Page 40 of Friend Zone to End Zone

Ethan picked up another chip and shrugged. “I basically just had to tell her that I’ve been in love with her ever since we were in high school, and that she either needed to realize that we were perfect for each other or I was going to have to move on because being just friends with her was becoming way too hard.”

“Really? You just put it all out there?” I raised my eyebrows, impressed by his boldness. “What did she say?”

He chuckled. “She said I was a jerk for giving her such an ultimatum.”

“So it didn’t go well?”

He shrugged. “She basically went off on me about how I couldn’t pull something like that right after she got out of a bad relationship.” He took a sip from his beer and wiped the foam from his upper lip. “But since I was kind of already at the end of my rope, I ended up getting so impatient with everything that I just kissed her right then and there, and that was basically the end of that conversation.”

My jaw dropped. “You just kissed her out of the blue and she decided to date you after that?”

Ethan’s eyes brimmed with mischief as he picked up another chip and dunked it into the artichoke dip. “Let’s just say all those years of suppressing my real feelings for her may have made for just alittlebit of passion to break through.” He winked.

“Oh, I hear you on that one.” I laughed and shook my head. “I’ve been there before myself, actually.”

Ethan narrowed his eyes. “You’ve kissed Arianna before?”

“Yeah,” I said, realizing that this was the first time I’d ever admitted to kissing my best friend to anyone.

“How did that happen?” Ethan asked, seeming confused. “Because from my experience, kissing your best friend will either turn the friendship into something more or end it. I’ve never heard of things staying the same after something like that.”

“Well…” I played with the straw in my pineapple margarita, not sure I really wanted to talk about it since it hadn’t exactly turned out well.

Ethan’s blond eyebrows knitted together. “You didn’t kiss her while she was sleeping or drunk, did you?”

“No, no. It wasn’t like that,” I hurried to say before Ethan could peg me for the kind of guy who would prey on women when they were incapacitated or vulnerable. “It wasn’t even technically wrong since she and Chad were on a break at the time, but…” I sighed. “I guess it’s a long story.”

18

Cole

One Year Earlier

“Great game tonight.”Vincent patted me on the shoulder before we left the locker room at the Dragons’ stadium after winning a particularly difficult game against the New Orleans Saints. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you then,” I said, grabbing my coat out of my locker. “Tell Jaxon hi from me.”

“I will.” Vincent gave me a faint smile then headed down the hall toward Coach Anderson’s office.

I watched my friend’s back as he walked away, noticing that the droop that had been in his shoulders the past few months still remained.

He’d told me earlier this week that Emerson had just sent over the divorce papers for him to sign, so it was a miracle that he’d been able to pull through and lead us to victory tonight.

But that was what made him a professional, I guess. Even though his personal life was in shambles at the moment, he was somehow able to leave all that on the sidelines when necessary and be the quarterback we needed him to be on the field.

I closed my locker and pulled my phone out of my coat pocket to see if I had any missed calls or texts.

My mom had sent her typical after-game text.Great game tonight! We’ll have to celebrate your winning touchdown along with your birthday tomorrow.

I smiled and quickly shot my mom a text back.Sounds great. See you then.

I looked to see if there were any other texts that I’d missed during the game, but my phone was surprisingly unpopular tonight.

Sure, I’d planned to celebrate my birthday with my family tomorrow instead of today since winning the game had been my first priority, but I’d at least expected someone to wish me happy birthday.

But nope. Nothing.

Not even Arianna who usually made a huge deal out of birthdays.

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