Isabella was not interested in falling in love. Marco was not looking for a relationship.
The perfect combination for a foolproof agreement.
Right?
*
Isabella Hammond, the first female billionaire in her city, is a smart, straightforward and stunni...
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EIGHT YEARS AGO
"You know, I envy you."
I look over at my roommate, Jesse.
He's flicking through the channels on our TV, not stopping on one long enough to really know what's playing before moving on to the next one.
His statement doesn't throw me. He's always so randomly philosophical, which I find really refreshing for someone who's majoring in International Business Management.
"Why?" I ask him, shaking my pencil between two fingers.
Jesse turns the TV off and turns to me.
Oh, God. This is about to become a whole thing.
"You seem to have life figured out, man." He doesn't say it like he's resentful. He says it like he actually wants to figure things out, too. He waves his hand at my drawing papers. "You want to be an architect and build things and you're doing it. You like playing tennis and basketball and you're doing that. You like to blow up those huge inflatable balls that you can put in the water and roll around like a hamster in when you're bored and you do that. You have a girlfriend that you're absolutely crazy about - like seriously, you're so crazy about her that you two have been together for what? Almost three months and you're still crazy about her and you still haven't slept with her because you want to wait for the right time. And what have I got, man? A major that I'm not so sure about and the fact that I confuse salt and sugar when I'm cooking."
He sighs long and hard.
"You really like planes," I tell him, gesturing to his collection of various model aircraft that adorn our apartment.
"Correction: I like aviation," Jesse sighs again.
"How come you didn't do something with that?" I ask.
He shrugs. "I don't want to be a pilot and I just don't know what else I want to do."
"There's no rule that says you have to have things figured out at twenty, Jesse. I guess I'm just lucky. About the sports, you just don't like any other than pool," I tell him
He shakes a finger at me. "Touché."
He's quiet for a while and I turn back to the bridge I'm drawing.
"Can I ask you something?" he asks.
I put down my pencil and look at him. "Shoot."
"If you don't mind," Jesse is always conscious of making sure he doesn't make you uncomfortable, even though he's such an idiot at times, "Tell me why being so much in love translates to not sleeping with someone."
"You mean, why do I not sleep with Lily even though I love her like crazy?" I ask back.
Jesse gives me a look. "Sure, be crass about it. Have you told her, though?"
