Page 15 of Pick One
JOHN D:The way you immediately understood me and encouraged me to follow my dreams…
JOHN D:The way you finished my sentences.
JOHN D:The way you looked when you blinked your bright blue eyes at me.
I scowled. Teagan’s eyes were gray-blue. Changeable as storm clouds. Idiot.
JOHN D:You dazzle me.
JOHN D:You inspire me.
JOHN D:The way I feel about you is so huge and overwhelming.
JOHN D:It feels like… it feels like LOVE, Teagan. And I know that’s crazy, and it’s probably too soon…
JOHN D:But you deserve to know, and I couldn’t wait another minute before telling you.
JOHN D:I need to see you tonight.
JOHN D:Please, baby.
I clutched Teagan’s phone so hard the glass squeaked under my hand, and I forced myself to put it down gently.
Baby. He’d called my Teaganbaby.
Every word that Other-John had written was one I could have said.
But it turned out I didn’t have even fifteen minutes to sort my shit and come clean. I was already too late. I’d missed my chance to tell Teagan how I felt, and he’d already found someone else. Someone who’d made him… what had Monica said? Gooey and dreamy? Someone he’d told Mrs. Graziella might bethe one.
So many other things started slotting into place, too. Postponing our Netflix Night? Needing to talk to me about his once-in-a-lifetime, unexpected good news?
In the other room, Teagan laughed lightly, happily, and my stomach flipped with genuine nausea. In just a few minutes, Teagan would come out here and talk to me about his magical date and his true love, and because I was his platonic best friend John, he’d expect me to listen and smile supportively. I would have to show him how happy I was that he was happy, even while my heart was breaking.
And I couldn’t. I just… couldn’t.
Later, after the shock had worn off, after the buzzing in my brain slowed down, after the panic had subsided, maybe after I’d accepted the job at Hannabury, I’d be able to be the best friend he deserved, but I knew that right then I would only ruin his excitement with my own disappointment.
I typed out a quick text on my own phone, and by the time Teagan’s phone quacked to signal that he’d received it, I already had my keys in my hand.
I let the door slam shut behind me.
3
TEAGAN
“Sounds great, Patsy! Talk soon.”
I slammed my laptop shut, stared at the wall, and grinned dopily. I liked to think I’d always been a fairly optimistic person, but if someone had told me a year ago just how much my life would change for the better in such a short time, I would’ve told them to fuck off with their manifestation bullshit because I didn’t believe in that stuff. Then this guy—the world’s sweetest, strongest, most gorgeous man—had offered to move a random stranger’s sofa… and here I was.
I sat there for ten whole seconds, letting my giddy excitement wash over me.
Then I did what I always did when I got good news.
“John! Johnny, come here! You are not going tobelieeeeve—”I broke off as the apartment door slammed shut.
What the heck? I’d asked him to wait.
“John?” I demanded. I walked down the hall to the empty living room, where my phone was quacking forlornly. I swiped it off the couch before heading to the apartment door.
