Page 34 of Friend Zone to End Zone

I wanted that guy to be me, of course. But even if it wasn’t, I was sure Arianna would eventually find her happily-ever-after. Good people always got the happy ending they deserved.

And Arianna was one of the kindest, most generous, and loving people I knew.

We sat on my couch for a few minutes—Arianna sniffling every so often, me rubbing her back and wishing I could just magically make her feel all better.

When she hadn’t sniffled for a minute or two, she pushed herself away from me and wiped at the mascara smudges beneath her eyes.

“Sorry I ruined your shirt,” she said, pointing to the wet spot with mascara flakes over my heart. “I can get you a new one if you want.”

“It’s totally fine.” I shook my head and sat up straighter. “I have plenty of other shirts.” Then, after studying her face for a few seconds, I said, “But I’m guessing the night at the club is probably off the schedule for this evening?”

“I’m not exactly in the partying mood.” She sighed. “But if you really want to go out and impress the single ladies in Denver—” She wiped under her eye again. “—I can put myself back together. We’d only be a little late if I went and got ready now.”

“No, that’s fine,” I said. “If I’m being honest, I really don’t think meeting girls at a club is exactly my style.”

She shot me an incredulous look. “Since ‘not trying’ is your current style, I’m not sure that’s a very valid point.”

“I guess I can’t really deny that.” I chuckled and tugged on my pant leg that had ridden up when I’d scooted over to Arianna on the couch. “But I do think I’m better suited for a more private and secluded setting to get to know someone.”

“Kind of like the way we met?”

“Yeah,” I said, looking at her.

Exactly like that.

I could still remember the first time I met Arianna—the memory vivid as if it had only happened yesterday, even though it had been over three years ago.

Vincent had invited me to his home in Sutton Creek for his son Jaxon’s second birthday party. I had just finished my first season with the Denver Dragons and was still getting to know all the guys on the team and their families.

Vincent and I were becoming good friends at the time, and he’d told me a little about his father’s sudden passing and how his mom and sister decided to move to Denver from Alabama so they could be closer during the difficult time. He’d mentioned having a sister a year younger than me, hinting that she was single and that I might be interested in getting to know her.

At the time, I’d only been able to picture a slightly less masculine version of my friend—a Viking-esque woman with a deep voice and possibly a hint of a female mustache. Because while I knew Vincent’s wife Emerson was super hot, I doubted I’d be interested in a female version of my six-foot-four wall-of-muscle friend.

I had always been pretty picky when it came to women.

But when I walked into Vincent and Emerson’s house that evening and saw a petite five-foot-eight woman with long, dark brown hair, big brown eyes just brimming with life, and the most brilliant smile flitting around the room with her two-year-old nephew on her hip, I’d been instantly struck dumb.

Expecting a she-man—instead of the type of woman who could stop traffic with a single smile—it had literally taken me a full two minutes to regulate my breathing at the sight of someone so beautiful. And when Vincent introduced me to his sister, I was so tongue-tied that I was sure she thought I must have received one too many concussions on the football field.

I had acted like an idiot.

As the party went on and we sang happy birthday to Jaxon and watched him feed himself his cake—getting it all over his face and body—I was eventually able to find enough words to ask Arianna what she thought about moving to Denver and her plans for the future. And she had been nice enough to see past my bumbling first impression to set my nerves at ease.

She probably hadn’t really thought much about that initial interaction since she’d ended up putting me in the friend zone and went on to date Chad after that, but I hadn’t been able to forget it. Because while I hadn’t necessarily ever believed in love at first sight, I had come pretty close to it with her that night.

And getting to know her more over the past three years had only made those initial feelings stronger.

“I’ll have to tell Emerson and Vincent to throw another birthday party for Jaxon this year and make sure they invite some pretty women so you can feel more in your element,” Arianna said, bringing me out of the memory. “I think Emerson said something about hiring a few new female paralegals at her law firm.”

“Yeah, sure,” I said. “Maybe that’s all I need.”

Arianna pursed her lips like she was thinking about something. Then, after a moment, she said, “So since I kind of ruined your plans for the night, do you think you’d be up for helping me run an errand?”

“What do you have in mind?” I narrowed my eyes, not having a clue what kind of errand she would want to run right after finding out that her boyfriend was cheating on her.

She shrugged and stood up. “I’m going to make Chad regret the day he decided to cross me.”

14

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