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Instead, the silence stretches, and it starts to turn awkward. Charlotte smiles at him, her eyes glinting. “You don’t have a problem with Brynn dating, do you?”
I want to choke her, but I’m also oddly grateful because if Jace doesn’t want me to go, here’s his chance to say it.
“No,” he says, recoiling as if the thought repulses him. “Of course not. I mean, if she wants to go on a date, she should go on a date. It’s not like I can stop her.” His eye lock with mine. “Right?”
He’s asking me if I’ll stay for him without actually saying he wants me to. At least that’s what it feels like.
But Iwanta man who can say the words. I want a man who has no qualms about declaring his feelings for me.
My thoughts flicker to last night and how much fun we had; how natural it was. I’d love to stay here and see where this goes. But I’m also a coward who’s starting to feel things for her brother’s best friend that she shouldn’t. I’m a girl who wears her heart on her sleeve.
I know how quickly I’ll fall if I allow myself, and with Jace’s track record, I’m afraid of getting hurt. So instead of telling him I’d rather stay and hang out, I simply nod and say, “Right.”
JACE
I only last a few minutes after Brynn leaves before Googling Pizzuto’s on my phone, then storming into the living room like a tornado, upending Damon’s beer as I make a beeline for Chris. “Come on, let’s go.” I wave for him to follow.
“What? Where? Dude,” he glances at the mess I made while Damon curses me out and mops up the frothy liquid with some napkins. “We’re watching the ball game here. It’s the fucking Dodgers.”
“Who cares about the Dodgers. You guys ate all the pizza, so we’re going to pick up some more.”
“Just order it to be delivered like a normal person,” he says, dismissing me with a flick of the hand as he leans back on the couch and takes a sip from his beer.
I move, blocking the television.
“Come on, man,” Chris protests, craning his neck to try to see around me. “Move!”
“They don’t deliver.”
“What do you mean they don’t—” Chris stops abruptly and gives me a hard stare. Something in my expression must give me away because his eyes widen before they narrow to slits again. He’s like a cartoon come to life. “Let me guess. We’re going to Pizzuto's.”
I shrug. “They’re known for their homemade dough and buffalo mozzarella.”
Chris snorts and picks up his phone and types something into it before he glances back up at me again. “Did you seriously Google that so you could use it as your excuse?”
I smirk and shrug.
“So, this trip has absolutely nothing to do with a cute blonde in a tight black dress who’s headed there as we speak?”
“Nope.”
He stares at me for a moment, and I hold his gaze. I can do this all fucking day.
“You’re not going to leave me alone until I do this, are you?”
“Nope.”
With a sigh, Chris sets his beer on the coffee table. “We’re out, boys.”
Everyone groans, and two of the guys start to rise when Damon shouts, “But it’s only the bottom of the third!”
I roll my eyes. Thanks to good ‘ole Mom and Dad, we have the biggest TV out of all our friends, and I have no doubt any and all sporting events will be watched in our apartment. “Relax,” I tell them. “You guys can stay. We’ll be back. We’re just making a quick stop.”
There’s a cumulative sigh of relief as they settle back in. “Hand me the chips, will ya?” Damon asks Brandon, one of our linesmen, as he cracks open a fresh beer.
“You guys suck,” Chris throws back at them. “I just want you to know that.”
“Cheers!” Damon lifts his beer, a smug grin on his face.
