"No, bitch." She giggles. "So, what does this mean? Are you guys dating now?"
"No." I stick my tongue out at her. "He started acting bossy, and I ended up leaving, and well, I've been ignoring him for the last few days, but he's coming over this evening to chat or whatever, but also, there's something else."
"Oh, boy...what?" She stares at me. "I want to know how it was, but he's my brother, so I don't really want to know. Ugh, the conundrum."
"I won't go into all the details, but let's just say he knows what he's doing." I blush again, thinking of Wes inside of me. He had been a considerate and amazing lover, and my body still tingles thinking of him. "All I can say is that when you're ready to lose your virginity, I would make sure it's with a man who knows what he's doing and not some college boy." I laugh as she groans loudly. "Sorry, I won't say anything else."
"Please don't." She nods. "So, what is the something else?" she asks me as we both head back to my bed and take a seat. "And why is he coming here? For a date?"
"No, he's not asking me on a date. He's bringing back something I forgot, I guess."
"Hmm..." She gives me a look. “My brother? Wes? Trust me, he has ulterior motives for sure."
"Well, I'm not sleeping with him again, so if he does have ulterior motives, he will have to wait a long time.” I shrug. “He’s not looking for anything serious, and I'm not looking to be his plaything that he can just throw money at to do his bidding. I am not a gold digger, and I don't need to be taken care of. I am not for sale."
"I'm sure he doesn't think that, Sabrina." Erica frowns and twists her ponytail around. "Wes would never do that."
"He wanted to give us two hundred grand for the podcast." I jut my chin out. "He wanted to up the investment. Right after we just had sex." I cross my arms. "Do you know how cheap that made me feel?"
"Ugh." Erica sighs and leans forward and half-hugs me. "I know that must have felt awful. He's a doofus, I swear. Why are men such idiots? I bet he thought he was being generous, but it came out wrong."
"He thinks everyone wants him. He thinks that I'm just another woman who will do his bidding. Well, he's wrong. I don't care. I may be poor, but I'm not here to depend on a man for anything. I'm not going to be his sexual plaything." I shrug. "So, anyway, I did a thing."
"What did you do?"
"Let me show you..." I feel light-headed and giddy as I stand up and grab my backpack. I open it up and pull out a bunch of flyers and hand them to her with a guilty grin. "It was just for fun." Erica takes one of the posters, and her jaw drops. There on the poster is a photo of Wes Carrington, looking handsome and smug, and above his face are huge block letters stating,Grumpy Billionaire Seeking Wife. Under the photo, the text reads:Successful and handsome billionaire seeking a woman to be my wife. Must be able to handle sarcasm, sudden trips to Paris, long nights making love under the stars, and being spoiled. If interested, call me here.
"Oh, shit." She laughs as she holds the poster up. "That's his real number. Did you put these up?"
"Yes." I nod guiltily. "About a hundred of these are up all over the city." I stare at the poster and Wes's handsome face. It was meant to be a joke, something for me to laugh about. But I may have gone a step too far. "I also took out an ad."
"An ad?" Erica's jaw dropped. "Like Craigslist?"
I shake my head. "Like a newspaper ad." I press my lips together. "And they kinda ran with it. They told me they're going to have it as the headline in the paper tomorrow."
"Wait, what?"
"They think I'm his assistant. That's what I said when I booked the ad. Well, I guess the editor got excited and thinks they got the exclusive of the year, so now they're putting it on the front page. Soon, everyone in New York City will know that Wes is looking for a wife."
"But he's not looking for a wife." Erica's eyes are as wide as saucers. "Oh, my gosh...he's going to be livid."
"Maybe no one will see it," I say hopefully. "Or maybe no one will be interested." Yeah right!
"Yeah, maybe." Erica sounds doubtful. "I mean, who even looks at flyers, right? And it's not like it'sThe New York Times. It's notThe New York Times, right?"
"Of course not." I laugh. "They would never publish such nonsense. It's some random paper. I bet they don't even have a large circulation list."
"Right, right." Erica looks as nervous as I feel. "Are you going to tell him tonight when he comes over?"
"No." I giggle. "Let's see if anyone even contacts him first."
"Oh, boy." She shakes her head. "That would be funny if no one is interested. I mean, I wouldn't call someone with a poster like that. But I think it would be funny if a couple of women call him, and he's all like,who is this, and they're like,your future wife."
"That would be so funny." I collapse into giggles. "I would love to see his face if he gets a call. Oh, I just remembered. I need to call into work to get my schedule for next week. Then we can go over the details for episode one. Sound good?"
"Perfecto. I need to study some more. Suki and I are going to grab sushi tonight. She wants my advice about some new guy she's met."
"New guy or the same old bad news?" I ask, and Erica gives me a knowing look. "What about you? Anyone you're interested in?" I watch as she grabs her phone and shakes her head. Ericaand I had thought college would be the time of our lives, dating hotties and attending crazy parties, but it hadn't gone like that for us. Maybe because we were both such romantic dreamers, and the college boys we met were not like that at all. "Are you still on the dating app?"