren knew that she had never wanted for anything. Her parents had provided as well as they could and she loved them both dearly. That had never changed. But it still didn’t make it any easier to get beyond the nerves that came up when she thought of taking Riley to their home to meet them.

As they’d planned, they both finished up work shortly after noon. Riley had been forced to hop on a phone call and he was still on it when Lauren finished up her work. With her laptop closed and Riley still on the phone, standing out on the walkway outside of their room, Lauren grabbed her cellphone. She pulled up her parents’ number and her finger hovered there for a while.