Page 88 of Friend Zone to End Zone

I shook my head.And to think I’d thought I was so close.

I was just heading toward the front door for escape when Arianna and Chad said goodbye to each other and she glanced around the room like she was looking for me.

When her gaze found mine, her lips lifted into a tentative smile, the look in her eyes almost hopeful.

And with that one look, I was breathless, my chest refilling with hope of its own.

Hope that I was interpreting things wrong between her and Chad and that this was only the beginning of our story and not the end.

“Are you ready to go?” Arianna asked when she reached me. And the way she looked up at me through her lashes caused my heart to constrict.

She was so beautiful.

“Yes.” I nodded and cleared my suddenly froggy throat. “Yes, let’s go.”

Let’s go together.

When she slipped her hand into mine and gave it a gentle squeeze, my heart filled to nearly overflowing.

Maybe tonight would end differently than all the other nights after all.

We found Zara and William on their back patio with some friends and said our goodbyes, then slipping out the gate at the side of the house, we walked down the sidewalk toward my Maserati.

“H-how did everything go with Chad?” I asked as we walked past a brown stucco house with a flowerbed of peonies. “You seemed to end on a good note.”

“It went all right.” She glanced up at me. “I had lots of plans to go out swinging and really put him in his place, but when it came down to it, I realized I didn’t need any more hate in my life.”

“Yeah?” I asked, confused.

She nodded. “So while I made sure he knew we were over and that he’d definitely need to change the way he did things if he ever wanted to have a healthy relationship in the future, I decided to just try to end things as friends.”

“You think you two are going to be friends now?” I lifted an eyebrow and inspected her.

“Notgoodfriends.” She chuckled lightly, like the idea of them being friends was comical. “I doubt we’ll ever really hang out again. But I’m not planning to think of him as an enemy, either.”

Well, that was a relief.

“As long as you’re not trying to find a replacement for your best friend.” I squeezed her hand. “I think it sounds like you ended things on a healthy note.”

“I think so, too.”

We were quiet for a few moments as we passed the next house and came to the spot where I’d parked my Maserati along the curb. I bent forward and opened the passenger side door for Arianna to climb in.

Before she stepped inside, she turned to me and asked, “Do you think we could hang out at your house for a little while before you take me home?”

She wanted to go to my house?

I searched her expression, for hints of what she might have planned—wondering if she might have similar plans as mine. But her face gave nothing away. So I said, “What do you want to do?”

She lifted her bare shoulders in a shrug. “It’s such a beautiful night out,” she said, glancing off in the distance to where the sun was just making its slow descent through the trees. “I thought it might be nice to sit out back and watch the sunset with you.” Then looking unsure of herself, she added, “And maybe we can talk about some things I’d like to discuss before you go to San Francisco in the morning.”

It took me a moment to respond because I was trying to keep my hopefulness levels from shooting to the clouds, but after a beat, I swallowed the nervous lump in my throat and said, “I think that sounds like a good idea.”

“Would you like anything to drink?”I asked Arianna when we walked into my kitchen. She’d been quiet on the drive home, like she needed the time to think about whatever she wanted to say to me, so I’d just let her think and listen to the radio as we made our way through the streets of Denver.

“Just water will be fine,” she said.

“Okay, I’ll bring it right out if you want to wait for me outside.”

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