Brother’s Billionaire Best Friend: A Second Chance Romance Series (Book 2)

by Wood, Lauren

  Sadly, Lisa didn't even really come into the equation. Yeah, she was my girlfriend, but like I had tried to explain many times before, she wasn't really my girlfriend. She was a good time when I needed one and good or bad, I didn't need her anymore. I had found who I was actually supposed to be with. So, whether I should have felt guilty or not, I really didn't.

  She was someone that I was going to have to deal with, one of the many missed calls that I would have to take care of when I was done playing games with Dina. I didn't know when that was going to be though. I don't know if I was ever going to be able to get my fill of her.

  The doorbell rang and Dina was in the shower. I was sort of afraid that it was Lisa and I would have to explain why I hadn’t been picking up the phone. I know that she was one of the many people that called me. I had over one hundred messages when I checked last, and I could bet almost half of them were from Lisa. She was not used to being ignored, and I'm sure that it was messing with her delicate ego.

  I went to the door, thinking that I could just shoo her away. I figured it was Lisa and since I wasn’t ready to deal with her yet, I was just going to have to come up with some excuse to why I had been avoiding her.

  When I opened the door though, it wasn’t Lisa that was on the other side. It was my best friend, but he looked royally pissed off and the next thing I know, I am getting punched in the face. I could say a lot of should about Jack, but the fact that he could hit like a demon, was hard to deny. He was so angry, and it didn't take but a minute to figure out why.

  “My sister! Really! You slept with my sister!”

  I had replayed this moment in my head a million times, but never once had it happened this way. It was always after I told him what was going on. He wasn't supposed to know. How did he find out?

  I took the first hit rather well, if I do say so myself. It hurt really bad, and I could feel a little bit of tension already going to my jaw. That was going to be sore for a couple of days.

  He pulled back to hit me again and I moved away. The last thing I wanted to do was let him put his hands on me. It didn't seem like a good idea, especially not a guy like him.

  “Wait. Listen, hear me out at least.”

  “So, you don't deny it?”

  That apparently was the last straw, because he hit me again and this time, I had to block it with my own hit. It wasn't what I wanted to do, but when I hit him back, I knew that I had to. Whatever was going through his mind right now, he wasn't going to be able to see reason. He just wasn't.

  We scuffled for a few moments, and he tried to tackle me by running towards me and hitting me directly in the gut. It pushed us into the house and a few more punches were landed, until I heard Dina behind me.

  “What is going on?!”

  Jack seemed to pause for a moment when he saw his sister. I knew that he was upset, but I also knew that he would never touch Dina in that way. He was mad, but he wasn't that mad.

  “You know exactly what's going on. Of all the guys that you could mess with Dina, you had to pick him. I thought you were over this little crush you had on him.”

  She was offended almost immediately and told him to shut up.

  “I can do whatever I want to. I'm not a kid anymore and you don't have a say in who I date.”

  That seemed to take the breath out of his lungs, and he looked at me like I had stolen his last five dollars.

  “So, this is a thing?”

  “Look man, I'm sorry. It just happened.”

  “Yeah, lot of shit just happens, but you are sleeping with my fucking sister is not one of them. How could you do this?”

  I didn't know what to say and I felt super guilty. He was right of course. I was an asshole. I was the biggest asshole, and I felt monumentally stupid for my actions. What had I been thinking?”

  He was done hearing me out and to be honest, I didn't really have a good excuse to tell him. I could have told him that I had fallen for his sister, but I hadn't even told Dina that yet. As badly as I wanted to fix the situation, I knew that it would probably be too much for everybody.

  So, in my silence, he apparently was done having a conversation and the next thing I know, they were leaving. I didn't expect Dina to go with him, but after he said a few things to her, that was it. I don't know what he said, but it didn't matter. Dina was choosing to leave.

  I tried to stop her at the door, but she told me it was for the best. “I don't want to see the two of you fighting. Not because of me. We let this go too far.He is right. California isn’t working. "

  “It is working, Dina. I would miss you.”

  “I don't think you will, John. I really don't. I think it's best that we maybe part ways. We both knew this was a bad idea from the beginning.”

  Of course, I knew that it was a bad idea, but that hadn't mattered. I wanted her so much, that none of the consequences had mattered. Now I could feel them being shoved down my throat, and I can't say that I liked it all that much.

  “Are you seriously just going to leave?”

  “It's for the best. It really is. I don't know what I was thinking.”

  I know exactly what she was thinking. She saw her brother and me get into it and maybe she thought I was going to hurt her brother. I wanted to tell her that I would never hurt my friend, but I knew at the same time, that maybe that wasn't true. I liked to think that I wouldn't hurt Jack, but that wasn't the truth at all. I had obviously picked Dina over him. What made me think I wouldn't do it again?

  When she was gone, I had a lot to think about and my mind was running a mile a minute. I tried to pretend like everything was going to be okay, but I wasn't really sure if that was the case. I didn’t feel like it was all going to be okay.

