Page 3 of Friend Zone to End Zone

But when she grabbed my hand and started pulling me toward the wedding guests who were currently slow dancing to Vincent and Emerson’s song, “Return to Love” by Andrea Boccelli, I let her—it was probably my one chance to dance with my gorgeous best friend without her boyfriend glaring at me from across the room.

2

Arianna

I was just aboutto teach Cole the basic slow-dance position when my phone’s ringtone sounded from the pocket he had slipped my phone into when I’d asked him to keep it safe for me.

Cole hurried to silence the call, since I’d apparently forgotten to put my phone on vibrate mode for the reception tonight.

“Do you need to answer it?” he asked.

“I probably should.” I sighed. “That’s Chad’s ringtone.”

And sure enough, when Cole handed me my phone, a photo of Chad wearing one of his designer business suits showed on the screen.

Dang, that man certainly knew how to wear a suit. His clean-cut, professional vibe was what had attracted me to him when I first met him at a club three years ago.

The way we met was kind of a great story, actually. I was brand new in town, having relocated to Denver from Alabama with my mom after my dad suddenly died of a brain aneurism. We’d moved here to be closer to my big brother, Vincent, needing to be together as a family during that difficult time.

I had just gotten a job at the salon where I still worked when, on my first weekend there, the girls invited me to go clubbing with them so they could get to know me better. When I walked into the room and saw Chad sitting at the bar, something had hit me.

I didn’t necessarily believe in love at first sight, but what happened between us had to be something close to it because we ended up dancing all night.

Over the years, Cole had joked several times that if it had been him at the club that night instead of Chad, I probably wouldn’t have been able to resist him andwewould have dated—instead of becoming the best friends that we were today since our personalities just vibed so perfectly.

But I doubted that would have happened. Because while Cole and I were instant best friends when we met at a birthday party for my nephew a week later, we had never had the kind of sparks Chad and I had that first night.

“Let me just answer this real quick, and then I’ll be back for your dancing lesson,” I said to Cole, giving him an apologetic look before swiping my thumb across the screen.

“Hello?” I said once I stepped into Vincent and Emerson’s house where the music from the reception was muffled.

“Hey,” Chad’s deep voice sounded on the other line, a little more gruff-sounding than I expected. “Where are you? I’ve been walking around the pickup area for fifteen minutes and haven’t seen your car. Did you get stuck in traffic?”

Stuck in traffic?

I pulled my head back and frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m at the airport. Aren’t you here?”

“I’m at Vincent and Emerson’s reception,” I said, feeling so confused. “Why are you at the airport? I thought you weren’t getting back until tomorrow night.”

Chad sighed loudly, and I could just picture him pinching the bridge of his nose like he did when he was frustrated. “The meetings were rescheduled last week. That’s why I left a day early. I thought I told you.”

“I don’t remember you saying anything about that,” I said, trying to mentally piece together our previous conversation

I had been busy helping Emerson with all of her final wedding plans, since throwing a high-end wedding together in six weeks was a huge undertaking. But I would have remembered if my boyfriend was coming home tonight.

“Okay, well, it’s been a really long day.” He sighed heavily again. “Can you come get me? Or should I see if Amber is still here and hitch a ride with her?”

Amber?

As in, his co-worker who frequently traveled with him to these business meetings?

Also, the woman I’d caught flirting with him on several occasions.

Yeah, I wasn’t about to put those two in the same vehicle.

Resigned, I said, “I’ll be there in twenty-five minutes.” The reception was almost over, anyway. All I’d be missing was the bouquet toss, and even though Chad and I had been dating for three years, I doubted me catching a bouquet would have any sort of impact on Chad getting down on one knee any time soon. He always said he wanted to make partner at his firm first before he started thinking about making any permanent plans where we were concerned.

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