Page 3 of Betting on the Best Friend
Charlie leaves two hours before me today. How will I survive the most tiring part of my shift without Charlie there to remind me that Niles doesn’t deserve my attention?
Or worse, talk me out of the impulse to make a snotty comment on the engagement post? Something low-key only Niles and I would know is snotty. Like . . .I thought you were a golf guy, but look at you rebounding!
My lips twitch thinking about it. But that’s more like a dig at his fiancée, not him, and I have no issue with her. If anything, I have sympathy. Poor thing.
Maybe,He actually looked for a ring himself! Must be true love.A nice dig about Niles’s “setting a budget” for me to pick out my own.
Oooh, I know:That restaurant is perfect! Congratulations!
Ha, there’s no way he told her that he proposed to me at the same spot. It will look gracious and unbothered, but Niles will know I’m calling him out.
I pull out my phone and type it.
It’s perfect.
Send.
Chapter Two
Charlie
One time—and one timeonly—I drank so much at a college party that I puked.
It was only once because I learned my lesson. I’m generally good about learning my lesson the first time on anything, with one exception: Ruby Ramos.
Ruby is the worst thing for my system, and yet . . . no matter how bad the side effects are, I keep coming back for more. I was hooked the first time I got a hit of her smile when she started work here three years ago, but she’d mentioned right off that she had a boyfriend. Since I’m not a punk, that path was not open, so instead, I’ve been friends with the fiercest, funniest, most generous, hilarious, and sexiest girl I’ve ever known ever since.
But the number of times she’s mentioned Niles, and the number of times I thought,She deserves better. If I were her boyfriend. . .
The way addiction works so well as an analogy for my feelings for Ruby is usually depressing, but not today.
The rain has stopped so I take advantage of it to put my lunch stuff in my car. It gives me a chance to do a happy dancewhere Ruby can’t see me. I’m not “peppy,” and I don’t want her wondering why I’m practically doing a TikTok dance through the parking lot after she broke the news of her idiot ex getting engaged.
If ever a dude didn’t deserve Ruby Ramos, it was Niles. The best way to explain him is to imagine a five-lane traffic jam where every car is tan, no one honks or tries to change lanes, everyone creeps forward a few inches at a time, and they’re all fine with it. That’s Niles, only he kept Ruby in his gridlock too.
When I got Ava’s text telling me Ruby had broken up with him and the roommates were assembling a team for heartbreak first aid, I had whooped. I’m not a whooper, but in that exact second my relief was intense, and there was no denying why. A way forward appeared. Closing the door on Niles meant it could open for me.
I’ve kept a toe in it ever since, watching and waiting for Ruby to be ready to move on. I hadn’t expected it to take six months, two weeks, and four days.
Not that she’s been pining or anything. But she also hasn’t shown any interest in dating again. No second looks at attractive dudes that come into the library, no comments on the guys who stick around when a condo hang snowballs into a party. No mention of joining apps or “going to the club” other than to see Sami’s band play.
Ruby’s eruption over that engagement post is a good sign. She’s the funniest, sexiest woman I’ve ever known, yes, but also? The most competitive. It’s going to take her a matter of days to decide that she’s ready to date, if for no other reason than to make sure her ex knows she’s moved on.
She’s about to fling open that door and find me, ready and waiting, tired of pining over her like I’m a lyric on theSummer I Turned Prettysoundtrack. If you hang in the Grove bestie orbit, you become well-versed on all seasons of their favorite shows.
My phone vibrates with a text, so I set my stuff in the car and check it.
Game and pizza tonight?
What time?
Tip off at 6
I’m in
Man, this day is getting better and better. Basketball plus Ruby coming out of hibernation? I’m stoked enough to keep dancing all the way back to my desk. But since I still have my shift to finish with Ruby, I pull myself together and stroll in like my usual self, hands in my pockets.
Rubytriesto work for the rest of our overlapping time together. She tackles shelf weeding, but I keep catching her with her eyes unfocused, scowling. Bet that’s exactly how chipmunks look coming out of hibernation. Adorable and grumpy. I keep that to myself because I value my life.
