Nick’s Obsession (The Billionaire’s Obsession 3)

Pushing through Brandon I kicked off my flats and got comfortable on the couch, laying down on my side while I held onto one of the gray, comfy pillows. I could hear Brandon close the door and walk into the living room, feeling his eyes take me in.

“What happened?” He took a seat beside my feet, putting my bag on the coffee table, “Did you have a fight with Nick?”

It was probably written all over my face. I never liked having a fight with Nick, we rarely had one since we got serious about each other. So this fight which got out of hand really got to me.

“Yeah.”

“You want to talk about it?”

He didn’t push me which I appreciated it. Right now I wasn’t emotionally stable, I was fully aware of that. Nick didn’t push me because he knew and Brandon didn’t push me either because he was also aware of how I got whenever I was in one of those moods. Both men knew me well which brought the memory of Max back. I wasn’t changing my mind about him. Just because we shared DNA didn’t mean he was my brother. He didn’t know me. He didn’t know my likes and dislikes, he didn’t know my hopes and dreams. He didn’t know the Emily who thought Nick was her whole world.

“Max is back.”

“Wait, isn’t Max your brother? I’m pretty sure you mentioned him once to me.”

“Max is my brother.” I confirmed, “I mentioned him to you.”

I didn’t move when he placed his hand on my leg, letting me know he was there for me.

“Did you and Nick fight about Max?”

I stiffened which told Brandon enough. He gave my leg a pat before he got up and took a seat on the floor, leaning back against the couch while he turned on the TV. He stopped changing the channel when he found a sitcom. We stayed quiet for a while, watching the episode together. It put a smile upon my face which Brandon must have seen.

“Em, talk to me.”

I sat up which made him narrow his eyes on me when I was slower than usual. Placing my hand on my stomach I leaned back against the couch and put my feet up on the couch as well.

“Nick and I had a fight about Max. He was pushing me to have lunch with Max and I didn’t want to. Then he started to question me and I said something which I can’t take back.”

“Did you call him a jerk? Because I’m sure he hears that more often, he must be immune to it now.”

I shook my head.

“Bastard?” He narrowed his eyes on me when I remained quiet, “I’ll high five you if you called him a dick.” He sounded amused which lightened my mood quite a bit.

“I didn’t,” I muttered.

“Then what did you say, Em?”

“I said fuck you,” I said in a whisper, ashamed I had to repeat what I told Nick.

Brandon’s stare burned on me, but I didn’t dare to look at him, afraid he’d judge me.

“Emily, I’m sure Nick is over it.”

I shifted my gaze to him, “I’m not.”

He leaned closer to me, “Did you apologize?”

I nodded.

“Then it’s all good. He was pushing you, things got out of hand. The thing is you knew you went too far and you apologized for it. You’re here beating yourself up over it because you hate yourself for what you said. I think Nick knows that and if he doesn’t dump him.”

I smiled giving his shoulder a push, “Shut up.”

The rest of the morning I watched sitcoms with Brandon, he also made me breakfast which made him my most favorite person on the entire planet. Pancakes with syrup, I loved it. He helped me feel better and when I was confident enough to face Nick again I left Brandon’s and headed home.

***

Entering the apartment, my eyes followed the light peeking through from the living room. Kicking my flats out I headed to the living room, my eyes landing on Nick sitting on the couch with his laptop on his lap. His gaze shifted to me, his eyes softening while a smile spread across his face. He did forgive me just like Brandon told me.

“You okay?” He asked me, breaking the silence first.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

Placing my bag on the one-seat I took a seat next to my boyfriend and leaned my head against his shoulder, “I’m sorry.”

He kissed my head, “You already told me that, it’s all good, Em.”

I wasn’t letting it go that easily though, “I know, but it really cut me deep when I said that to you. I hated myself for it.”

He placed his laptop aside and cupped my face in his hands, making me look at him, “I know that. Like I said things just got out of hand. I’m not holding a grudge, Em. If I can let it go, so should you.”

“I just want you to know that I didn’t mean it-”

“Stop apologizing for it.”

I nodded and let him pull away. Nick reached for his laptop again and went back to work, that didn’t mean I lost his attention though. I think he needed to use his work as a shield because when he told me he still had lunch with Max he pissed me off again.

“Okay, I don’t care if you like Max, don’t force me to do what you want.” I narrowed my eyes on him, “I’m not going to be the perfect sister because in your mind that’s how it works.”

This time he didn’t push the subject which I was grateful for. He actually let the subject go, we talked about our plans for dinner. Nick was cooking tonight, making something simple. I asked for chicken soup and he actually made the best chicken noodle soup I ever had. After dinner, Nick showed me the pictures of Evan which were all over the internet. It seemed that Evan was having a good time. When my eyes landed on a picture of him together with Zoey I knew my plan had worked. They weren’t all over each other, but her warm smile told me they were okay. She didn’t resent him anymore which was a good thing.