The Billionaire Player (In Too Deep)

I’d tried over and over to get her to move in with me after Brit had moved out, but she refused. She insisted that she could take care of herself and that I should have the freedom to live by myself.

I didn’t like the thought of her in the run-down apartment all by herself, but I also wasn’t arrogant enough to think that I had any say over where she lived. And so, we’d come to something of an impasse. She knew she was welcome to move in with me whenever she wanted, and I knew to leave the subject alone.

Whenever I brought it up, we ended up arguing about me paying the rent on her place anyway. And I didn’t want to argue with her, especially not over money. She’d raised me all by herself, and if there was anything I could do in return to support her now, I was damn well going to do it.

“Sweet pea,” she cooed into the phone when she answered. “Are you all packed for the big weekend away?”

“I think so,” I said. “I’m a little bit worried for what the plans are when we get there, but barring anything super fancy, I should be okay.”

“You’ll be fine,” she reassured me. “I’m sure you’ve got all eventualities covered.”

“Sort of.” I thought of the sexy underwear neatly packed on top of everything else. “Just about all eventualities, unless the guy has plans to go to a wedding or something.”

“Don’t you dare elope on me this weekend,” she threatened jokingly. “I don’t care if the guy is the hottest ex-ballplayer Brit has ever seen, you’re not going to marry him without me there.”

“You’ve been talking to her again, haven’t you?” I covered my face with my free hand. “He is good looking, but he’s hardly the hottest ex-ballplayer ever.”

That was a lie actually. He was definitely the hottest one I’d ever seen, but I wasn’t admitting that to my mom while she was talking about my elopement. “Why would you even feel the need to tell me not to marry him? I’m not marrying him, Mom. I’m going away with him for one weekend. For charity.”

“Well, you mentioned a wedding and my mind took off from there,” she said airily. “Brit says he’s rich, too. Apparently, he made his money off kryptonite. I’m not sure what that is, though. I’ve only ever heard of tanzanite. It’s a beautiful stone found in Tanzania, that tanzanite. Gorgeous color. If you do marry him, do you think he’ll get you a kryptonite ring? I think you should try for a tanzanite one instead of this kryptonite stuff.”

“He made his money in crypto-currency, not kryptonite.” I giggled. “What the hell has Brit been telling you?”

I heard the faint sound of her fingers snapping on the other end of the line. “Oh. Crypto-currency. That’s the fake internet money, right?”

I sighed, squeezing my eyes shut. “It’s not fake, but yes. The internet money.”

“Whatever.” Her voice softened. “As long as he’s nice to you, I’m happy. He could’ve been a pauper and I’d still be happy.”

“I’m sure he’ll be nice,” I said. “I’m nervous and I have no idea what to expect from the weekend, but I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

“Don’t be nervous, honey,” she said, launching into the pep talk I’d been hoping for when I called.

I don’t care how old I am, there’s nothing like a pep talk from my mother.

“This boy is lucky to be taking you away for the weekend. If he messes it up, he’ll have to answer to me. You work much too hard not to have any fun, so he better make it fun. Lots of fun. What’s the point of working so much if you never get to enjoy life? I’m glad you’re doing this. Or rather, I’m glad Brit made you do this and I’m proud of you for following through.”

“I’m not there yet.”

She chuckled. “No, but you’re all packed and I know you. If you packed, that means you’re going. Just go, baby. Go, and enjoy it. Make out with the hot ballplayer. Just don’t marry him this weekend, okay?”

“You got it, Mom,” I promised. “How about Monday? Does it work for you if I marry him then?”

“Absolutely. As long as I get to walk you down the aisle, go for it,” she teased. “Be a doll and give me a heads-up by Sunday if it’s going to happen on Monday, all right?”

“I’ll do that.” Some of the tension eased out of me as I kept joking around with my mom, and by the time we hung up, my last lingering doubts about the weekend had been wiped away.

Mom was right. I worked too hard never to have any fun, and come what might, I was going to have fun this weekend. Even if I had to have it all by myself.