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The Company You Keep
Last Updated:
2024-02-04 02:54:14Related chapters
Billion Dollar Man Is It a Sign
BenAfter I helped Penny ensure the reception was ready, we headed toward the church. It would be a closed casket. Uncle Dean had been hurt too badly in the crash for the guests to see what had happened to him. I was relieved it would be closed. Even if Uncle Dean had looked perfect, I didn’t think Penny would be able to handle seeing her husband’s deceased body.Everything had been taken care of when we arrived. The florists had already set up all the flowers, the casket was in place, and the reverend was ready with his sermon. He took over from me, consoling Penny, and I was relieved to get away from her for a short while. Her sorrow was so intense, it threatened to drag me down, and I had so much going on already.I walked out of the church and stood on the little pathway that wound through trees and shrubs to the side. I had been thinking a lot about my life and where I was going to live it. New York wasn’t my home, but I would have to make it so. I didn’t want to do that without
Last Updated : 2024-02-04Billion Dollar Man Nothing Happened
MilaI should have worked on Wednesday, but one of the other nurses had come to ask me if I could trade shifts with her. Her sister was getting married, and she hadn’t been able to get time off. A sister’s wedding was a big deal, and I agreed. There was no reason for me to have a weekend free. All I did these days was work.So, instead of being at work on Wednesday, I had the day off. I took the day to myself, trying to make time to pamper myself. I never did it. I went to a nail salon to have my nails done—as a nurse, I never made time for something like that. I went to a hairdresser to cut my hair a little shorter again, and I had a three-hour nap in the afternoon. When I finally woke up, I felt more like myself.So much had happened lately, I hadn’t focused on myself at all, and it was good to put myself first and really take some me-time.After Skylar’s workday ended, she called me.“You mentioned you’re off today instead of having a long shift,” she said. “Care for some company?
Last Updated : 2024-02-04Billion Dollar Man No Return Call
MilaSkylar groaned. “This is so frustrating.”“Yeah, it is,” I said, and I thought back to the session with my hand and pink dildo that had followed after Ben had left me. I didn’t tell Skylar about that, though. She didn’t need to know I had thought about Ben fucking me the entire time I’d been getting myself off.“We haven’t talked since he left,” I said. “Somehow, I doubt we will talk.”“What do you mean?” Skylar asked.I drank the last bit of wine in my glass and held it out for Skylar to pour me another one. When the glass was full, I looked down at the red liquid.“He’s gone. He left to go back to New York.”Skylar frowned and blinked as if what I had said didn’t compute.“We’re talking about now, right?”I nodded. “Apparently, he left on Sunday.”“Apparently?”“Yeah, he didn’t even let me know he was going. It was the reading of his uncle’s will on Monday, but he never told me he was leaving. I heard it from Jerrod on Monday night. He hadn’t even bothered to say goodbye.”“Wh
Last Updated : 2024-02-04Billion Dollar Man Back To Leave
BenAfter everything had been taken care of with Uncle Dean’s will and the funeral, it was time to wrap things up in Portland. On Friday, my plane touched down, and I was back in Oregon.Before, I had been excited about going back. Now, I dreaded it. I was headed to the place where I had grown up, the place I loved and called home, to say my final goodbye. I had to take care of a few things here that I hadn’t been able to handle right away.My apartment was the first thing I needed to deal with. I had to give up the lease.When I had come to Portland, I had rented a place. I had signed the lease for a year, thinking I wanted to look around until I found the perfect property so I could build a house exactly how I liked it. Now, that was going to fall through.Maybe I could do something like that in New York. The idea didn’t seem nearly as enticing when I thought about the big city, all its gray buildings and yellow cabs and how much it just didn’t seem to be the place I wanted to call
Last Updated : 2024-02-04Billion Dollar Man Cowardly
Ben“That was quick,” I said when we were done. We’d packed it all up into three boxes that I would send to New York when I flew back. “Let’s go have a drink for old time’s sake.”Jerrod rolled his eyes. “I don’t actually enjoy celebrating old time’s sake because it means you’re leaving, but I can do with a drink.”We drove to The Cottage and walked to the bar. Jerrod stepped behind the bar and poured us each a beer straight from the beer tap.“So, are you ready to be the Big Boss again?” Jerrod asked when we sat on the bar stools and sipped our beer.“I guess so,” I said. “I mean, I know what to do. I don’t need anyone to show me the ropes.” A pang shot through my chest when I said it. Uncle Dean had shown me the ropes the last time. And now he was gone.“The perks of being in charge is that you get to leave from the office whenever you feel like it. Plus, you can have as many women as you like.”I chuckled, and we clinked our beer glasses in salute to what Jerrod has just said, but
Last Updated : 2024-02-04Billion Dollar Man Awkward
MilaOn Saturday, the hospital was peacefully quiet. There were no emergencies, more of the ICU patients had been moved to regular recovery rooms, and I could go about my daily duties without any problems. I didn’t have to run around in a panic at all.I had traded my shift with another nurse so she could go to a wedding. I had been doing her a favor, but I realized I had done myself a favor too. I was distracted enough not to have my mind run away with me, but the day was calm enough that it was just a normal job.It was everything I had needed.When my lunchtime rolled around, I finished up the report I was working on, ready to file it. Someone came to the nurse’s station.“Just a second,” I said, filing my report away. When I turned around, Ben stood in front of me.“Ben,” I said, surprised. He was the last person I’d expected to see. My pulse sped up, and I suddenly struggled to breathe. He was still the most attractive man I had ever seen, with eyes the color of the ocean and a s
Last Updated : 2024-02-04Billion Dollar Man Coincidence
MilaHe glanced at me. “Uncle Dean’s death is almost identical to the death of my father. It’s too much of a coincidence. The police contacted Penny, Uncle Dean’s wife. They’re investigating the crash as murder.”My blood drained from my face, and all the awkwardness was forgotten. “Are you being serious?” I asked.Ben nodded. “Yeah, it’s a big deal. I don’t know what to think about it, to be honest. I’m starting to think maybe it wasn’t just an accident. Not even for my father’s death. What if someone was responsible for it? What if it was planned?”I was suddenly terrified for Ben’s life. I didn’t know how realistic it was that people were being taken out that way, it sounded like the stuff of movies to me, but if it was true, what about Ben? What if he was in danger?I didn't want to say it to him. I didn’t want him to freak out about it. But I wanted to urge him to start driving instead of flying if any of this was real.“What are you going to do?” I asked.“I’m thinking of hiring
Last Updated : 2024-02-04Billion Dollar Man Where Do We Stand?
