Page 24 of Hands off his Dudette

Chapter 11

There was nothing wrong with Taylor Murphy, damn him. Nothing. He was gorgeous—possibly as attractive as Finn. Golden skin from his Mexican ancestors, green eyes from his Irish ones, a delightful mouth. The guy was a surgeon, so she bet he was good with his fingers too.

So why the fuck was she just making geek jokes and asking about his halo killstreaks, effectively friend-zoning him as hard as she could?

Anna knew that she'd drop her knickers faster than lightning if there was an opportunity, but she really, truly had no interest in more. That's when she got it—what Finn had said, what Anna had hinted at.

She didn't want a relationship. The house was the nail in the coffin, proving it. She didn't want a boyfriend, or a husband, because she had one. A platonic one, but he still checked all of the relationship boxes. Hell, the man even bought her chocolate, wine, and tampons that time of the month.

Fuck.

"Wow, you look like you've seen a ghost. Something I said?"

She shook her head and forced a smile."Nope, I'm all good."

She was a disaster.

What now? They finished a pleasant meal, and she insisted on paying the check, all the while realizing that she never did so whenever she and Finn ate out. It was just another way of making sure the men understood she wasn't really interested in dating them in the traditional sense.

Triple fuck.

"You're home early," Finn said when she walked in, before nine.

She hadn't even stayed out a couple of hours.

"How did it go?" he asked pleasantly.

She snorted. "Do you really want to know?"

He shrugged. "You're back now—tells me all I need to know anyway."

Asshole. "It was great, actually. Taylor is smart, funny, plays Halo, and..."

"Hang on, you were right. I don't actually want to know."

She laughed humorlessly, all the while cursing Lucy.

Because what good did it do to admit to herself that she was in love with her best friend, when the guy had never been, and would never be into her? Finn dated cheerleader types. Or fucked, as he'd pointed out. The closest thing that he'd ever done to flirting with her was that weird thing in her bathroom the previous day. Watching her from head to toe like he liked what he saw.

"Do I have something on my face?"

"Will you go to the wedding with me?" she blurted out.

Finn's eyes widened in surprise.

"I mean, you're going to your brother's wedding, I'm going to the wedding. Let's go together. I don't want to turn up by myself."

"Was that what the dating has been about?"

She shrugged. "Maybe? Cassie is younger than me, Lucy barely older. They're both, like, adulting. So are most of their friends—our friends. I feel like I'm stuck in high school emotionally."

Finn got to his feet, strode to her and took both of her hands. "Don't let anyone make you feel inadequate. You're smart, successful, and beautiful. You pay your bills, taxes, and give to charity."

"I don't feel inadequate, I feel like I'm stuck ten steps behind, when everyone has taken a bridge to the next quest."

Finn laughed. "Count on you to insert games into serious conversations."

She shrugged. "Anyway, sorry about ranting. Forget about the wedding."

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