The Billionaire Boys Club (Billionaire Romance Series Book 1) (27 page)

Ian got off the plane without baggage and walked over to her. She gave him a hug.

“How are you, Ian?” she asked.

“Okay,” Ian replied.

“I’ll take you to the car,” Kelsey said. They began walking through the airport. Ian walked silently and looked at the ground. Kelsey wasn’t sure what to say to him. She knew that Dylan hadn’t been able to contact his family. It was one of the rules of the rehab program he was in. So Ian knew as little about Dylan as she did. Perhaps less, since he hadn’t seen his older brother in months.

Kelsey led him out of the airport and into the parking lot where she had parked the car. She walked up to Dylan’s BMW and pulled his keys out of her pocket. The Portland State University alumni keychain gleamed.
 

Ian took the keys and looked at them for a moment.

“Kels?” he asked.

“Yes?”

“Will Dylan be okay?” Ian asked softly. Kelsey smiled at him.
 

“He’ll be fine,” she replied.

Ian nodded. He hugged her and kissed her hair.
 

“Thanks, Kels,” he said. He opened the door and got into the car.

“Let me know when you get back,” Kelsey said.
 

“I will,” Ian replied. He started the car and took the parking ticket off the dashboard. Kelsey backed away from the car and Ian drove away. She waved at him, then she walked toward the light rail station.
 

“Hey, Princess.”
 

Kelsey looked up. She had almost run into Tyler when she was walking into the dorm. He had been walking out. Tyler looked at her in concern. Kelsey knew that her eyes were red. She had cried most of the bus ride back to campus.
 

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“No,” Kelsey said. “I’m not.”
 
And she wasn’t. She had been the strong one for the past few days, but now she was tired.
 

Tyler gently took her arm and steered her outside. The cold air stung her wet cheeks, and she felt her tears begin again.
 

Tyler was quiet as they walked across the quad, toward the main gate. Kelsey wiped at her tears, but they kept falling.
 

“Sorry,” she finally sniffed. They had walked out of the main gate and had begun walking south, away from Madison Park.
 

“What’s wrong?” Tyler said.
 

“Do you ever feel like giving up?” Kelsey asked. She glanced at him with her red-rimmed eyes.

“All the time,” Tyler replied.
 

“Why don’t you?” she asked.
 

“Who says I don’t?” Tyler replied. “I give up, I give in, I avoid, because it’s easier to do. All the time. It’s why I’m here.”
 

“You didn’t want to come to Darrow?”
 

“I didn’t want to come back to Seattle,” Tyler said. “But I’m here now, and I’m going to make the most of it. I’m not giving up now.”
 

“Why is this so hard?” Kelsey asked as they passed the Seattle Tennis Club. It had started to drizzle softly.
 

“Because it can be. Because once we’re done, we’re going to be some of the best lawyers on the planet. If you live through this, nothing can hurt you,” Tyler said thoughtfully.
 

“What happens if I fail?” Kelsey asked him. “I don’t have a Plan B.”
 

“You won’t fail,” Tyler said dismissively.

“You don’t know that. Anyway, you have a Plan B. You can work for Tactec.”
 

“That would feel like failing to me,” Tyler said. They walked another block, then Tyler asked her.
“What are you really worried about, Kelsey?”
 

Kelsey looked up at him.
 

“Losing my dreams,” she replied.
 

“You can always create new ones,” Tyler replied.
 

“Maybe,” Kelsey said.
 

“The problem is that we care,” Tyler said. “We always want things to be better, for us to live up to the potential we believe we have. Some days I wish I were Ryan.”
 

“Not that!” Kelsey said, smiling in spite of herself.
 

Tyler grinned. “Nothing matters to him. He goes day to day doing whatever feels right. If he passes class, great. If he gets a failure letter, that’s OK too. Nothing bothers him.
 
Everything bothers me.”

“Me too,” Kelsey said.
 

Tyler looked at her. “So what do you want to do? Do you want to give up?” he asked.
 

“Never,” Kelsey replied. She wiped the tears out of her eyes.
 

“I didn’t think so,” Tyler replied. “Then we won’t. We’ll keep going. OK?”

“OK.”
 

“The next three weeks are going to be the most important of our lives, Kelsey. I know that we’re up for the challenge. But do you know it?”

“I know.”
 

Tyler stopped and took Kelsey’s hand.
 

“Best of luck, Princess,” he said. Kelsey smiled at him.
 

“Best of luck, Tyler,” she replied.

Coming November 2014

Billionaire Boys Club in New York