The Billionaire Boys Club (Billionaire Romance Series Book 1) (26 page)

“I’ll stay here,” he said. “Go to bed.”
 

Kelsey hesitated.
 

“It’s okay,” Dylan said. “Go to bed.”
 

Kelsey brushed his wet hair with her hand, and stood up.
 

“Good night, Dylan.”
 

“Night, Kels,” he replied. Kelsey left the bathroom and shut the door behind her.
 

When Kelsey and Jessica woke up on Saturday, the house was silent. Kelsey walked downstairs to the kitchen, where she found a note in her mother’s handwriting.
 

At the store.

Kelsey looked at the note in puzzlement. Although her mother sometimes worked at the store, it was rare for her to open it in the morning. Kelsey ran back upstairs and got her phone.

Where’s Dad?
Kelsey messaged her.

He drove Dylan to the airport,
was her mother’s response.

“What?” Kelsey said out loud as Jessica returned from brushing her teeth.
 

“What’s up?” Jess asked.
 

“Dad drove Dylan to the airport.”
 

“Are you kidding?” Jessica said. Kelsey shook her head. She ran to the guest room. Dylan’s things were gone.
 

“Get dressed,” Kelsey said to Jessica.
 

They got dressed quickly, and ran outside. Dylan’s car was sitting outside. They jogged down to the store, which was already crowded with customers.
 

“Kelsey, I’m glad you’re here,” said Michelle. “Can you run the register?” Kelsey nodded yes and spotted her mother helping a customer at the back of the store. As soon as things quieted down a half-hour later,
 
Kelsey and Jessica went to talk to her.

“Mom, why did Dad take Dylan to the airport?” Kelsey asked.

“No idea, honey. He woke me up and asked me to open the store this morning. He’ll let you know when he gets back.”

“What time did they leave?”

“Six or so, Kels,” her mother said. Kelsey glanced at her phone. It was almost eleven. Sea-Tac Airport was a two-hour drive away, so her father should return soon.
 

Mr. North walked into the store at 11:45. He kissed his wife, whispered something to her, and waved Kelsey and Jessica into the storeroom. He closed the door behind them.
 

“Is Dylan okay?” Kelsey asked. Mr. North sighed.
 

“Kels, Dylan’s heading back to Portland. He’s going into rehab,” Mr. North said simply.
 

Kelsey and Jessica were stunned into silence.
 

“He woke me up at five this morning,” Mr. North continued. “He told me that he had a problem and that he needed to deal with it. We called his parents, and I put him on the plane. He won’t return to Darrow this semester.”
 
Kelsey sat down in a chair next to the door.
 

“Poor Dylan,” Jessica said.
 

“He’s taking care of it now, while he’s young. He’ll be okay,” Mr. North said reassuringly. “Look, I’d better help your mom. We can talk more later. You guys come out when you’re ready.” Mr. North left the room, and closed the door.
 

“Poor Dylan,” Jessica repeated. Kelsey looked up at her. There were tears streaming down her cheeks. Kelsey stood up and gave her a hug.
 

“I had no idea it was so bad,” Jessica continued.

“I know,” Kelsey agreed.

“Do you think Darrow will let him return?”

Kelsey nodded. “They won’t punish him for getting help,” she replied.

Jessica wiped a tear from her eye. “I can’t believe he’s gone just like that,” she said.
 

“Me neither,” Kelsey said sadly.
 

The next day, Kelsey and Jessica put their things into the trunk of Dylan’s car. They were going to drive it back to Darrow, clean out Dylan’s room and pack his things. Dylan’s brother Ian would pick up the car before the Christmas holiday. Dylan’s parents had driven him straight from the airport to the rehab center, so he hadn’t contacted Kelsey.

Kelsey’s mom placed a small cooler in the back seat of the car.
 

“Plenty of snacks for the week,” Mrs. North said glumly.
 

“Thanks, Mom,” Kelsey said, giving her a kiss.
 

“I’m glad you girls came for a visit,” Mr. North said.
 

“Thank you for having me,” Jessica said somberly.

“Anytime, Jessica,” Mrs. North said, giving her a hug.
 

“I’ve filled up the tank,” Mr. North said. “Make sure you call us when you get back to campus.”
 

