Page 12 of Jesse

I do not need my bloody heart on my sleeve.

Revenge. That’s all I want out of this. I want him to feel the way I did.

It’s not realistic because I was in full-on puppy love with the infamous Baby Boston. At first it was all jittery, happy nerves and palpating heartbeats. But after I learned about Mila, and Hannah, and Natalie… then it was sleepless nights, and sick feelings in my stomach, and shaky hands.

Also… that ache.

God, just the thought of that ache inside me makes me sad all over again.

Not because I don’t have him, either. I get it now. I’m a grown-up who knows a little more about what love is and isn’t than I did back then. It’s not because I don’t have him. I don’t want him.

The sadness comes from the humiliation of learning that the person you thought cared for you—even if it was naive to think that—didn’t. Not one bit. He spared not one second of thought about me. And, if I’m being honest, I’m like ninety-nine percent sure that he was probably thinking of someone else while we were fucking.

Maybe Mila. Or Hannah. Or Natalie.

That’s why I can’t listen to their stories anymore. It’s just a reminder of how badly I was used.

The lights dim and brighten, letting everyone know it’s time for the auction to start. I glance in Jesse’s direction one more time, then sigh before I can stop myself.

“Let’s go,” Mila says. “We’ve got front-row seats.”

“Who’d you bribe to get those?”

“Never mind that. The point is we have them. And there’s no way in hell that Jesse Boston won’t see all four of our brilliant, beautiful, billionaire faces once he steps out onto that stage.”

But will he remember us?

That makes me swallow hard and hold my stomach, because it’s churning at the thought of his indifference.

He has no idea who we are. He hasn’t thought about us in thirteen years. And the only thoughts he had about us back then were about putting his cock inside our pussies.

Maybe I do need to think about Mila’s story? Because all the feelings inside me are sad, and depressed. I could use a little more rage right about now.

We take our seats at the front and a few minutes later the MC of the event comes out and starts talking about the charity.

Kids. We’re raising money for an after-school program for underprivileged kids so they don’t have to be home alone while their parents are working. Pretty much every inner-city school depends on the Billionaire Bachelor Auction to fund the next school year. So this event is actually super important.

Truth. That’s the purpose.

But every woman knows why she’s here.

She wants to date one of these handsome, rich men.

Not that all the bidders aren’t filthy rich in their own right. Each auction starts at five hundred thousand dollars and most of them go up to—and sometimes, occasionally, over—a million.

I’m pretty sure we’re going to get Jesse for the rock-bottom price, but we budgeted a million just in case. Nobody came here for him. He’s the loser Boston Brother. They all wanted Joey. Or hell, if Johnny ever made an appearance he’d probably set the record. There’s no telling how high the bids could go.

But Jesse?

Nah. He’s the joke brother. Like the bad Baldwin brother, right? There is the one everyone loves to hate and the one everyone just hates. The other two are… who cares.

Joey Boston is the one everyone loves to hate. Jesse is the one everyone absolutely hates, and Johnny is… eh. We never see him, so who cares?

I’m pretty sure I’m going to be the only person bidding on Jesse tonight.

After the charity speech the ball gets rolling with the first bachelor. Newly-minted, twenty-year-old Chad Knottingham.

And when it’s over the girls and I just look at each other, confused.