Page 91 of Playing Pretend

“On second thought.” His eyes plead with me. “I need you to say something. Your silence is fucking killing me. I can’t tell if you’re in good shock or bad.”

“I don’t know either.” My voice is breathy. Barely audible.

I’m scared. Terrified because of all the reasons I convinced myself we could never be together yet panic-stricken at the thought of denying a lifelong fantasy.

“Tell me I’m not alone in this.” He steps closer, bringing us foot to foot. “Tell me you love me as more than a friend.”

I remain silent, unsure what to do, his expression falling with the passing seconds. This proud, unshakable man is emotionally crumbling before me.

“I do love you,” I admit, the words leaving me in aching syllables.

“In a way other than friendship?”

“In every way imaginable…”

His eyes widen with misplaced hope.

“But just because I feel the same doesn’t mean it isn’t problematic,” I add. “There are too many risks. Why do you think I was scared at the resort?”

“Fuck the problems.” He hooks his fingers around the waistband of my jeans and tugs me into him. “We’ll make it work.”

I place a hand to his chest and push back, reclaiming space. “You don’t know that. We could ruin everything. And we’d be dragging Rett along for the ride.”

“Rett’s a big boy. He’s not going to get in the middle of our problems.”

“But that’s the thing. I don’t want problems. I don’t want anything to ruin what we have. I’m reliant on you, Rome. I hate that I am, but I can’t do anything about it. I need you in my life. That’s why I gave up on the potential of having more a long time ago.”

He broadens his shoulders. I know that stance. I know what it means, too. He’s preparing to fight. Reclaiming all the undeniable confidence that forever makes me melt.

“So you have feelings for me,” he muses, “that you’re just going to let go to waste?”

“I have feelings that I’ve locked tight for years to ensure you’ll always be my best friend.”

He slides his hands into his pockets, casual, calm. “And what if that’s not enough for me anymore?”

“Rome, please. Don’t do this.” I know he’d never willingly give up our friendship. But I’m also aware he’d risk it to take things further. The resort was proof of that.

“You love me,” he states simply.

“I love our stable friendship more.”

“The two aren’t mutually exclusive. We can have both.”

“You have absolutely no evidence to back up that statement. If this was business, you’d never go ahead with a project this risky.”

“So we’re back to business-type negotiations now?” He raises a mocking brow.

“No. I’m just—”

“It’s okay.” He raises his hands in surrender. “If you’re willing to ignore this thing between us, then I’m not going to hound you. But I will ask that we settle all outstanding debts.”

I frown.

“You owe me a kiss,” he clarifies.

My stomach somersaults with a mass of wild butterflies.

“I’ll even be lenient and make you a deal.” His lips quirk in the subtlest of cocky grins. “We have the kiss here, now, and on the lips instead of between your thighs like I’d originally planned, and if you can tell me it doesn’t feel like you’re giving up fate, then I’ll agree to your terms of forgetting all those tempting encounters at the resort.”

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