Page 14 of Best Friends
“I haven’t been acting any particular way.” My heart is thudding so hard I swear he can probably hear it.
“That’s not true and you know it.”
I avoid his gaze, my kitchen feeling unusually cramped. “I don’t know anything of the sort.”
He squints and steps closer. “C., Iknowyou.”
I scowl. “God. Between you and Cheyenne I feel like I’m being stalked.” I move to the fridge and I grab two cans of beer. I hand one to him and pop the tab on mine. I take a sip, holding his obstinate gaze.
He sighs and opens his beer. “You might be able to fool other people, but you can’t fool me.”
I turn my back on him and shut off the fire under the pot of soup. “You and Cheyenne need a new hobby. I’ve just been busy and you guys are freaking out about nothing.”
He sighs. “Come on, C.” His voice is pained.
I turn and meet his dejected gaze, and my heart aches. He looks miserable, which only makes me feel awful. My intention isn’t to hurt him, I just needed some space while I figured things out.
He licks his lips, moving closer. He looks nervous as he stops in front of me. “Is… is it because of what happened at the convention?”
“No,”I say way too quickly for it to be true. My face is hot, which probably means it’s also bright red.
He shakes his head. “You’re a god-awful liar, C.”
I ignore him because I don’t know what else to do. If I stick to my everything-is-fine routine, he can’t prove otherwise. “I’m working a lot. Just because I don’t have the energy to hang out at a bar every night doesn’t mean something’s going on.”
Judging by his skeptical expression, he’s not buying it. “Please, I’m begging you, stop lying. You’re insulting me by pretending everything is fine.”
I grimace, but say nothing.
He waves toward me. “It doesn’t take a genius to see you’re avoiding me. We always make time for each other, dude. That’s just what we do. It’s what we’ve always done. But suddenly, you’re just ghosting me.”
There’s pain in his voice, and it cuts deep. He’s right. We’ve always been inseparable—have been forever. Girls we’ve dated even complained about how close we are. They bitched that there was no room for them in our lives.
“Imagine how I feel, C. Suddenly, my best friend doesn’t have time for me.Ever. I gave you some space at first, but this has been going on for weeks. I need to know what I did wrong so I can fix it. And if you tell me one more time you’re just working a lot, I’m going to scream.” His gaze burns into me, slicing through my bullshit like a Jedi lightsaber.
I swallow hard. “Look… we’ll… we’ll hang out next week, okay?”
He snorts. “You’re just saying that so I’ll shut the fuck up and go away.”
I give a sheepish laugh. “Is it working?”
“Hell no.” His smile is grudging. “I’m here now. We’re hanging out, no excuses.”
I lean against the counter, folding my arms. “Is that right?”
“Yep.” He leans forward and taps his beer can against mine. “We’re going to stuff our faces with pizza and get drunk together. We don’t need a noisy bar to have fun, right? It’ll be just the two of us, like old times.”
My heart aches at the thought of that. It means so much to me that he knows what I’d want and that he wants that too. “Sure you won’t get bored with just me?”
His eyes warm. “Never. You’ve never once bored me.”
I laugh. “Not even when I made you watch and entire season of The Great British Baking Show?”
“Not even then.” He watches me. “So, can I stay?”
I sigh. He looks so hopeful, how can I send him away? “I guess.” Maybe hanging out with Malcolm, just the two of us, will help me move past these possessive, strange feelings I’ve been having. So far, avoiding him hasn’t worked. Might as well try this.
“Yeah?” He brightens. “There’s a game on too.” He turns and sprints for the living room. “Bring the pizza! I call dibs on the remote.”