BenMy flight was scheduled for Sunday evening. I had my usual bags and the three boxes to send to New York and that was it. I stared at the things I needed to get over to New York, and I couldn’t believe that a life I had created here had so little to show for it.Maybe it was because I was so much more emotionally invested. I had only been here for a short while, after all. It wasn’t nearly enough to hoard material things.I should have been happy that I had nearly nothing to take care of before I left. Instead, I felt awful, and I didn’t know why.That was a lie. I was lying to myself. I knew exactly why I felt awful. I’d said goodbye to people I cared about, people I would have liked to have as a part of my life. Friends, family. Mila.I shook off the thought. Looking back and crying about it wasn’t going to do anyone any good. The only thing I could do about it was put my head down and do what needed to be done.As soon as I hit the ground in New York, everything was going to be
Last Updated : 2024-02-04
Latest chapter
Billion Dollar Man Epilogue Part 2
BenI had sold the company as Jerrod had suggested. I had thought about it long and hard and decided it was what I wanted. I hadn’t wanted to be the CEO of the company in the first place. Not when my father had left it to me and not when Uncle Dean had, either. I had put in the work and found someone worthy of the company. I heard it was thriving, now.The money received for the company sale had been enough to pay Brantley, and I still had enough left to give Penny an amount. I felt Uncle Dean’s widow had deserved a bit of an allowance after everything she had been through because of my father.After Brantley and Penny, I had bought a large house in Portland for me, Mila and Landon, and I had put the rest away as an investment for the future. We had so much money we would never struggle, even if we both stopped working.Mila and I were both working because we loved what we did. Mila didn’t want to stop nursing after she had Landon, and I understood. She asked for fewer shifts so that
Billion Dollar Man Epilogue Part 1
BenSeven Months LaterWhen I unlocked the door to the house I had bought six months ago, I was stepping over the threshold as a father. It was the first time, and I was very aware of it. A lump rose in my throat, but I swallowed it down.“Ready?” I asked Mila. She nodded and climbed out of the car. She moved comfortably. It was amazing how women bounced back from giving birth in no more than a day or two. It would have been different if she had had a C-section or something, but Mila had given birth naturally.She opened the car door and lifted the carrier out of its brace.“I’m coming,” I said, running to her. I took the carrier from her so she didn’t have to strain herself and put my arm around her as I carried little Landon in the other hand.Mila had given birth to a beautiful baby boy twenty-four hours ago. It had been a beautiful surprise. I would have been just as proud if it was a girl, but I was so happy it was a boy. Landon Atwood had a great ring to it.We walked together t
Billion Dollar Man Aching For Him
MilaAgain, he didn’t touch my pussy even though he came so close. Instead, he moved up my hip bones and kissed my stomach, my ribs, moving past my breasts to my shoulders and working his way down one arm. When he reached my fingers, he sucked them into his mouth and played with his tongue around them. It was a strange feeling, ticklish and such a turn on.Ben let go of my hand and moved across my chest, avoiding my breasts, moving over my shoulder and down my other arm. When he reached my fingers, I was just about losing my mind with lust. I wanted him inside me so badly, and he’d been teasing me by not touching any of the areas I so desperately wanted him to touch.When Ben pressed his fingers against my pussy, I jumped. I had wanted it so badly, now that I had it, it was like a jolt of electricity shooting into my body. Ben pressed his thumb against my clit and pushed two fingers into me. He moved his thumb while curling his fingers over my G-spot, and it didn’t take long at all be
Billion Dollar Man All Figured Out
MilaLate on Friday night, my phone rang. I was already sleeping, and it took me a while to find my phone on my nightstand.“Are you awake?” Ben asked.I smiled. “I am, now.”“Can I come over? I have great news.”I looked at the alarm clock next to my lamp. The red numbers said it was well after midnight.“Of course,” I said.Half an hour later, a cab pulled up and dropped Ben off in front of my apartment building. I had been looking out for him. I buzzed him up before he rang my apartment, and I smiled when he stumbled up the step to the front door. He had been drinking.When I opened the front door to him, he stepped forward and folded me against his body.“I missed you,” he said.I laughed. “It’s been two days.”“Two days too many,” Ben said. He smelled like beer and cigarette smoke.“Where were you?” I asked.“I was at the bar, having drinks with Jerrod.”I raised my eyebrows. It was good news. Unexpected, and good. I led Ben into my apartment and closed the door.“Get back in bed
