Billionaires Don't Fall in Love

FORTY-FOUR

"Titi!" Valeria swung open the door. "Thanks for coming, Bonita. You can set the wine on the counter."

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Tobias joked.

Valeria playfully rolled her eyes. "Hey, Tobias. The boys and Skylar are in the living room."

Valeria looped her arm in mine before walking us towards the kitchen.

"What's up?"

"Your bother has been flirting with me all night."

"Which one?" I sat down the bottle of Rosé.

"Eros."

"Right. I forgot you two had a thing in the past. Do you want me to say something?"

"No." She shook her head. "I'm starting to like him all over again and him flirting isn't helping."

"And why is that wrong?"

"Because, he broke my heart, Athena. He broke it so bad, I've been single ever since." She huffed. "We were in love but he decided to move to California without letting me know."

"That sucks. Did he explain why?"

"Yeah, we talked about it, but now I'm just..." She trailed off.

"Protecting yourself." I nodded. "I get it, but if your feelings continue to grow for him, obviously you aren't done with him. I'm not saying jump back into a relationship with him, but don't shove those feelings away."

"Right. Right." She nodded. "Okay let's go."

She grabbed my hand before dragging us to the living room.

"Everyone's here! Great." Valeria stood by the fireplace. "So back in high school, we use to hold an annual tradition and we don't do that anymore."

"Are you talking about when we used to bring articles about ourselves and make fun of them?" Skylar questioned.

"No. We did that daily, but on this day a while back, we all became friends. So we celebrated it every year."

"Oh wow. We haven't done this in years." Skylar chuckled.

"Okay. We each pair off in two's." Valeria smiled. "Tobias and Athena of course."

She looked around the room.

"Skylar and Anteros. Jacob and Oliver. Which leaves..."

"Me and you baby," Eros smirked.

"Fuck." She huffed. "Okay fine. The first round is karaoke. Chose your songs."

I walked over to Tobias and sat next to him. He wrapped his arm around my waist before pulling me closer. I chuckled.

"What song are you thinking?" I questioned.

"I have no idea."

"Okay, all I know is, I'm lead and you're background vocals."

"I'd be background vocals for you any day."

"Oh please." I shook my head while scanning the room. "So what's the total deal with my brother and Val?"

"High school sweethearts. I'm sure she told you about the miscarriage. That really separated them and Eros moved away for a bit."

"She didn't."

"Oh shit. Please don't mention it to her. It wasn't my place to say."

"I won't." I nodded. I stared at the two as they discussed which songs they were performing.

It must've hurt Val really bad. Why would Eros up and leave after they both experienced such a loss? I shook my head, waking myself up out of my thought.