Page 49 of Friend Zoned

“Your mother works for Colt Chastain, and I’m just now hearing about it? And you were at his wedding? Did you meet the entire team? Is Jarvis as hot in person as he is on the court? That man does things to my body, let me tell you.” She faces Aiden and says, “If only I had known Chastain was into the sistahs. And now you? I’m always the last to know.” She looks around and puts a hand to her mouth. “Not that I’m into him, Jeannie. I didn’t mean—”

“It’s okay, Layla,” I quickly reassure her. She’s like a protective little sister. When I first told her about Quintin and Camille, she offered to have a couple of her cousins kick Quintin’s ass. At first, I thought she was kidding, but she wasn’t.

“So, I’m the first to know?” We both nod at her. She comes over and hugs me tight. “I’m so happy for you.” She leaves me and goes stand in front of Aiden. “Be good to her. She’s like a sister to me, and if you hurt her, I know people.” She points a finger at him, and he holds both hands up. “Did Jeannie tell you I played on the girls’ varsity basketball team in high school? We won a championship senior year.”

Aiden looks down at Layla, then he looks at me. “Jeannie, why didn’t you tell me? What position did you play?” he asks her.

“Small forward. I wanted to be a power forward, but I was one of the shortest girls on the team. Anyway, in that last game of the season senior year, Jasmine passed me the ball and—” I tune out whatever she’s saying, but she continues. She starts bouncing an imaginary ball and throws it toward the door. I roll my eyes to the ceiling, but Aiden seems captivated by whatever she’s saying.

“Maybe you can come to a game with Jeannie. I’m still trying to convince her.” I give Aiden the side eye while I log into my computer for the first time in over a week. “We have a home game tonight.”

“We’ll be there. Jeannie, we’re going.”

“Fine, but you need to get back to work.” She claps her hands like an excited child, hugs me, gives Aiden a fist bump, and exits my office. Once my door is closed, I leave my seat and return to his arms.

“Come here,” he whispers in my ear. “I’ll send a car for you. I have to go, but I’ll see you tonight.” One passionate kiss later, we reluctantly pull away, and he leaves my office.

It takes Layla ten whole minutes to come back, which is twice as long as I expected. She closes my door and leans against it. I ignore her and focus on my unread emails from last week.

“Oh. My. God! Jeannie! Oh my fucking God, girl. I’m not going to forgive you for not telling me about him. Yes, it’s only been two days since you’ve been a couple, but you’ve known him for weeks. Weeks! If this friendship is going to work, we need to tell each other everything. Like how you walked in here on the arm of one of New York’s most eligible bachelors.” She takes a deep breath after her speech. I stop typing and wait for her to finish. “You know the best part, right?”

The nights in his bed, wrapped in his arms after lovemaking are the best part so far. Those big hands touching me every time we’re in the same room. Or those lips on mine. Him moving inside of me.

“Look at you. You’re about to orgasm right now, aren’t you?” she asks.

“Oh, Layla, stop. But what’s the best part?” I ask to change the subject.

“When the douchebag finds out about this, his little bean sized head is going to explode. If there’s a God,” she says, looking up at the ceiling as if she’s talking to a higher power. “I will be here when he shows up to confront you about it.”

“Why would he care?” I ask, shrugging. “I certainly don’t care about him.”

“Girl, he’s going to care, and it’s going to eat him alive. Aiden is rich, unlike Quintin’s wannabe ass. He’s handsome. He’s taller. He has big dick energy.” She lowers her voice and asks, “Is it big?” I give her a blank stare. “No need to answer. I already know. Damn, girl.” She runs around my desk and hugs me from behind. “I’m so happy for you, and I hope when the douchebag finds out, he chokes. Dayum.”

I sigh and stand up. After turning on my work phone, I slide it into my pocket. “I’m not worried about Quintin, and you shouldn’t waste your time either.”

“Well, he called twice while you were gone. He even showed up. I think he thought we were lying when we told him you were on vacation.”

“What the hell did he want?”

“He wants you, Jeannie. Isn’t that obvious? Honestly, I wish I could get in his head to see what he’s thinking. This new relationship of yours is going to kill him, and I’m here for it. I hope it’s slow and painful.”

Layla must have jinxed me. I was only back a couple of hours before Quintin called my office. I recognized his number and didn’t pick up. A strange number appeared on my personal cell soon after, and I ignored that too. It’s been a busy couple of hours since I’ve gotten into work. There was a customer complaint I had to address. As high end as this hotel is, and as many rich people walk through those doors, it still amazes me how many of them are appeased by getting something for free.

The one bright side of my morning are the texts I receive from Aiden.

Greenwich: I wish we could go back in time to yesterday. Work sucks.

Me: Tell me you’re home this weekend, and we can make it happen.

Greenwich: Boston on Saturday. Will be back late. No game on Sunday.

Me: It’s a date. Miss you.

Greenwich: Miss you too. See you tonight.

I doubt I’ll see him tonight, but at least we’ll be in the same space for a few hours. He flies to Indianapolis right after the game. After inspecting a newly decorated suite, I take the service elevator back to the main level. By the time I make it to the lobby, there’s a long line of people waiting to check in. Once I see that the front desk is fully staffed, I return to my office to check inventory and order supplies. I’m barely there twenty minutes before Layla walks in without knocking. From the look on her face, I can tell it’s not good news.

“What?” I ask.

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