Billion Dollar Man Lessons Learned
BenI shook my head. “I won’t. I know I haven’t treated her right, but I thought I was doing the right thing. I’m sticking around, now. I’m not going anywhere. I’m madly in love with her. Mila is one of a kind.”Jerrod nodded. “She is. And I can see how you feel about her. I have no doubt that you care for her. It just pissed me off so much that I was the last to know.”“I get that,” I said. I really did feel bad for what we’d done. But there was only so many times I could say I was sorry. I knew that this time, Jerrod had accepted my apology.Jerrod nodded again. We both drank our beers, listening to the music and watching the crowds shuffle in. As the night dragged on, the bar filled up with patrons who were done with their work week and looking for a way to unwind.“It’s just all so unexpected,” Jerrod said after a while. “Your relationship with her when I still see her as a kid is one thing. But now she’s pregnant. Man.” He scrubbed his face with his hands. “I don’t know what to m
Billion Dollar Man Have to Fix It
BenOn Friday I walked into the bar where Mila and I had gone with Jerrod and Skylar. We hadn’t been careful enough that night, and Jerrod had seen us together. That was when the trouble had all started between me and Jerrod, and I was hoping this was where it would all end.I had texted him, telling him I was going to be at the bar tonight. I wanted to talk to him, but I was tired of running after him when he wasn’t interested. I had asked him to come to meet me. He hadn’t replied. I had told him what time I was going to be there, and now that I was here, time would tell if Jerrod was going to show up to talk to me.My wristwatch told me it was eight o’clock. I would give him half an hour before I left again.Until now, everything had been about Jerrod. He had been the one who had been wronged. Mila and I had kept our relationship secret from him when it was already a no-no that his best friend and younger sister were dating. It had been wrong not to tell him and even worse that he h
Billion Dollar Man There For You
Mila“I love you, too.”There was nothing else to say. Words couldn’t describe how we both felt at that moment.After I changed back into my clothes, we met Dr. Holt in her office again. She gave me a prescription for prenatal supplements and an eating plan with do’s and don’ts for the next seven months.“I’ll see you back here in about eight weeks,” Dr. Holt said. “Then we’ll find out what you’re having.”When Ben and I walked back to the car, I felt like I was walking on air. Everything felt different, now. I felt more ready to be a mother, to have this baby and to raise it, than I had before. Now that I had seen the baby, I knew that I wanted all of this.Did Ben feel the same?“You know, you still have time to back out of this,” I said to Ben. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at me.“What makes you think I would want that?” he asked.I pulled up my shoulder. I couldn’t guarantee that this feeling of amazement was mutual. Ben took a step closer to me and kissed me long and
Billion Dollar Man Seeing The Baby
MilaOn Wednesday I had the day off again and had scheduled an ultrasound. Now that everyone knew about me being pregnant, it was time to meet the baby.Ben was with me. It made me less nervous, but only a little. It was crazy how tense I was about the appointment, even though everything was out in the open now. The idea that I was pregnant, that we were having a baby, was terrifying.It had all happened so fast. It had been mere weeks since Ben had come back to Portland for the first time and now we were starting a family together. There were nights when I was sleepless and in a fit of panic, wondering how the hell we were going to get through this. We had been a part of each other’s lives for years, but when it came down to knowing each other, we were practically strangers.When I was with Ben, like now, all my worries melted away. We were great together. He was so attentive now that I was pregnant, and since he had told me he was going to stay, our relationship was stronger than ev
Billion Dollar Man Spreading The Word
BenI let go of Jerrod’s shirt. He stumbled back, his expression surprised. Maybe he had expected me to throw the first punch. He had been ready to fight me. But I wasn’t here for that. I hadn’t come to beat up my best friend. I had only come to set the record straight.“She’s a great person, Jerrod. You know that. She doesn’t deserve this shit.”I turned around and left the office. Jerrod stayed behind, gaping. I had never been one to back down from a fight. There had been enough fights in high school that had shown Jerrod that. But this wasn’t high school, and Jerrod was like a brother to me. If I ended up with Mila, he would be a brother-in-law, in fact.So, I wasn’t going to go there.Instead, I headed back home like a good boy to seethe in private.After I had taken the time to calm down, I phoned Mila.“How are you doing?” I asked.“Better,” she said, and I was relieved. “I came off my shift just now. I’m going to crawl into bed for a few hours.“Have you told your parents yet?”
