Page 355 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 1
"There is no me and Tyler. Don't be weird."
"He told me you guys were hooking up."
She closed one of the lids on the boxes. "Of course he did. I forgot that you two don't have any secrets."
"I didn't think you and I did either. Why didn't you tell me?"
"You know the worst part?" she said, ignoring my question. "I have nowhere to go now. Because I'm mad at you too."
"I don't understand why you're mad at me."
She stood up and pointed at me. "You're wearing his clothes. What the fuck are you doing?"
"I always..."
"Yeah, you always borrow his sweatpants and watch Shark Tank together because that's your thing." She made quote marks with her fingers when she said thing. "And there's no room for me when you're around because he's always going to put you first. God, I never should have slept with him."
"There is absolutely nothing going on between Tyler and me. I'm marrying James in less than two weeks. I don't know what other proof you need."
She looked down at my pants.
"Jesus, Melissa." I pulled them off and tossed them at her. "Tyler and I are friends. I thought we were too. Can you just talk to me for two seconds before throwing a fit?"
She burst into tears.
"Melissa." I went over to her and put my arms around her.
"He's never going to love me like he loved you," she sobbed into my shoulder.
"That isn't true."
"Of course it is. He was obsessed with you for years. He's just settling for me. I don't want to be someone's second choice."
I ran my hand up and down her back. "You're not. He wanted you to move in with him. He looks forward to coming home to you. And he definitely doesn't want you to move out."
She pulled back from me. "Did he say that?"
"Yes."
"When he talks about you it just makes me so mad. It's always Penny this or Penny that. I know you guys are friends. I know you guys talk and hang out all the time. I just...I don't know how to deal with it, knowing that you've been more than friends in the past." She sighed and sat down on the edge of Tyler's bed. The only time I had even been in here was when I had helped him move in. I wasn't interested in sharing a bed with Tyler. I never thought about him like that. He really was just a friend. And I didn't want to be what stood in the way of Tyler and Melissa being happy. I had already done that enough to Tyler. Maybe I should just step back. What it came down to was that Melissa never believed that boys and girls could just be friends.It didn't matter that I had proof with Mason, Matt, and Rob; she'd never understand.
"If you want, I'll give you both some space to figure this thing out. I don't want to be the reason why you guys break up."
"We can't break up. We're not even officially dating."
"You know what I mean. I came over tonight to talk to you guys about this. I didn't want to be kept in the dark. But I realize why you didn't want to talk about it." I grabbed a pair of yoga pants out of the box that Melissa had been packing and pulled them on. "I shouldn't have butted in. But I missed you. I thought when you moved here we'd be hanging out all the time."
"I know. I'm sorry." She was looking down at her lap instead of at me. "I just need some time."
I didn't want her to be mad at me. I wanted to be able to say that she could have as much time as she needed. But I couldn't help but think that my wedding was in less than two weeks and I needed her. "I hope that you two can work it out."
She didn't say anything as I left the room. I closed the door behind me. I didn't even want to make eye contact with Tyler. Melissa had been yelling. He had already heard the whole conversation.
"I'm just going to go. You should probably go talk to her."
"Penny." He stood up and walked toward me. "You don't have to go."
"I think maybe you do have to choose," I whispered. I didn't want Melissa to overhear me. "At least for awhile. If you want to be with her, then she has to come first. You have to tell her how you really feel."
