The Billionaire Boys Club (Billionaire Romance Series Book 1(36)

“Popcorn?” Ryan asked.

“Thanks,” Kelsey said, taking a small handful. She was kind of hungry, having last eaten at noon.

“So what do you think of Darrow?” Ryan asked, taking a sip of his drink.

“It’s harder than I expected,” Kelsey replied honestly



“Really?”



Kelsey nodded.

“I thought that it would be tough, but I thought I’d understand what was going on by now,” she added. “How about you? What do you think?”



“It’s about what I expected,” Ryan replied.

“You went to Princeton?” Kelsey asked.

“Brown,” Ryan replied. “Zach went to Princeton. Where did you go?”



“Portland State University,” Kelsey replied.

“Interesting,” Ryan replied as the house lights went down.



As they walked to the Italian restaurant, Ryan walked slowly to match Kelsey’s gait.

“That was a great movie, thanks,” Kelsey said to him.

“It was. I loved the scene in the park.”



“Yes, that was really funny!” Kelsey said, taking careful steps. They walked up to the restaurant door.

“Two for dinner,” Ryan said to the hostess, and they followed her to a small, intimate table in the back. Kelsey sat and draped her coat over the back of the chair.

“Wine?” Ryan asked, as they looked at the menus.

“No thanks,” Kelsey replied. She was starving. She had eaten a lot of the popcorn during the movie, but it hadn’t satisfied her hunger.

“What looks good?” Ryan asked.

“I’m thinking I’d like the gnocchi,” Kelsey said. Maybe the potato dumplings would fill her up.

“That does sound good,” Ryan said. “I think I’m going to have risotto though.”



The waitress came by and put bread on the table. Kelsey forced herself to wait to take some, as Ryan ordered their meals. When he was finished and the waitress had left, Kelsey took a roll and put it on her plate.

“So tell me about Port Townsend, Kelsey. What’s it like to grow up there?”



“It’s a wonderful place to live. Beautiful, with lots of friendly people.”



“You never got bored?”



“Sometimes,” Kelsey said. “But I usually found things to do.”



“Like what?” Ryan asked.

“Sports, camping.”



“Yes, you’re quite the nature girl,” Ryan teased. “Is that why you workout every day? To stay in shape for your outdoor activities?”



“I just want to be healthy,” Kelsey said, smearing butter on her roll. “What about you? Why do you work out?”



“To see you,” Ryan said. Kelsey glanced at him and he smiled at her.

“Right,” Kelsey blushed, and looked down at the roll.

“It’s true. Otherwise, I’d stay in bed,” Ryan continued.

Kelsey blushed again. Ryan grinned at her.

For the next hour, as they ate and talked, Kelsey felt like she was getting to know Ryan. Although he had obviously grown up wealthy, he made his life seem almost ordinary. He liked school, disliked snow, and got too many traffic tickets. With every topic, Kelsey felt closer to him and she hoped he felt closer to her.


“Well?” Jessica asked, as Kelsey walked in that night.

“We had fun,” Kelsey said, nonchalantly.

“You aren’t fooling me,” Jessica said, pouting. “Is he the one?”



“Maybe. I had a great time,” Kelsey replied. She took off the coat, and handed it to Jessica.

“What happened? Did you kiss him?” Jessica asked.

“Maybe,” Kelsey replied mischievously. He had kissed her on the cheek at the door. The touch had made her heart soar.

“Details, now, Kelsey North!” Jessica cried out.

“He’s nice. We went to the movies and had Italian.”



“Are you going out again?”



“We’ll see,” Kelsey replied, removing her heels.

“See if I ever tell you anything about a date. Of course, I have to have one first.”



Kelsey giggled.



Tyler was in the gym when Kelsey walked in on Monday morning. Sweat glistened on his arms, and he had clearly been in there for a while.

“Did you have a nice date?” Tyler asked between reps. Kelsey glanced at him as she unzipped her jacket.

“I did,” she replied, putting the jacket on its usual bench.

“I thought you would,” Tyler replied.

Kelsey thought she heard a tone in Tyler’s voice, but she couldn’t place it. So she walked over to the treadmill and started running. Tyler set his weights down carefully and stood, as though he was thinking. Then he walked over to Kelsey’s treadmill and hit the emergency stop button. The treadmill jerked off abruptly, and Kelsey had to grab onto the side handles to stop herself from falling.

“Hey!” she shouted.

“You know he just wants to sleep with you, right?” Tyler said to her, as Kelsey glared at him.