Page 99 of Grumpy Billionaire Seeking Wife

"Does it feel weird to be dating my brother yet living with him?" she says.

"No, because we know each other and we've been living together." I shrug. "Plus, he needs me here to keep him honest."

"Yeah, I guess so." She rolls her eyes. "So did your mom start that job yet?"

"She starts on Monday, actually."

I beam at her. "I am so grateful to Wes, and I know he thinks that I'm stubborn and my mom is stubborn, but it really made a difference to her, knowing she got the job herself. I mean, she loves to read books, right? So a reader for a publishing company sounds as good as it can get."

"It's amazing," I say, nodding.

“She’s going to make $70,000 a year, and we just moved her into a new place. I just feel incredibly happy."

I look over in the corner, and Bruno is chewing on a bone.

"And I'm so glad that Bruno and I got to stay here. I don't think he would've liked living in a studio apartment with me somewhere."

"He's so cute," she says. "I love him. I want a dog, too."

"Yeah, well, maybe you can get one when you meet someone."

Erika groans. "Yeah. I mean, if that's ever going to happen after Tyler ruined my date with Thunder."

"I'm so sorry. That really sucks. I mean, I don't really understand why Thunder took it so personally, but did I tell you what he said?"

"Yes," I say, but that doesn't stop her. She's been talking about Thunder nonstop for the last couple of weeks.

"He told me that he thought that I deliberately set up the date to make Tyler jealous, even though I told him I had never even met him before. I don't even watch hockey, and he's a jackass. He spilled his drink on me. Anyway, I tried to tell Thunder that,and he was all like, 'Well, you seem immature.' And I was like, 'I'm the same woman you were chatting with.' And he was like, 'Well, your friend... '” She pauses as she looks at me. "I won't say what he said about you."

"It's fine. I don't care what he said. I'm sure it wasn't good. I told you that his friend Joa saw me and your brother fucking in the hallway." I start giggling. "He probably called me a slut. Did he call me a slut?"

"I'm not going to repeat what he said," she says, laughing. "I just think that he should have given me a real shot. Like, I don't even know Tyler."

"Yeah, I know." I smile at her. "You could ask your brother if you want to get to know him. I'm sure that?—"

"Oh, I never want to see that man again in my life. I would never date someone who's into sports. Yuck. He wasn't even all that good-looking. I mean, you could tell he thought he was good-looking, but he totally wasn't."

"Who wasn't what?" Wes says as he walks into the room. "How's the podcast going?"

"Fine," I say. "I think we're making headway. We're going to start recording soon."

"Great. I can't wait to hear it." He comes over and gives me a kiss on the cheek and rubs my shoulders. "So I was thinking that we could get pizza tonight. Sound good? You want to stay over, Erika?"

"Yeah, that sounds good."

"I think Miles is going to come over, too," Wes continues.

"Sweet," I say. "That sounds like a plan."

"And my friend Tyler may pop over, but?—"

"No." Erika jumps up. "I don't want to see that jackass."

"What?" Wes looks surprised. "You don't even know him."

"He spilled his beer on me."

"He thought you were Sabrina," Wes explains. "I asked him to spill the drink on Sabrina, and he thought it was you. I asked him why he thought it was you, and he said—he looks at me and gives me a wry smile—'Sorry, I thought it was the really hot one.' So, he thinks you're hot."

---