“We will,” Kelsey said, taking the keys out of her pocket and putting them in her hand. She kissed both of her parents. “Take care,” Kelsey said. She and Jessica got into the BMW and drove off.
 

It was sad driving back to Seattle without Dylan. Kelsey and Jessica barely spoke in the car, and a few times when Kelsey looked over at Jessica, it looked as if she was crying. Kelsey parked the car on the ferry in Kingston.

“Want to go upstairs to the deck?” Kelsey asked. Jessica nodded and got out of the car.
 

They stood on the deck and Jessica put her hands into the pocket of her fleece as the wind breezed through her curly brown hair.
 

“It’s destroying everyone,” Jessica finally said. “Ashley, Dylan. Who’s next?”
 

“Jess…” Kelsey said.
 

“It’s not right, Kelsey. Nothing should be this difficult,” Jessica replied.

“We’re going to be OK, Jess. We’re unstoppable,” Kelsey said.
 

“Maybe
you
are,” Jessica said.
 

“
We
are,” Kelsey replied. “We just have to get through the stress, deal with it.”
 

“Dylan dealt with it. So did Ashley, getting involved with that idiot.”
 

“That’s not dealing. That’s avoiding.”
 

“What if we fail?”
 

“Then we start over,” Kelsey said.
 

Jessica turned her face into the wind. “I don’t see how you can be so positive,” she said.
 

Kelsey stood next to Jessica, and put her arms around Jess’s shoulders.
 

“I don’t have a choice, Jess. What will I do if I quit? Move back to Port Townsend? Hope that someone buys me a wedding ring? I don’t want that for myself. Morgan, Jasmine, that’s what they’ve dreamed of. But not me. I want more. And I’m going to get it or die trying.”
 

“I wish I were like that.”
 

“You are like that. You’ve just forgotten,” Kelsey said. “We just have to keep trying, Jess. We can’t give up.”

Jessica nodded, and wiped a tear out of her eye.
 

“I know,” Jessica said. “I know that you’re right. But this is so hard. I don’t know what’s going on, and I don’t know what I don’t know.”
 

“No one does,” Kelsey said.
 

Jessica looked at her and giggled. “What?”
 

“I didn’t understand what you said either,” Kelsey grinned.
 

Jessica wiped her eyes again. “Exams, Kels. I’ll hang on until exams. Then I’m going home and let the chips fall where they may.”
 

“That’s all I’m asking, Jess,” Kelsey said. Jessica looked back out to the water.
 

“I had no idea what I was getting into,” she said bitterly.

“None of us did,” Kelsey said. “But we know what we’ll get out of it.”
 

After she and Jessica had settled back into their room, Kelsey walked downstairs and knocked on Matthew’s door.
 

“Yes?” Matthew said after he opened it and saw Kelsey.

“Dylan is leaving. I need to pack up his stuff this week. I wondered when would be convenient for you.”
 

Matthew surveyed her. “Couldn’t take it, huh? Do it Tuesday, after Property. Do you need me to let you in?”

“No, I have his key,” Kelsey said. Dylan had left it in the car.

“Fine,” Matthew said, closing the door in her face.

Kelsey turned and walked back upstairs.
 

On Tuesday after Civil Procedure, she and Jessica walked into Madison Park and got some boxes from the grocery store. They attended their respective Property classes, then walked down to the room with the boxes. Kelsey knocked on the door, but Matthew wasn’t there. She opened the door.
 

She walked over to Dylan’s bed and sat for a moment, as Jessica arranged the boxes on the floor. Then she stood and opened the top drawer of his dresser. She handed clothes to Jessica who neatly placed them into the open boxes. Then she found a half-empty bottle of vodka.
 

Kelsey gasped. Jessica turned and saw the bottle in Kelsey’s hand. Jessica closed her eyes, then took the bottle from Kelsey. She placed it into an empty box, and they continued.
 

As they packed the dresser, they found three more bottles of alcohol, in various sizes and states of emptiness. Kelsey packed up Dylan’s desk and found two more. Jessica placed each into the box with the others, tears streaming down her cheeks. They finished packing his things, then Jessica sealed all of the boxes except the one with the bottles. Kelsey carried the bottle box up to their bathroom and poured each down the sink. Then she took the bottles and threw them into the recycling bin on their floor. She threw them hard, and was rewarded with the satisfying sound of glass breaking. She walked back downstairs. Jessica had piled the rest of the boxes out into the hall and had begun carrying them downstairs. Kelsey double-checked the room to make sure that all of Dylan’s things had been removed, then closed the door. Tyler, Zachary and Ryan came onto the floor.

