Page 89 of Take Me
“Oh, Mason,” she’d say with way too much kindness.“Let’s just be friends again, ’kay?”
I crumple the letter in a fist.“Fuck it.”
If Annabelle’s brave enough to say how she feels, I can damn sure do it with Erika.Grabbing my keys, I storm out the door and drive to my cousin’s.
Chapter14
Erika
“More wine?”Hazel holds out the bottle.
“No, thanks.”I’d love more, but I don’t want to risk getting weepy.“You’re sure you aren’t mad that I lied about Mason?”
She tops off her glass, and I’m glad she takes her time answering.“Mad’s not the right word.Am I a tiny bit hurt you didn’t tell me?Sure.But I understand.He’s my cousin, you’re my friend, he’syourfriend—it’s awkward, I get it.”
“Sorry.”The moment I got here, I spilled the whole fake-dating story.I was sniffling and crying, holding my suitcase and sobbing like a baby on her doorstep.As soon as she hugged me, all my secrets spilled out.
Even the ones I haven’t told anyone.
“I fell in love with that big idiot,” I sniffle.“How stupid is that?”
“Not stupid at all.”
I snort and wipe snot on my sleeve.“It’s insane to fall for a man who’s in love with somebody else.I knew from the start that he still had feelings for Annabelle.”
“Really?”Hazel tilts her head.“I never saw that.”
“Please.”How could she miss it?“He’s nuts about her, Haze.”
She points to my phone, which rests on the table between us.“According to his texts, he’s not interested in getting back with her.”
“He’s just being kind.”I sniffle again.“Anyone who watched him mooning over her for the last year would know those feelings don’t just go away.”
She’s sipping her wine, looking thoughtful.“Why does everyone do that?”
“Do what?”
“Say things like that.‘They look so happy together,’ or ‘Anyone with eyes could see he’s nuts about her.’Nobody really knows what goes on between two people.Watching and guessing and judging by appearances just seems like a recipe for misunderstanding.”
She might have a point there, but still.“I’ve been his best friend since we were kids.I know how he gets when he’s in love.”
“Mmhm.”She takes another sip of wine.“Far be it from me to judge, and Lord knows it’s been several millennia since my last relationship.But from where I stand, he seems nuts aboutyou.”
“That’s just Mason being Mason.He’s a born performer.”He’s so good I almost believed it myself.“Trust me, he was totally different with her.All gushy and gaga and totally smitten.”
“That sounds like a stomach bug.”She sets down her wineglass.“What if you tried being honest?Just put it all out there, let him know how you feel?”
“Remember the last time I did that?”I don’t need to remind her.“I told Neil I wanted to get married by the end of the year.He told me he wanted to break up by the end of the dance.”
“Not a great precedent, I’ll admit.”She frowns as her doorbell rings.“Fifty bucks says that’s my cousin.”
“I’m not taking that bet.”But I’m taking what’s left of my wine and hiding like a coward in the kitchen.“Please tell him I don’t want to talk right now?”
“Are you sure?”Hazel looks troubled.“I really think you should talk to him.”
“I just—I can’t.”
The bell rings again, but Hazel doesn’t move.“Isn’t this the part in a romance novel where everyone rolls their eyes at the heroine because she doesn’t just have the tough conversation with the hero and clear things up?”
