My Brother's Billionaire Best Friend

Lord knows, if Sadie’s stupid maid of honor keeps talking about Milo, I’m going to need plenty of alcohol in my system to get through this night.

Jessica sits her flirty ass down and proceeds to ask Sadie a question I’d rather not hear.

“So, speaking of Milo Ives, is he still looking as good as ever?”

Sadie grins. “If you’re wondering if he’s going to be at the wedding Saturday, I can confirm that he is Evan’s best man.”

Jessica’s stupid eyes light up like a Christmas tree. “Which means I get to walk down the aisle with him?”

“Nice try, sweetie,” Sadie answers. “He’ll be walking down the aisle with Maybe.”

Hold the phone.

“I’m walking down the aisle with Milo?”

Sadie meets my eyes and nods. “Yep. That’s how Ev wanted it.”

Can you add your brother to your shit list? Like, is that an okay thing?

Because I just did.

“Oh, look!” Lena announces a little too loudly. “I think our apps are coming this way!”

For a woman who bitched about having to eat at Applebee’s, she sure is losing her shit over food she was complaining about not even two hours ago…

Three servers fill our table with enough greasy food to feed an army, and all of a sudden, my appetite is nowhere to be found.

My stomach twists and turns, and this annoying ache forms on the right side of my abdomen.

Fucking Milo. Even the mention of his stupid perfect name causes me discomfort.

I finish off another glass of wine and tell the waiter to keep ’em coming.

He smirks and heads to the bar.

And a few minutes later, while the bridesmaids stuff their faces with chicken wings, my new best friend—Kevin, the Applebee’s server—sets a fresh glass of Riesling in front of me.

“I love you, Kev,” I say to him with a smile I can’t quite get under control. “You da best, bud.”

Kevin grins, and Lena laughs softly beside me.

“What?” I ask, meeting her eyes and taking another hearty swig of wine.

“Hot damn, momma,” she says quietly, but amusement rests around the edge of her words. “The potato skins just got here, and you’re already blitzed.”

I shrug and take another sip. “It’s a party.”

“A pity party,” she adds, but I have enough booze in my veins to remain unfazed.

“Fine. It’s two parties. One to celebrate the drowning of sorrows, and one to celebrate my future sister-in-law.”

Lena eyes me knowingly. “You do realize that if you keep up this pace all night, I’m going to have to find a wheelchair and wheel your ass home, right?”

“Sounds like a good plan.” I shrug and focus my attention on Jess-i-ca. God, I hate that name so much right now. “So, Jessi-licious, you planning to put the moves on Milo Saturday night?”

I hear he’s always up for a new fuck buddy.

Unless you’re me. Then he can’t.

Jessica flashes a flirty smile on her stupid face and pops a French fry into her mouth. “If that man still looks as good as he did way back when, consider me game.”

“That’s all well and good, but I’m pretty sure Milo is seeing someone,” Sadie chimes in.

Jessica’s face falls like a rock, and I furrow my brow in confusion.

“He’s seeing someone?” I ask and Sadie nods.

“At least, Evan is pretty sure he’s seeing someone.”

“W-what’s her name?”

Sadie shrugs. “Heck if I know. Apparently, he’s keeping it all pretty tight-lipped. You know how Milo is, always keeps shit close to the vest.”

What in the ever-loving-fuck?

“Do not read into that,” Lena whispers toward me. “Actually, it’s best if you act like it was never said.”

“Pretty sure it’s too late for that.”

“But it’s hearsay, and for all you know, Evan’s suspicions are related to you,” she adds quietly, and I scrunch up my nose. “Girl, before shit went down last week, Milo was spending a whole lot of time with you. I find it hard to believe that workaholic even had the time to fit in another woman. Or that he even wanted to.”

“But there is yet to be a confirmed girlfriend, right?” Jessica beats a dead horse with her horny, Milo-craving vagina.

Sadie just laughs. “All I’m saying is don’t get your hopes up, sweetie. Evan is pretty damn certain something is up. Hell, when he was on the phone with Ev the other night, Cap even mentioned he actually saw Milo out a few weeks ago at a party. A socialite’s party, at that.”

“So?” Jessica questions. Pow-pow, the horse is dead again. “That doesn’t mean anything.”

“If you know Milo, you’d know he’d never be caught dead at something like that. Hell, when he found out Page Six named him one of New York’s Most Eligible Bachelors, he was the opposite of happy. He’s, like, averse to that kind of attention and the people who draw it.”

At that point, the conversation becomes too much. The constant ache in my abdomen turns to a throb, and I excuse myself from the table to head to the bathroom.