  Now that I was alone, I looked around and I felt deflated. I felt like everything good that had been going on in my life, was over now. It was dramatic at best, depressive maybe at worst. Whatever it was, it was messing with my head now. I didn't want her to go. I knew that, I just didn't realize how badly.

  * * *

  I tried to get ahold of Dina several times, but she made it clear that she wasn't interested. As much as I wanted to believe that we were meant to be together, surely, she had to see that. That wasn’t the case. She didn't want to come back to California. I reminded her about school and finally she told me that she was going to stay home. When I asked her about it, she paused for a moment.

  “I don't know how to tell you this John, but I'm pregnant. My plans have dramatically changed all of a sudden and my career will have to wait now.”

  It took me a minute to kind of comprehend what was being said to me. I know that I was not having the best response ever, but that was a lot to take on.

  “What do you mean you're pregnant?”

  “Just what I said. I'm pregnant.”

  I waited for her to say more, but I wasn't even sure what I was wanting her to say. What would have made that any better?

  “So why are you telling me this?”

  “I'm telling you this because it's yours.”

  Sarcasm entered her tone and she was miffed. Or maybe it was hormones, I certainly felt like I didn’t deserve it.

  “It's mine?”

  “Yes, it's yours.”

  “What about the other guys that you were dating? Dale and Christian?”

  She made a growling sound and again, I knew I had missed the mark.

  “I wasn't dating anybody. You know that.”

  “You didn’t date them? Are you sure? It seemed like they were following you around like puppies. It had to be for a reason.”

  She hung up on me. It was just that simple. I was trying to have a conversation with her, or at least I thought I was, and then the next thing I know, there's a dial tone and I am cursing at the receiver. What the hell did she mean she was pregnant, and it was mine?

  I tried to call her back, but she didn't answer, and I knew it was because of my comments about the other men that were trying to get close to her. Especially knowing h
ow much they wanted her.

  Truthfully it actually drove me crazy, and now I was thinking there was nothing I could do about it.

  Another week went by and I finally bit the bullet and called Jack. I knew I was probably the last person he wanted to talk to, but I needed to know what was going on. Did he know about the pregnancy?

  I dialed the number and I was pretty nervous. We hadn't spoken since the fall out that we had, and it surely did not leave a good taste in my mouth. I wanted to believe that we could work through this. He had to understand that I didn't do it to spite him. I did it because I had fallen for his sister. I had fallen for Dina at some point, not even sure when, but I missed her, and I never wanted to be without her again.

  “What do you want?”

  “I just want to talk to you, Jack. Are you busy?”

  “No. I'm not busy. Like I said though, what the hell do you want?”

  “I don't want us to be like this, Jack.”

  “Well, you shouldn't have fucked my little sister.”

  I could see his point of course, but I didn't like how he was saying it. What me and his sister had done together, was not just that, it had been so much more. I wouldn't have been wasting my time talking to him otherwise. Of course, I couldn't say any of that out loud. He would not have taken it the way it was meant to be said.

  “I know I shouldn't have. But it happened.”

  “It did. That's why she's at home. She had to give up her dreams because of you and go to Community College. Do you know how much that scholarship was worth?”

  All of it made me feel guilty and I guess that was the point. He was mad at me, and I don't know if he was ever going to forgive me. I started to wonder why I even called. I knew this was going to happen.

  I took a deep breath and asked him about the pregnancy. I didn't want to, really, I didn't, but I felt like he needed to know. At the same time, I wanted information. It was a dual effort at best.

  “What do you mean she's pregnant?!”

  I cursed under my breath and knew then that I should have kept my mouth shut. When in doubt, I should always keep my mouth shut, and that was something that I was going to have to remember again. What part of losing Dina had made me this way? It was like I was a completely different person and not in a good way.

  “Well if you got her pregnant John, you better do the right thing.”

  “What if I don't know if it's mine or not?”

  “Dina isn’t like that, and you know it. Or you should, if you slept with her. If she says it's yours, it's yours. Don’t be a douche.”

  I actually felt worse after talking to him and not because of the anger he showed my way. That was completely understandable as far as I was concerned. I was more upset with the fact that he had told me something that I already knew, and I should have just believed it from the get-go. I knew what kind of woman Dina was, and I knew that she wasn't that way. Why had I tried so hard to make it so? Was it just easier to believe that none of this was my fault and responsibility?

  I knew then, that I was going to have to grow up. It wasn't going to be easy, but it was the only thing that I could do.

  Epilogue

  Four months later…

  Dina

  I was so upset after I told John that I was pregnant and he started bringing up other guys. Those were the men that he had been jealous of, but at the same time, I had had nothing to do with either one of them. That's what I think unsettled me the most. And that he would actually believe such things about me was hard to swallow. Did I really come across that way?

  After a few weeks of ignoring his phone calls, I was starting to think that he was finally getting the hint. Obviously, I didn't want to talk to him, and it was because of all the things that he had said and done. He knew that I wasn't that way, or at least I thought he did it. Now I was just bitter about the whole situation. I felt like I had lost everything, for nothing.

