I Knew He Was A Billionaire, I Let Him Pretend To Be Poor Chapter 07

I Knew He Was A Billionaire, I Let Him Pretend To Be Poor Chapter 07

After that night, Nolan started texting me constantly.

I almost never wrote back

It wasn’t on purpose.

I was just that tired.

In the rare moments I wasn’t working, all I wanted was to close my eyes.

Three days later, Nolan quit his delivery job.

He’d found something new, close to my restaurant.

Hauling boxes at a grocery warehouse.

I couldn’t figure out what went on in that rich kid’s head.

He could’ve faked the delivery job and killed time wherever he wanted.

He could’ve come home to me at night and played his little romance game. Wouldn’t that have been easier?

Why was he actually breaking his back for it?

He sat across from me and pushed the plate of beef closer to my side.

“You never text me back. I switched jobs so I could see you.”

“Better money, closer to you, and I get to have lunch with you every day. Win-win-win.”

I took his hand and swung it between us.

“I wasn’t ignoring you. I barely have time to look at my phone

“Don’t be mad at me.”

His voice went soft, and a grin broke through no matter how hard he fought it.

“I’m not mad, Quit it with the puppy eyes.’

He pulled a phone out of his jacket and set it in front of me.

“Toss the old one. That thing’s barely hanging on.”

It was the newest model. Over fifteen hundred bucks. A coworker had just bought the same one.

I slid it back. “It’s too much. Take it back.”

Nolan ripped the box open and swapped my SIM card before I could stop him.

“It’s done. Just use it. Now eat. You barely touched your food.”

He walked me home that night.

The new job was destroying him. After his shower, he face-planted on the couch and didn’t move.

I almost laughed.

What was he proving? Rich kids and their impulses.

Maybe he thought this was fun.

When you had a safety net, even suffering could feel like a game.

I sat next to him, dipped a cotton swab in antiseptic, and dabbed at the raw skin on his shoulder.

He flinched.

I ran my hand over his hair.

“Shh. You’re fine.” I blew on it gently.

“Look at you. Your parents would lose their minds if they saw this.”

I pulled up my phone, opened my order history, and held it out to him.

“I got you shoes. What do you think?”

About seventy bucks. Probably trash by his standards.

His face fell the second he saw the price. “Don’t spend money on me. Send them back.”

His jaw tightened. Guilt, plain as day.

Then something below the shoes caught his eye. He scrolled.

Everything I’d bought for myself. Cheap clothes. Dollar-store basics.

I watched him scroll through it.

It hit me that I hadn’t spent more than seven dollars on myself in months.

Nolan scrolled back up to the shoes and cancelled the order without a word.

Then he stood up and pulled me against him.

The power cut out again just as his chin settled on my shoulder.

In the dark, his voice came out muffled against my neck.

“Baby, I’m going to take care of you. I swear.’

I smiled.

I almost told him we both knew this wasn’t going anywhere.

“Okay.” I nodded. “Thank you.”

“Why do you keep thanking me?” He sounded almost annoyed.

“Because nobody’s ever said that to me before. And almost nobody’s been this good to me.”

“It means more than you know.”

His arms tightened around me.

I ran my fingers through his hair.

He froze. Then he buried his face in my neck and pressed closer, like he was trying to crawl under my skin.

His skin was burning.

Something that small was enough to undo him completely.

“Okay, bedtime.” I patted his back. “Power’s not coming back tonight.”

He held on tighter. His voice went small.

“Baby… baby…”

I swallowed a yawn, peeled him off me, said good night, and closed the bedroom door behind me.