Crushing On The Billionaire (Part 3) by Lola Silverman Read Free Book Online

hesitated for only a moment before hugging me back.
    “I’m sorry,” I said in his ear. “But if you were me and I were you, and the last time you’d seen me was under the same circumstances as the last time I saw you, you would hug me, too.”
    “I understand, and I’m sorry.” His voice was the same. It had been the same over the phone, but it was just so good to hear it in my ear, right there, present and sober and self-aware that I hugged him even tighter.
    “No, I’m sorry.” I broke the hug and glanced around. “Is hugging even allowed here?”
    “It’s a treatment facility, not prison,” he said, laughing at me. “Though maybe I deserved prison. I don’t know.”
    “You don’t and you know it.” A woman in a uniform had joined our little reunion. “Shawn, if you’re going to do this, you’re going to do it right.”
    “Meet Dr. Adams,” he said with a long-suffering sigh. “Dr. Adams, this is Loren.”
    “A pleasure to meet you,” she said warmly, holding out her hand. I shook it. “We’re so happy you could make it.”
    “What have we said about the royal we?” Shawn demanded, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
    “Oh, I was speaking for both of us,” she said, laughing. “Believe me. I know you’re happy she could make it. And that makes me happy, too.”
    “How could I not have come?” I asked, shaking my head.
    “Well, because I was an asshole,” Shawn offered. “For one.”
    “You had some pretty good reasons,” I began, but he waved me off.
    “I had some pretty stupid reasons to treat you the way that I did, and you didn’t deserve that,” he said.
    “Why don’t we have this conversation somewhere more comfortable,” Dr. Adams suggested. “My office is available right now, and I just made a fresh pot of tea. I could leave you both to it, Shawn, if you promise to remember what I said—and Loren, if you promise to help him remember.”
    I looked at Shawn, a question in my eyes, until he sighed and let me in on what the doctor was talking about.
    “I’m not allowed to disparage myself,” he said. “It’s self-serving and I don’t need pity. I need progress.”
    “That’s pretty catchy,” I said, hiding a smile behind my hand.
    “I thought so, too,” Dr. Adams said. “Follow me.”
    Someone had worked hard to preserve the historic guts of the facility while updating it to be comfortable and state of the art. I found myself marveling at some of the decor, wishing that I could snap a few photos of it without offending anyone. We walked down a long corridor, and I could hear the whir of exercise machines and smell the sting of chlorine in the air.
    “You have a pool here?” I asked, my tone bordering on accusatory. “This place is so nice.”
    “I’m really lucky to be here,” Shawn said. “I’d lost some weight before, a little too much, and being here, being on a healthy diet and a good exercise plan…really, I’ve never felt better. It makes me realize just how important it is to take care of myself.”
    “I think that’s wonderful,” I said, and I really did. I wanted nothing more than for Shawn to think he was worth the time and effort. I appreciated this new rule of Dr. Adams’—to resist disparaging himself. The Shawn I used to know would complain bitterly about his lack of physical fitness before asking me what I wanted on my pizza, already dialing our favorite delivery spot. It was refreshing for him to admit how taking care of himself was important, and something he’d been devoting a good bit of time to.
    “Here we are,” Dr. Adams announced as we stopped in front of a door. “You all go right in and make yourselves at home. The teapot is on the table, along with sugar and milk. Let me know if you need anything.”
    “Thank you,” Shawn said, then held the door open for me.
    The office was comfortable—again, nothing like what I could imagine such a place would actually be like. It was dotted with plush chairs and side tables and