Need Me - M. Malone Page 0,23

Especially when he doesn’t seem all that bothered by the fact that I’m here. It’s more like he’s amused at the turn of events. Worse, it feels like he’s laughing at me.

“You look beautiful, Ariana. You have roses in your cheeks when you’re pissed off.”

My hands rise to the sides of my face automatically. “It’s hot in here. That’s all.”

He hums in agreement and the sound instantly takes me back to that night. That perfect, insane, bonkers first date. And the full intensity of what I gave up hits me with so much force I feel lightheaded.

“I really should go. You know, mingle.”

“Of course. I’ll text you when I can meet to start planning.”

He doesn’t say anything else and I shift uncomfortably from foot to foot. “That’s it?”

“What else is there? We’re nothing more than strangers, right?”

When he walks off, I’m left standing alone and feeling incredibly small.

* * *

He doesn’t text me that night. Or the next morning.

But I do have three voicemails from my parents. I groan as I hit the button to play them. I might as well get it over with.

Daddy Warbucks: Why is your mother saying she needs money for a plane ticket? The woman already takes half my money every month!

I roll my eyes. My father has only gotten exponentially more wealthy since he divorced my mother when I was twelve. So there’s no way my mom is getting half of his money. A fact my mom loves to rant about because apparently if she’d waited a few years to divorce him she could have gotten even more alimony than the ridiculous amount she gets now.

Daddy Warbucks: Is the money really for you? Mija, if you need money you can always ask–

MESSAGE DELETED

Drama Mama: I got your messages, darling. I’ll be there in plenty of time for your little appointment. Your father, of course, had to waste my time on the phone before buying the ticket. Can you believe his nerve–

MESSAGE DELETED

Daddy Warbucks: I forgot to ask. Don’t you have something medical coming up soon? Let me know if you need a check–

MESSAGE DELETED

I get out of bed and shuffle into the bathroom. One hot shower later, I’m dressed in some leggings and a sweatshirt and ready to start my day. My shift isn’t until this evening so I plan to clean up a little and get some grocery shopping done.

Still no texts.

My disappointment at not hearing from him makes no sense. He’s right. We are strangers now. I was the one who insisted on it. Why does it bother me that he seems oblivious to seeing me again?

Maybe because I’d built this moment up in my head expecting fireworks and instead only got a lukewarm fizzle. I’ve spent so much time worrying and wondering how he’d react to seeing me again and the reality is that he doesn’t care. The time we spent together clearly wasn’t as memorable for him.

Which does not hurt my feelings.

But it does make me angry.

Despite how it ended, we were … something to each other. I guess he thinks it’s funny to act like we never knew each other at all. This whole thing seems to be a game to him. He’s volunteering my time to help plan parties and smirking at me like I’m the one who once pursued him.

Well, I have something to fix that. Maybe he needs a little reminder of exactly who he’s dealing with.

I send a quick text to Casey for the information I need before I start putting together a little surprise for him. Vin wants us to plan the bachelor and bachelorette parties, does he?

Well, I’ll give him a little preview of what he can expect.

10

A few days later, I’m on a video call with Andre, Jason and the company’s creative director.

I’ve finally convinced Andre it’s time for the company to introduce a line of ready-to-wear suits. It took a lot of convincing. When my brother hears the words off-the-rack he imagines ill-fitting, cheap imitations of what a suit should be.

But I have a vision of something better. With my brother’s signature style, we could bring elegance to a new demographic and introduce a new line of revenue at the same time.

My assistant comes in. She’s holding a bunch of mail and a large box.

When Andre first decided to open a permanent office in DC, we both went through a carousel of assistants until we were able to weed out the fortune hunters, undercover gossip reporters and the ones who were