Page 86 of The Billionaire's Teacher

“That actually sounds good. No. I’m sticking with cheese.”

We watched as he flipped the eggs, added the ingredients, then folded over half into a perfect semi-circle. He slid Jenna’s onto her plate, first, and then mine.

We thanked him and moved to our table.

“Can I pray?” Jenna folded her hands in her lap and watched me.

“Sure.” I finished spreading my napkin in my lap and closed my eyes. Jenna’s prayer was short and to the point, but not perfunctory. It made me think of Wes. Maybe that was one of the reasons their group had been drawn to one another.

“Okay.” Jenna picked up her fork and cut off a corner of her omelet. She poked it and held it aloft, cheese stringing from the bite to her plate. “Back to Wes.”

“You’re like a dog with a bone.” I cut off a piece of sausage, then a corner of omelet, and stuck both in my mouth.

“I don’t consider it a bad thing.” Jenna grinned and took her bite. “He’s been mopey since he got back. After a lot of prodding and nudging—because the guy can be a vault, apparently—Noah says Wes finally admitted that he really liked you. Like really, really liked you. But you ran off the plane and never looked back. So he’s pretty convinced you aren’t into him. And that’s a bummer. True or false?”

I took another bite and chewed thoughtfully before taking a sip of the iced latte to wash everything down. “I wouldn’t say Iranoff the plane. We were parked and it was time to go. So I did.”

“Seriously?” Jenna’s eyebrows lifted. “That’s the part you want to talk about?”

I crossed my arms. “I don’t like being misrepresented.”

“Okay. So you did look back? Say goodbye? Chit-chat and joke around a little, like people do?”

“Well, no.” I sighed. “It’s complicated.”

“Bzzt. Nope. Wrong answer.” Jenna stabbed the air with her fork as if to make a point. “That’s what people say when they either don’t want to explain or they don’t want to think about things.”

“You’re tough.” I picked up my fork and speared a sausage link. “It’s awkward to talk about this with someone I barely know.”

“All right, that’s fair.” Jenna considered me while she took a long drink of coffee. “Can you at least say if you like Wes even a little?”

I hesitated. There was probably no harm in it. Other than it being basically the first time I’d said it out loud. “I do.”

Jenna grinned. “Yay! So what’s the plan?”

I blinked. “Plan? I don’t have a plan.”

“Oh, come on. You like him. He likes you. There are some obstacles, obviously. How are we getting over them?”

“We?” I tipped my head to the side. “Are you part of this now?”

Jenna laughed. “Might as well be. That’s how this group works. Believe me, I get it. I had never had a group of friends like this before and when Noah and I were figuring things out, Megan was relentless. All of them were, honestly, but Megan in particular. It took some getting used to, but now I kinda like it. It’s good to have people who know me and who are going to make sure I get help when I need it.”

“Whether or not you want it?” I heard the hint of snark in my tone and winced. “Sorry.”

“No. You’re right. And yeah, probably. Because that’s what friends do.”

I nodded and reached for my latte. That did sound like what friends were supposed to do. Maybe I was a bit more like Jenna though. I’d had Luca. And he was basically all I had. He was all I wanted—and needed—though too. And then he was gone because another boat full of people mixed too much alcohol with their fun on the waves.

So maybe now the right choice was to broaden my horizons when it came to friendships.

“I heard he’s buying the island where we wrecked. Is that true?”

“He is. The guys are a little grumpy—well, Scott is—because they figured everyone would settle on the Caymans. Now, though, Wes is talking about everyone building for themselves on the island instead. I can’t wait to get down and see it.”

“Do you know if he has a trip planned?”

Jenna tipped her head to the side, the start of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “I don’t. But I can find out. Are you being sneaky? It seems like you might be, and I have to say, I love it.”

---