Anyone But Rich (Anyone But..., #1)(45)

“And what about you? Cade has the superpower of being a capable idiot. Nick is a bored genius. Wait, let me guess. Your power is seduction. I mean, come on. You’ve obviously used the dinosaur room to seduce scores of women before me. My ovaries were practically banging together like maracas by the time you were done.”

Rich chuckled. “I’m pretty sure that’s not how ovaries work. Are you sure they weren’t trying to help each other commit suicide? Like a biological reflex to sterilize yourself before you pass on my weird obsession with dinosaurs to your offspring?”

“In all seriousness . . .” I smiled, then licked my lips. Damn it. I could feel it already, even before the words came. I was sinking back toward that inevitable pull he had over me. It was like trying to walk up a slide when I was a kid. I could take a few steps, but no matter how hard I tried, I’d always come flopping back down to the bottom before I made my way off the slide. Only this time, there was a gorgeous billionaire waiting at the bottom for me. I wasn’t even sure why I was trying to resist. What was at the top of my metaphorical slide, anyway? I’d climb my way out of my feelings for Rich, and I’d be right back in my boring life of ice cream and Netflix.

“In all seriousness,” he prodded with a slow smile of his own.

“I might share Cade’s superpower, because the dinosaur room may have actually worked on me. A little.”

His fingertips were on my face again. The look in his eyes was the same as before we’d kissed in his apartment. “You wanted to know my superpower? It’s making the difficult choices.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

His smile looked sad now. “I mean being with me will only cause you trouble. I’ve been thinking about this, but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do the right thing this time. I have to, though.”

“The right thing? I don’t understand. What’s the right thing here?”

“Everything I’ve been doing was just selfishness. I’m sorry I didn’t see it sooner, but this won’t work. I can’t tear you away from your friends, Kira.” He leaned forward, and I felt the warm press of his lips on my forehead. It was gone as soon as it came. A platonic peck on the forehead. He still wore that sad smile. “Forget about all the codirector stuff. I’ll fund the programs. Tell Miranda and Iris that you told me to go fuck myself. I think it had better be something dramatic to convince them you’re not a traitor anymore. I’ll back whatever you say up.”

“Rich . . .” Wasn’t this exactly what I wanted? Hadn’t I been telling myself since the moment he showed up in West Valley that all my problems would be solved if Rich would just butt out of my life? Yet even then, I think I’d known I was lying to myself on some level. I secretly felt a thrill from his attention. I’d known I could never have him, so secretly wanting it had been harmless. I’d been able to pretend those dark thoughts hadn’t been churning just beneath the surface all along. I clenched my hands at my side until my fingernails dug painfully into my palms. I wanted to make a fool of myself begging him not to just throw me away because he thought it was for my own good. I wanted to get on my knees if I had to and beg. Instead, I only stood there, mouth open and forehead creased as I tried and failed to find the words to tell him how I felt.

He gave me one last lingering look. “Goodbye, Kira.”

And I watched him go, even as it felt like I was screaming on the inside. I felt like I was in one of those dreams where no matter how hard I tried to make my voice work, nothing happened. All I could do was watch him walk away and realize for the first time that I didn’t want him to go.

Except it was too late now, wasn’t it?





Chapter 16





RICH


“Stop moping,” Stella said.

She had tagged along with me on a trip to New York. I was meeting with a collector who claimed to have a pristine raptor talon he was willing to part with for the right offer. We had landed a few hours ago but had to kill another hour before the meeting. We were in a local pizza shop downtown. Nick and Cade, who should’ve had better things to do, insisted on coming. The two of them were currently fawning over the pizza shop’s collection of classic arcade games. Cade, for some inexplicable reason, looked to be explaining a scheme to Nick detailing how they could actually reuse the same quarter over and over in those old machines. It looked like it involved gum and a piece of floss, and it also looked like it would never work.

“I’m not moping,” I said.

“You’re moping.” She took a bite of her salad and then leaned back, wiping her mouth with a napkin. “Do you really think you’re able to be low profile in anything you do? The entire town of West Valley knows what happened at the party. They saw the sad goodbye. The tears in her eyes. They saw you walk away. Very dramatic. So yes, you’re moping. You broke up with your little distraction, and now you’re feeling sorry for yourself. I’m just trying to figure out why you broke up with her.”

“Because her friends hated her for being interested in me. Because her father was ready to work with my parents to fuck our lives over if I didn’t call it off. Because taking things further with her would’ve meant screwing you over. Because I was an ass to her back in high school, and I’d probably end up breaking her heart again. Do I need to continue?”