Page 33 of Filthy Rich Brother's Best Friends

When class ends, I linger. I know she sees me waiting for her because she strategically avoids me. But I’m done letting her duck and run. I want it all out there so there is no denying my intentions.

Once the others are gone, I head in her direction. I watch her wiping down the reformers, wondering if she’d let me help. She knows I’m here but she’s still ignoring me.

“You don’t have to say anything,” I tell her. “I just wanted you to know—I’m not backing off, Lola.”

Her hand freezes.

If she told me no, I’d stop. I would walk away with nothing but the memory of the night we shared. But that’s not what she’s doing. She’s playing pretend and burying her head in the sand like some beautiful ostrich. She feels everything I feel. She just doesn’t want to.

“You could have any woman in that spa. Or anywhere else. Why don’t you want to be with one of them?”

“Because none of them are you.”

She doesn’t turn and keeps wiping. How clean do these machines need to be?

I exhale, slowly. “Lola, before I found out you were my neighbor, I spent a lot of time thinking about you and hoping to run into you. And all of a sudden, you were there, right in front of me.”

She goes still.

“I was this close to hacking into the spa’s system to get your number.”

She makes a sound that might be a laugh.

She finally looks over her shoulder and meets my eyes. “Are you just looking to hook up?”

“No.” I shake my head. “Not even close.”

She studies me for a second longer, then turns back to the reformer.

I wait.

She grabs the towel again and starts wiping the handles with a little too much enthusiasm. “I don’t have time for this,” she says.

My shoulders sink. “I’m not here to pressure you.”

“I’m serious, Jude.” Her voice is tighter now, more defensive. “I’ve got a business to keep afloat, rent that’s—” She cuts herself off, shaking her head. “I don’t have time for whatever this is.”

“So I’ll wait until you do,” I say quietly.

She stills again. She’s gripping the towel so hard her knuckles are white.

“I just needed you to know,” I add. “I meant what I said. I’m not backing off.”

I don’t wait for her to answer. I turn and walk out the door.

Chapter 10

Lola

My phone buzzes before my alarm goes off.

At first, I ignore it. I’m still half asleep, clinging to the last thread of whatever dream I was in before the screen lit up. But it buzzes again, and then a third time, and now I’m totally awake.

I reach for it with one hand and blink through the brightness. The first thing I see is the name at the top of the message. The second is the first line:Hey Lola, I wanted to tell you directly before you heard it from someone else.

No. No, no, no.

I read it twice, hoping I misunderstood but the rest of the message confirms it. Maddie is leaving. Effective today. She’s taking a better offer at Serenity Core with Sierra James and apologizes for “the short notice.”