“What’s up, Kels?” Zachary asked.

“Dylan left,” she replied. She glanced at the boxes. “Jess and I are moving his stuff to his car.”

Tyler placed his bag next to the wall. “We’ll help you carry them down,” he said. Zachary and Ryan dropped their bags, and each of them took a box. Tyler took two. Kelsey took the last one, and they walked down the stairs, where they met Jessica.
 

“We have them all,” Kelsey said. Jessica nodded and walked back down the stairs.
 

“Do you want to get the car?” Tyler asked. “I’ll help you pack it.”
 

“Thanks, guys,” Kelsey said. She ran outside and through the back gate. She had got permission to park the car in front of the dorm to put Dylan’s things inside. She got the car and returned to the dorm. Dylan’s things were sitting outside, and Tyler, Zachary, and Ryan were standing outside.

“Jess went upstairs,” Zach said as Kelsey got out of the car and opened the trunk. They packed the boxes neatly into the car and closed the trunk.
 

“Thanks a lot,” Kelsey said, and she drove the car back to the lot. She walked back slowly to the dorm. Tyler was still standing outside.

“I’m sorry,” he said to her. Kelsey nodded and walked past him into the dorm. She walked up the stairs and into her room. Jessica was rolled up in a ball on the bed, crying. Kelsey felt tears of her own.
 

“How could we not have known?” Jessica asked through her tears. “Why didn’t we do something?” Kelsey gently put her hand on Jessica’s head. She had been wondering the same thing.

As was normal at Darrow, Dylan’s absence was noticed but not commented on. He was just another statistic.

Wednesday was a blur for Kelsey. She ran in the morning, running as if by going quickly she could bring Dylan back to Darrow. Tyler glanced over at her a few times but didn’t say anything. Kelsey left without a word. She and Jessica ate breakfast in silence. Kelsey went to Civil Procedure and Torts but didn’t hear a word. She spent the rest of the day alone in the library, but read nothing.

On Thursday, Tyler spoke to her as she was leaving the gym.
 

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked her. Kelsey looked at him.
 

“No,” she said, and left.

Kelsey arrived in Property class that afternoon and set her backpack on the table. Ryan and Zachary were talking and Tyler looked over at Kelsey as she sat. She could sense his eyes on her, but she pretended that she didn’t notice, and got her laptop out of her backpack.

“Kelsey,” Tyler began softly. The door opened and Professor Weber walked into the room. Tyler frowned. “You don’t have to handle this alone,” he said. Kelsey ignored him, and Professor Weber greeted the class. Tyler sighed and looked to the front.

Kelsey got to the gym at 5 a.m. to make sure that she could run alone. Tyler didn’t — couldn’t — understand Dylan, and she had no plans to try to discuss it with him. Kelsey, on the other hand, understood Dylan all too well. She had been there, looking for solutions where only problems could be found. She remembered the bleakness that had been her life, and she wept thinking about the well that Dylan now had to dig himself out of. She had done it herself.
 

She left the gym at 5:45 and headed back to the dorm. Kelsey showered and walked over to the student center. Breakfast wasn’t served until 6:30, so she sat and watched the black sky over Lake Washington.

At 9:45 a.m., Kelsey pushed her plate aside. She had sat in the same seat for hours, as her fellow Darrow students came in and out of the dining hall. Many of the first-years had skipped getting up this morning since Legal Writing was on hiatus for the rest of the year, and Kelsey was grateful that no one had joined her. She knew without looking that Tyler had been in the dining hall, but he hadn’t come over.
 

She remembered something she had learned while she was rebuilding her life. Every person is the sum of their habits, and they are either good ones or bad ones. Tyler’s habits were good and it was why he was still here. Dylan’s habits were bad, and it was why he was gone.
 

Kelsey stood and put on her fleece jacket. She walked out of the dining hall and out to Dylan’s car. She started it and began the drive to Sea-Tac Airport. Ian’s plane was landing at 10:30 and she was meeting him.