Endeared (The Accidental Billionaires #5) - J. S. Scott Page 0,12

enthusiastically. “Most of our other old friends have scattered, and you really should get out more. You’ve earned your leisure time, but you don’t seem happy that you actually have some of it now that your residency is over.”

“I have no idea how to spend my free time,” I scoffed. “I don’t know what to do with myself. My siblings are all married, so it’s not like I can just go hang out with them like they’re single.”

Truthfully, my new life was a little like stepping into an episode of The Twilight Zone. I’d spent an entire decade doing nothing except working and studying medicine. The rest of the world had moved on while I’d been studying to be a doctor, and now that I was ready to join it, everything had changed.

Every one of my siblings was just as filthy rich as I was, but they’d had a little more time to digest their newfound wealth. I’d been so busy just trying to get through my residency that I hadn’t had time to think about it. Nothing had really changed for me while I was finishing my residency, even though I’d had a pretty hefty bank balance for a while now.

“Of course you can hang out with them,” Andie scolded. “Every one of them is elated because you’re back in California and done with school.”

I wanted to explain to Andie how surreal my life seemed now, but I wasn’t sure how to do it. “I know that. But things are definitely different. It’s me. It’s not them. I guess I’ll get used to all of the changes eventually, but I’m not there yet.”

“I’m sure it’s weird,” Andie said thoughtfully. “I mean, you’ve gone from a struggling resident in Boston to a billionaire doctor in Southern California. Your siblings are all married now, and you weren’t around to see all those changes as they happened. Their new homes, and their new lives. It will take you a while to catch up. But try to enjoy the freedom you have now, Owen.”

“It’s not that I don’t like it,” I explained. “I’m glad that I’m done with school and back home in California. I’m happy that I’m finally a physician with my own practice. And I sure as hell don’t mind that I’m not a new doctor drowning in student debt. I’m just not sure what to do with all the extra time and money I have now. I’ve caught up on my sleep, and I’ve done all of the pleasure reading I wished I could have done while I was in school. What else is there to do?”

I’d been a fantasy-series junkie in high school, but I hadn’t had the time to read that kind of stuff once I’d gotten to college. I’d made up for that once I’d gotten back to California. I’d plowed through several long fantasy series, reading books back-to-back until I was caught up.

“Maybe you could try dating,” Andie suggested dryly.

“Now that I’m extremely wealthy, I doubt that any woman will be interested in me. Just my money,” I told her. “I’ve had a bunch of women ask me out, but I’m not even tempted. I’d like a woman who wants to get to know me, not my bank account. I knew some of those women in high school, and they definitely weren’t interested when I was a penniless guy in secondhand clothing.”

It wasn’t like any of the women after me now had suddenly woken up to what a great guy I was or something.

It was all about the money.

“I get that,” Andie sympathized. “But there has to be somebody out there who will care about you. You’re such an incredible guy, with or without billions of dollars.”

I wasn’t exactly an experienced dater. I’d had some hookups during college and medical school, but that’s all they’d been. Most had been one-nighters with women who were students as busy as I was, and who didn’t have time for a relationship, either.

“The only woman who really cared about me ended up married to my older brother,” I joked.

She chuckled. “And she still cares about you, even though she’s married. I want you to be happy.”

“I’m happy enough,” I assured her.

Since I didn’t really want to explain that my dick only saw one female right now, and that woman apparently hated me, I really needed to get off this whole topic about me and dating.

“I hope you can work everything out with Layla,” Andie said softly. “It would be nice