Page 89 of Just Friends Forever
I scoff, but I’m not actually upset with him. I don’t know what’ll happen with Stevie and me, but thanks to Austin’s interference, I have more reason to hope than ever before.
“Crazy coincidence, right?” He sends me the least subtle wink I’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing. “Stevie said you’re helping Rocco Sterling find a house? Dude…” He sticks out a hand to shake mine.
“Only thanks to her,” I say, playing with the lid of my water bottle. “But man, this deal could really change things for me. Not just the commission, either. If Rocco refers me to his friends…” I shrug. “I might actually have something to offer Stevie.”
I’m trying not to get ahead of myself. I don’t know if I’ll have the opportunity to date Stevie, much less build a life with her, but I want to more than anything, and this deal with Rocco makes me feel like it might just be within my reach.
Giving her time to figure out what she wants also givesmetime to prove I’m a risk worth taking. Would I like to be kissing Stevie and introducing her to people as my girlfriend? Even thinking about it makes my heart race.
But I’ve waited this many years. I can wait a little longer. It’ll be worth it to know she’s sure about this and that I’m not naively shoving my heart into a food processor on the purée setting.
Austin scoffs. “Dude, she doesn’t care about that stuff.”
“Easy for you to say,” I mutter as I head for the door.
“What?”
“Nothing.” I open the door and head down to my workout area. Austin can’t possibly understand. He takes things for granted because he already inhabits the same world as Stevie.
There’s no sign of her in the workout area yet, and I do a couple of warmups while I wait. She’s never more than a couple minutes late.
Two or three minutes turns into five, and the little devil on my shoulder jabs me with his pitchfork and says, “She’s already regretting last night.”
I rub my shoulder and hesitate briefly before tapping softly on the closest window.
The curtains pull aside a minute later, and Stevie fiddles with the latch, then pulls the window open.
“You coming out?” I ask.
“Um… yeah.”
I crouch down, my brows pulling together. “Are you okay?” My heart starts racing. She’s crying.
Shoot. She’s about to break up with me already.
“Yeah, I am,” she says, nodding quickly. She pulls in a shaky breath and looks up at me. Her eyes are red and her cheeks and nose are pink. “Actually, no. Not really.”
“Hold on. I’m coming down.”
I take the stairs three at a time, worry mixing with a sinking feeling into an anxious sludge that fills my stomach. Austin’s already retreated to my bedroom, so my progress is unimpeded.
Stevie’s sitting on Austin’s couch, a blanket pulled over her as she stares at nothing.
I take in a breath and walk over, trying to prepare myself for the worst. I guess this is why I stopped things last night, right? So that this moment didn’t come in three weeks or three months instead of ten hours after we kissed.
She moves her feet, and I take a seat next to her.
I’m quiet, leaning my elbows on my knees and staring at my clasped hands as I wait for her to come out with the bad news.
“I’m assuming you saw the stories?” she says.
My eyebrows snap together, and I look up at her. “What stories?”
She sighs, then hands me her phone. I find myself staring at a dark, grainy photo of Stevie and Austin in the car. The headline reads something about her dating both Sheppard brothers.
I glance at her. Is this what has her crying? I don’t quite understand, but I’m guessing it doesn’t bode well for me that it’s affecting her this way.
I shrug and give her the phone back. “I already knew they’d get pictures of you guys on your date.” It didn’t seem like either of them was worried about it, which was a signal to me that they were okay being put together by the media.