  Then a few months went by and I was devastated when he stopped calling. I don’t know why I was so upset. It was what I wanted, right?

  When I heard the knock at the door, I really thought that it was my friend Alice from across the street. We had reconnected once I got back, and we were both going to the same small college. I was starting to remember that I wasn't the only one who was stuck in Coloma. She hated the place almost as much as I did, and it was really nice to have somebody to talk to about it. I talked to Bella more and we had become friends, but she loved Coloma far too much to ever understand how I felt about it.

  “Hey, just come in, Alice.”

  I opened the door and went back towards the kitchen to get the soup off the stove. It was going to boil over and I wasn't even paying attention to who walked in the door. If I would have known that it was John coming in, I would have stopped him. The last thing I needed was for him to get involved. Every time he was involved in something, it just made it worse. But I did find out very quickly that it was John behind me.

  “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

  I turned around and asked him what the hell he was doing here. It came out far more harsh than I intended it to be.

  His eyes got a little wider and I knew it was because I was starting to show. It was only four months ago that we were forbidden to see each other again. A lot had changed and my body was one of those things.

  “What are you doing here, John? You’re just standing there, gawking at me.”

  The shock wore off and he finally looked at me.

  “We need to talk.”

  “You said enough. I don't want to talk to you, John.”

  “You can't just ignore me forever. We’re having a child together.”

  “We’re not, according to you. It can apparently be anybody's child because obviously, I sleep around with everyone.”

  The bitterness was so thick in my mouth, I could actually taste it. I hoped he knew what he had made me go through and feel. It had taken a lot for me to call him after everything that happened, and for him to just blow me off and then say what he did, really killed any confidence or thought that I had that he would ever be there for me. He had made his choice, as far as I was concerned.

  “Dina, are you alright in there? Who is that?”

  I saw the look on John's face and I just had to shake my head to myself.

  “Don't.”

  He had already passed me and went into the kitchen. Jack's friend Donald was there with a cup of coffee, waiting for my brother to come in. I didn't even have to get into the kitchen, to know exactly what John was going to do. The man was a hot head and so damn jealous that it was ridiculous.

  “What the hell are you doing here?”

  Donald was a big guy and he of course wasn't going to let somebody talk to him like that. He told John to piss off.

  “Stop it!”

  I said it out loud. I watched as John attacked Donald and the two started fighting. I was pregnant and there was no way that I was getting involved in this. This was men acting like idiots, and I didn't want to have anything to do with it. I couldn't believe that he was acting like this. Again.

  I went into the other room and called my brother. I told him that he needed to come over here and get his two friends, because they were tearing up my kitchen.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Just what I said, Jack. Come get your idiot friends out of my kitchen, they’re fighting over something.”

  He growled at me and I could tell he was upset. “Why do I get the feeling that they're fighting over you?”

  I didn't answer, because I was still mad at Jack. He had acted like an idiot and I didn't appreciate it. But right now, I needed him to come break it up.

  It didn't take long for him to get here because he was just down the road. He was already on his way and I was relieved when he came in. The two men in the kitchen were still fighting, and they were starting to really hurt each other. I had tried yelling at them to stop, but that didn't seem to help at all.

  Jack gave me a dirt
y look before he went in and pulled John off of Donald.

  “What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you letting this all get in your head, John?”

  “I was here to get her back and this asshole is sitting in the kitchen…”

  “That’s my friend and he was going to help me fix her sink. What the hell, John. You are doing all of this for my sister?”

  He agreed and I waited with my heart in my chest. What was he going to say next? Donald was even listening, probably trying to figure out why the hell he had just gotten hit in the face.

  “Yes, Jack. I fucking love her. She’s having my baby. I will do far more than this to have Dina.”

  “Then tell her, right here, right now.”

  For a moment, I didn’t know what that meant. Surely Jack didn’t think that he was just going to ask me that. But then John got on his knees and I was covering my face. Surely he couldn’t…

  “I should have done this months ago. I shouldn’t have let it go this long. I’m sorry I did, but I’m ready to fix that mistake.”

  I told him to stand up. “This is not the time for this, John. I thought you wanted to talk?”

  “I do, but this is what I want to talk about. If I have to do it in front of Jack, for him to know that I mean no harm, then so be it. I love you Dina, with all of my heart, and I don’t even care who hears it.”

  “What about your girlfriend, Lisa?”

  “She started all of this, but I am glad for it. I found out, we broke up right after you left, and I haven’t seen her since. I am not worried about Lisa. I am worried about you and our child.”

  Damn it. I wanted to be mad, but then he had to go and say things like that. How was I supposed to deal with that? It was impossible, really it was.

  The knock at the door threw us all off and everyone turned to Alice. She just walked in and stopped. “What’s going on here?”

  “Come on in, Alice. My idiot friend is proposing to my little sister.”