Page 5 of Friend Zone to End Zone

“Oh.”

Which I guess explained his mood. He wasn’t exactly known for his patience, and so, not immediately signing the account he traveled across the country to sign had to be somewhat frustrating.

“Did the presentation go well at least?” I asked.

“I think so,” he said. “Amber laid out all the reasons why Mercer and Avery is the best company to sign with, and I did one of the best closings I’ve done.” He loosened his tie. “The owner is just overly cautious so he wanted to think it over.”

“Sounds like it went well then,” I said, hoping to encourage him. “You’re the best closer that Mercer and Avery has. I’m sure they’ll be signing that contract soon.”

A hint of a smile showed on Chad’s lips, and I was happy to see my encouragement was helping to lift his mood a little.

“Did you have any downtime while you were there?” I glanced away from the road to look at him. “Were you able to see much of Tallahassee in the evenings?”

He narrowed his blue eyes at me. “What’s with the interrogation?”

“Interrogation?” I frowned, confused at how taking an interest in his life was suddenly considered an interrogation.

“Ever since I got in your car you’ve just been asking one question after another.”

“I’m just interested in how your trip went.” I shook my head. “I didn’t realize having your girlfriend ask you questions after not seeing you for four days was so offensive.” I tightened my grip on the steering wheel and took a deep breath, hoping to calm my sudden surge of anger.

I mean, I certainly wouldn’t have minded if he’d taken a little interest inmylife and asked how Vincent and Emerson’s wedding had turned out after all the planning I’d done for it.

He ran a hand through his semi-tousled hair. “Sorry, I’m just tired. It’s been a long day and I just want to go to bed.”

And then, as if to prevent me from continuing to “give him the third degree,” he turned up my music so we couldn’t comfortably carry a conversation anymore.

Ten minutes later,I pulled into the parking lot at Chad’s apartment complex. Thankfully, he didn’t live too far away from the airport, so the uncomfortable ride hadn’t lasted forever.

Before our conversation in the car, I had hoped to go inside with him to hang out before heading home, maybe watch an episode ofThe Officetogether and make out, but since he was obviously in one of his moods I didn’t even attempt to ask.

“Thanks for the ride,” he said before climbing out. “Sorry I was short with you earlier. I’m just tired after traveling and you being almost an hour late didn’t really help.”

Well, thatalmostsounded like an apology.

And I still couldn’t remember agreeing to pick him up at the same time I was supposed to be at my brother’s wedding. But it wasn’t worth the fight.

Instead of telling him he had probably forgotten to tell me about the change in his schedule, I said, “Are you still coming to my house tomorrow night for the live Q&A on my Instagram page?”

“That’s tomorrow?”

“Yeah. We go live at seven.” Had he forgotten again?

I had been building my social media presence over the past couple of years, sharing beauty and fashion tips as well as recipes and other lifestyle advice.

I still mostly relied on the money I made working at the hair salon to pay my bills, but my followers had increased significantly once I started doing the live Q&As with Chad. They gobbled up the relationship advice we gave, since they loved how cute Chad and I were together in our live videos. If things continued their upward trend, I might have enough followers and sponsors to quit my job at the salon by next year.

Chad pulled up the calendar app on his phone. After seeing that he had indeed scheduled the Q&A in, he said, “I guess I’ll be at your place tomorrow at six forty-five.”

“We could eat dinner together first, if you wanted,” I offered. “My mom will be working a shift at the hospital and I’ve been wanting to try out a new enchilada recipe I came up with.” I smiled, hoping the promise of food might entice him to come earlier.

He seemed to think it over for a moment, but then he looked at me with regret in his blue eyes. “I actually have golf with the guys in the afternoon.” He reached over and touched my arm. “I’ll probably have to just grab something on the way since Harry always goes way over par.”

“Okay.” My shoulders slumped.

“But I’ll be there for the Q&A, and then maybe we can go out for dessert after?”

“That would be nice,” I said, feeling slightly better that he wasn’t brushing me off completely.

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