Page 81 of The Billionaire's Teacher

“Right. There’s that, isn’t there.” I sipped. “All right, lay the facts of the case on me.”

Tristan ticked things off on his fingers as he spoke. “You like her. You haven’t shared many details about her with any of us, which makes it even clearer that you’re pretty invested.”

“Hold on. What does that mean?”

“It means when you have a casual thing going, you don’t shut up about it. The two other times that I know about you having a serious relationship with someone? This is exactly how you’ve acted.” Tristan leaned forward and set his soda on the coffee table. “Am I wrong?”

I thought through my behavior in the past because I really wanted to point out all the ways Tristan got it wrong. But he didn’t. I gave a grudging nod.

“Now, when you factor in that the majority of our group is married or engaged, and that those women like to know all the things that are going on in everyone’s life, does it surprise you that they took matters into their own hands?”

I laughed in spite of myself. “Not when you put it that way, no.”

“What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Oh, let’s see, they could convince her to run screaming in the opposite direction. Or make it look like I’m too immature to just approach a relationship with her point blank, so I sent my friends to do it. Like passing a note in study hall.” I groaned. She was already hung up on how much younger I was. And okay, sure, I’d struggled some with that, too. I was over it. Mostly.

“Come on. You know the girls as well as I do. Do you really think that’s what they’re going to do?”

I thought about it and tried to stay neutral. Finally I shook my head. “Probably not.”

“Okay. So worst case? Sunshine finds out that you’re more serious about her than she knew. Is that bad?” Tristan leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “At some point, the two of you need to talk about that. This just accelerates it some.”

“I guess.” I rubbed the middle of my forehead. “I wish they’d talked to me about it before going off like this.”

“What would you have done?”

I opened my mouth, then closed it. What would I have done? Probably told them not to go. “Dunno.”

“Fair enough.” Tristan sighed and leaned back. “I think this could be a good thing. Let it play out.”

“You think?”

“What’s the alternative? You’re not going to get the girls to come home before they’re ready.”

I chuckled. That was true. The guys had all found strong, independent women. It was one of the characteristics I’d admired in Sunshine.

“Feeling better?”

I shrugged. “Feeling less like going to find the other guys and knocking some sense into them.”

“It’s a start.” Tristan cleared his throat. “Since you’re here, I should let you know your father has retained an attorney and they’re making noises about suing you.”

A tight, hot ball knotted in my stomach. “What?”

“They won’t get anywhere with it. It’s a nuisance at best. I’ve got it under control. But I figured you should know. I’d recommend you record any interactions you have with him. We’re a single party consent state, so you don’t have to inform him or get his okay.” Tristan’s expression was sympathetic. “I’m not sure he’ll try contacting you. I made it clear to his attorney that it would be a bad idea.”

“Why does money turn people evil?”

Tristan was quiet for a few moments. “I don’t think it necessarily turns them that way. It just reveals what’s already there, lurking.”

I considered that, then nodded. That made sense. No one in the gang had gone rotten when we got our billions. The reality was, of all six of us, I was the one who did more billionaire type things than anyone else. I was the first to quit my job. Start a leisure business. All the cars. And sure, I did good things with those cars—I just didn’t like to let on. Part of me enjoyed being seen as the frivolous one.

What did that say about my character?

“Should I call him? Tell him to stop?” I didn’t really want to. I was mystified that my refusal to invest in his latest scheme would send him straight to suing me. What kind of father sued their son?

“I wouldn’t waste my breath.”

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