Page 7 of Friend Zone to End Zone

When I opened up the messaging app, I found a photo of him sitting on the leather couch in the living room of his house. He still wore the same suit he’d been wearing at the wedding, but his silver tie was loose and the top button of his white shirt was undone to reveal a triangle of brown skin at his collarbone.

Below the photo was a text that said,Caught the garter tonight and figured I might as well put it to use before you chop off this lovely mane of mine. You like it?

And that was when I noticed that his curly black hair wasn’t pulled back by its usual hair tie. He’d used Emerson’s lacy white garter as a hair scrunchie.

I laughed and texted him back.You’re such a dork sometimes.

Cole:You don’t like it then? :’(

Me:I’m just not sure the lacy look fits you. I mean, if I’d known it was you who was going to catch it, I would have told Emerson to get the one with the purple ribbon since it would bring out more of the color in your eyes.

Cole:Another beauty tip of yours?

Cole had super dark brown eyes like me, and it was well known in the beauty world that purple complimented that eye color best.

Me:You know it! You didn’t even have to watch one of my videos for that one. So you’re welcome.

I smiled and took a sip of my tea, the banter with Cole already improving my mood.

Me:Congrats on catching the garter though. It sounds like your daily practices with Vincent worked for more than just football.

Cole:Yeah, the other guys didn’t stand a chance.

He and Vincent did play well together. They’d passed a football back and forth so many times through the years that Cole instinctively knew where Vincent would be throwing it—like he had some sort of sixth sense that connected them whenever they were on the field together. Which was why they were the most sought-after players on the Denver Dragons.

But since Cole’s contract was currently up for negotiation, he had several teams chomping at the bit to get him—the 49ers being one of the top contenders.

Something I didn’t like to think about very much.

Yes, I wanted him to have all the best opportunities for his career, but if another team offered him something better than the Dragons could, it might mean he’d move away. And not being in the same city as my best friend wasn’t something I ever wanted to happen.

He still had a week and a half before his trip to scope out San Franscisco though, so I pushed my thoughts away and focused back on the conversation we were currently having.

Me:I hope someone caught it on video because it’s not every day you get to see a pack of football players fighting over a lacy garter.

Cole:I wish you’d still been there to see it in person.

I sighed.

Me too.

Picking up Chad had definitely not turned out to be worth it in the end. I should have just offered to arrange for an Uber to pick him up when he called.

At least that way it would be easier to pretend that things were going great between us.

But instead of telling Cole any of that, I texted:Who caught the bouquet? Anyone I know?

Cole:Some kid. But with all the passes you’ve caught from me and your bro through the years, you totally would have dominated.

I laughed as the image of me tackling a bunch of little girls to get to the bouquet came to mind.

Me:I’ll just have to keep practicing for the next wedding. Who knows, with as awesome as my dating coach skills are bound to be, YOU might be next. You did catch that garter after all. Maybe the universe was listening to our conversation tonight and is giving you a sign that you’re about to finally find your soulmate.

Cole:Are you trying to say I didn’t catch it because I’m the best wide receiver in the NFL?

I smiled. Normally I’d warn him that saying things like that might make it hard to fit his big head in his helmet, but since hedidcurrently have the best stats of any wide receiver in the league, he was only making a true statement there.

Me:I’m just saying that you better be ready to become boyfriend material really soon because once I’m done with you it will only be a matter of time before you sweep your future Mrs. Kekoa off her feet.

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