Page 58 of Just Friends Forever
“Ah, that makes sense.”
“All right,” he says as we start moving again. “What’d you think of the places?”
I let out a sigh. “I don’t know. I’m not sure if the fact that I know people in that last community should be a point for it or a strike against it.”
“Yeah, I guess it depends what you’re looking for.”
“Which is the problem. Part of me wants familiar people nearby, while the other part wants to start fresh. Would I feel lonely living by myself in a huge house in the middle of a bunch of strangers?”
“I doubt you’d be living there alone for long,” Troy says.
“What do you mean?”
He gives me a funny look. “You’ll be joined by your future husband at some point.”
I don’t say anything, but my heart beats more quickly. My future husband. Those words make me anxious—and the tiniest bit hopeful.
“You don’t seriously think you’ll be living alone until you die, do you?” he asks with a little half-smile. “You’re amazing, Stevie.” He grabs my hand and squeezes it. “And you’ll find someone equally amazing—or at least almost as amazing. I know it.”
I swallow as he lets go of my hand, his eyes back on the road like he didn’t just wreck me. I don’t deserve Troy.He’samazing. He has single-handedly made my life not just bearable but happy since the divorce.
He’s everything you could want in a friend, yes, but he’s also everything you could want in a husband. No wonder Lyla loves him.
No wonderIlove him.
I steal a glance at him, and my breath hitches as I look at the face I know almost as well as my own.
Idolove him. I’ve loved him as a friend for years, but I was so blinded by my own silly, girlish dreams of a life of fame, I couldn’t see the perfect guy standing right next to me.
Not only did I not see him, I actuallyrejectedhim when he offered me more.
Well, I got my dream life of fame, and guess what? It was a mirage. Smoke and mirrors.
I don’t want that now. Or ever. I want something substantial, something real. I want Troy. But Troy is taken. Is it too much to hope there’s someone just like him out there?
He glances over at me and catches me looking at him. He gets a quizzical look on his face. “What?”
I clear my throat—and my thoughts—as we near home. “Just wondering what devilry you’ve concocted for tonight. Are you going to tell me your plans, or is this like the time you told me you had a surprise, and we ended up with a flat tire on the freeway?”
He grins as he pulls into the driveway. “That was an adventure, wasn’t it? And no, I’m not going to tell you the plans, but Iwilltell you how to dress.”
“Black tie optional?”
“Black sweats mandatory.”
“I don’t have black sweats.”
“You’re in luck. I have an extra pair.”
I narrow my eyes at him, trying to ignore the cameras flashing as people capture us in the car. Squinting like I am, I can almost imagine it’s just lightning. Constant, privacy-invading lightning.
“We should get out before they start making assumptions,” I say. I’m trying really hard to be conscious of Lyla’s feelings and to minimize the fodder we give the paparazzi. I saw enough photos and headlines about Curtis and this or that co-star to not wish the experience on anyone, even if itisLyla’s fault they’re here at all. “They’re really good at making something out of nothing.”
And whatIneed is someone who can help me make nothing out of the something that is my feelings for Troy.
20
STEVIE
