Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 71034 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71034 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
“Plenty of people could run it far better than me, Nicole included, but ultimately there’s no reason any of us need to have a daily part in things.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I’d love to run the charitable foundation my parents started. My mother runs it now, and I’ve helped her some, but she wants my sister to be involved in that.”
“Only traditional gender roles for your family?”
“Yes. It’s not based on religion or anything like that. My mom only worships societal expectations.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Please don’t feel sorry for me. You see how blessed I am.”
“I still want you to be happy. If your mother doesn’t want you at her foundation, could you start your own?”
“I could. That would piss her off even more, but she refuses to listen to anything I want.”
“So you’ve told her what you’d like to do?”
“Yes, but she doesn’t care. In her mind, things have to be the way she’s planned them to be.” I’d had enough of talking about myself and my family. “What about you? What do you want to do? What would make you happy?”
Laurie raised his brows. “You’re deflecting.”
“Yes.”
I expected him to push harder, but he didn’t. “I’m not sure. I stopped really thinking about that when I was under Tommy’s control. I’d like to finish my degree, but I don’t see how I can do that.”
“I could—”
He held up a hand. “Don’t you dare tell me you’re going to pay my tuition.”
“I would love to do that for you.”
“Worth, you can’t just—”
I shook my head. “I actually can. What if I called it a scholarship?”
“No.”
“If you could go back, what would you study?”
“I was in the graphic design program. I’d love to finish so I could find a job in the field, or if I could really follow my dream, I’d be an artist.”
“Really? My mom’s charity does art auctions, and art history has always been an interest of mine. You probably think I spend all day drinking and going to clubs, but do I read on occasion.”
Laurie narrowed his eyes at me. “It’s okay to have intellectual interests. You don’t always have to be the pretty boy.”
I sighed. “How are you so fucking perceptive?”
Laurie shrugged. “I’ve learned how to watch people closely and make guesses about what they were thinking. It kept me safe, but I guess it’s one good skill I got out of the last few years.”
I laid a hand over his. “You’re going to have a chance to develop any skills you want now, but you guessed right. Pretty boy with fluff for brains is the image I created for myself. It’s a way to be the opposite of the man my parents wanted to mold me into. If I could be a dumb playboy, the guy more likely to be in the paper for leaving a club drunk with a group of friends than for business successes, maybe they would give up trying to force me into a role I didn’t want.”
“But that’s not who you really are. It never even occurred to me that you were dumb.”
“No, but so few people bother to look beneath the surface.”
“I prefer to always do that.”
“I do with anyone I want to have more than a few hours of fun with.”
He studied me for a moment. “Your friends know the real you.”
“They do, but sometimes, for my sake, they pretend not to because it’s easier for me.”
“Beck told me they’re pushing you to figure out what you really want to do.”
“The little shit doesn’t need to be talking about me so much.”
“He cares about you,” Laurie said. “And he needs you.”
“Yeah, and that’s the only reason I promised him I wouldn’t touch you again. Otherwise, I’d….”
“We’re just…things are…the flames will die down. If not now, then once I go back home.”
I wasn’t sure about that, and I hated the idea of not seeing him anymore. “Maybe we could make a deal.”
“What kind of deal?”
“A deal where I agree to start my own adventure, and you let me fund your return to school and use my contacts to help you move into the job of your dreams.”
Laurie shook his head. “I can’t accept that.”
“You’d get to encourage me, push me, tell me off when I wasn’t following through.”
“If you decide you want to do something, you’ll follow through.”
I huffed. “I doubt you’d find anyone else who would agree with that.”
“You’re very determined once you know what you want.”
“I guess I am once I decide to do something.” Or someone.
Laurie nodded. “You took charge of shopping like it was the most important project you’d ever worked on.”
“Sure, but that’s fun.”
“Then find something you think is fun.”
“Running the art auctions is mostly fun.”
He nodded. “That’s a good start. Nothing is going to be fun all the time.”
“People keep telling me that. I think I’m finally ready to stop striving for non-stop fun.”