Page 28 of Accidentally Falling For My Best Friend
“If you’re stressed about the numbers, try to focus on how much fun we’ll have in Bora Bora! We get to start planning our first visit soon,” he says excitedly.
I laugh at his enthusiasm. “You do realize that it’smy jobto stress about the numbers, so that you get to do things like plan visits to the island, right?”
“Yeah… And thank fuck you do, I would hate that responsibility,” heteases.
“Eh, it’s not so bad,” I admit. I like to be the one who makes his vision work for the company from a financial perspective. I know that some board members don’t love how young we are, or that we’re best friends, but I think it only helps the company. Oakley has great creative ideas and passion, and I don’t think anyone else would care as much as I do to find ways to actually afford them.
Because they’re great ideas.Totally has nothing to do with wanting to make my best friend happy.And even if it did, everyone wants their best friend to be happy.
I don’t need to admit if it means anything more.
15
OAKLEY
August
“I’m starving, I really hope the girls have already ordered dinner,” I huff out.
I hit the elevator button more times than necessary, impatient to get upstairs. Parker laughs at my admittedly childish display, but I’m in a mood. The annoying summer humidity is in full swing. We were stuck at work late tonight, on a fucking Friday, with some of the other execs on an international call with the management team of our hotel in Tokyo. I was in other meetings all day and accidentally skipped lunch.
My hanger is real, and I need to eat something before I get really nasty to be around.
Finally, the elevator arrives, and we head straight to Sage and Aspen’s place. They knew we’d be late, since we weren’t sure how long the meeting would go, but we texted them when we left the office. I’m hoping their lack of response means they immediately ordered food, and that’s why they didn’t text back. I sent another one that we were in the lobby, though, and it doesn’t look like it’s been read either.
“Do you think they went to pick something up instead?” I ask Parker as we knock on the door after having no luck with their doorbell.
“I don’t know. I think they would have texted us if they did,” he says as he puts his ear up to the door to listen inside. “It sounds like the TV is on, maybe they fell asleep watching something?”
“Maybe…” I mutter as I give up knocking and try the handle. It’s unlocked, so I hesitantly push inside. The lights are all on, but I don’t hear anyone. I look back at Parker with a raised brow, unsure if we should just walk in, but also starting to get worried that something might have happened to the girls.
He shrugs and motions for me to go in, so we enter their condo together, looking around to make sure some masked murderer isn’t about to pop out. Everything looks normal and I can hear the TV on, so I head in that direction.
As I round the corner into the living space, I start to hear…moaning? Is someone hurt? “Shit, Sage are you okay?” I ask as I rush into the space, only to stop on a dime when I see what’s happening on the couch in front of me.
No one is hurt, that’s for sure.
Sage is straddling Aspen, passionately making out with her
“What the fuck are you doing?” I hear myself demand.Seriously what the fuck is going on?I’m aware that Parker is standing mutely next to me, but I’m too confused by what we just interrupted to turn and see his full reaction.
The girls scramble apart so that they’re sitting next to each other on the couch. “Oh, hi! Sorry, we must not have heard you come in,” Aspen responds in her normal bubbly tone, although her wide eyes are darting between Parker and I, looking guilty.
“No shit. I mean why the fuck were you two hooking up?” I ask incredulously.
Sage is still sitting on the couch, a dazed expression on herface as she lifts her fingertips to her lips, the gesture so slow I’m not sure she’s even aware she’s doing it.
Aspen walks up to Parker and grabs his hand, finally pulling my attention to him. He doesn’t seem upset, expression introspective as he stares blankly at the couch they’d just been on.
“I swear I didn’t initiate that,” she says in a low tone that’s practically a whisper. “Can you give us a few minutes to talk? Maybe fill Oakley in and then we’ll all sit down and figure out what’s going on?”
Why the fuck does she need to talk to Sage first? To get their story straight?
Hell no.
“Or,” I cut in loudly, “the four of us can stay right here and all talk together because we just caught you fucking cheating on us. You can have all of the time you want after we end things.”
Aspen looks alarmed at the suggestion that we’re about to break up with them, but what does she expect?That we’d be totally fine with walking in on their hookup?
