Piss Off, This Is My Money

23

Robert picked up the menu. “What shall we go with, babe?” he asked Maya.

Maya blinked, caught in a storm of her own thoughts. She drew closer, trying to focus on picking a meal, but her eyes kept darting toward Jace and the third-year girl. The girl—dressed like a queen straight out of some fantasy store—looked insane.

The way Jace had taken her shopping, spent like nothing mattered… Maya’s chest tightened. He had always told her, back when they were “together,” that when he became rich, he’d spoil his girlfriend crazy. But she had never imagined it this fast, this publicly, right in front of her.

“Maya?” Robert’s voice cut through her haze.

She jumped slightly, forcing a smile. “I’ll go with…” She pointed to a dish without thinking.

Robert smirked and picked something else—two hundred thousand dollars. The waiter bowed and took the menu.

Jace and his girl placed their orders, calm, collected, completely unaware of the storm brewing across the table.

Robert’s mind ticked. Everything was five hundred thousand dollars each. Two point five million in total. Perfect. He smirked—this was going to hurt.

“Um, Jace,” Robert said, leaning back like he owned the world, “what do you think about joining my basketball team?”

Jace didn’t flinch. “Are you scared of getting defeated by your fucking teammate?”

Robert laughed, fake scared. “Only issue—you can’t enter for free. Fifty thousand bucks entry. Totally fine if you can’t swing it.”

Jace’s grin widened. “Always been my dream. You saw me on the Livestream, right? Told her a million times I’d get in… if I had the money.” He nudged Maya lightly.

“I don’t think you want to get into his team,” Maya slipped in fast, voice sharp. “There are way more people better than you. Know your place.”

Jace turned his head slowly, like her words were some mosquito noise.

“Know my place?” he echoed. “What the fuck does that mean?”

Maya held his stare, refusing to back down.

Jace’s lips pulled into that cold, dangerous smile he used to give when he was about to burn everything down. “I don’t have fucking boundaries, Maya. You know it. You—” he pointed lazily at Robert—“you both fucking know there’s no line I won’t cross.”

Robert raised a brow. “Like kissing someone way older than you?” he asked, purposely dragging the third-year girl under the bus.

“Age is a number,” Jace said, voice dropping into something sharp and icy. “And I’d rather be with someone older with sense… than someone who treats people like a fucking animal.”

His eyes didn’t leave Maya for a single second.

A few tables away, someone with glasses had their Livestream rolling. Thousands were watching. Comments were probably exploding like fireworks.

Robert leaned back, chuckling—loud enough for the camera to catch. This was his moment to look cool to the entire internet.

“It’d be shocking if you can’t pay your bills today,” he said. “Funny, really.”

Jace stayed still. No reaction. No blink. Just that calm that made people nervous.

“I usually play a game with my friends when we’re here,” Robert said loudly, making sure his voice carried. “But I don’t know… I’m not sure you’re man enough for it.”

The whole restaurant froze. Even the forks paused mid-air.

“What game?” Jace asked.

Robert grinned. “The girls sit this one out. We put our cards together. Give them to the waiter. He picks one. Whoever he picks… pays the full bill.”

A quiet gasp moved through the room.

Jace leaned forward a little. “And you fucking think I’d be scared of playing games?”

“There’s levels to games, man,” Robert said, chuckling like he owned the world.

“The more dangerous the game, the fucking cooler it is,” Jace replied, voice sharp, eyes never leaving him.

Robert’s lips curled into that smug, calculating smile. He pulled out his phone, saw the manager’s message, didn’t fully get it—but typed back anyway.

“Make it fifteen times,” he sent, slamming the phone face down like it was nothing.

At the cashier desk, the manager read the message. His eyes widened, but he shrugged and set the system to fifteen times anyway, he expected the waiter to follow the instructions he had given him a few seconds ago: pick the card that doesn’t have “Robert” on it.

The waiter approached, cards in hand, heart racing. Normally he’d wait for the proper swipe moment, but Robert wasn’t the patient type.

“Where’s your card?” he asked Jace, already passing his own to the waiter.

Jace casually handed over his, like he was ordering a coffee, not risking millions. Maya’s stomach twisted—Robert was taking this to insane levels—but she couldn’t stop herself from noticing how calm Jace was, even feeding the girl across from him, playing the perfect couple while the whole world held its breath.

“I need more,” Maya said, a little too loud. “Two more servings for me.”

The waiter dashed off, returning quickly with the extra plates.

“Now, pick the card that will be paying,” Robert instructed, leaning back with that sly grin.

The waiter’s hand trembled. Instructions echoed in his mind: pick the card with ‘Robert’ on it.