Oh, God…I’m an idiot…
And to make matters worse, she started to cry.
The first tear hit her desk with a loud splat, and then she hung her head and let the rest fall in earnest. No one was due to see Milo for at least another hour, and she had the entire outer office to herself so no one would see her having a complete meltdown over her own rotten luck.
When was she going to learn? Men saw her as their friend—their buddy—she was never the one.
Not that she wanted to be Tucker’s one, but it would be nice if just once a guy fell for her the way she fell for him.
“I’m such a loser,” she murmured.
Behind her, someone cleared their throat and she froze.
Slater.
Dammit.
He didn’t say a word, not right away. He simply grabbed some tissues and brought them over to her.
“Thanks.”
She wiped her face, blew her nose, and knew she looked like a total mess. Not that it mattered. It wasn’t as if Slater were attracted to her either.
“Excuse me for a minute,” she said quietly before getting up and going to the restroom to clean herself up.
Staring at her reflection, she began to question all her life choices. She was a good person, she always supported everyone in everything they did, and where had it gotten her? Nowhere. She was alone, and all of her friends were finding their forever people while she was going home alone.
And she was so tired of going home alone.
Her life had gotten a bit predictable, she supposed. Work, home, work, spin class, home, work, grocery shopping, home…
Maybe if she had a cat or a dog going home wouldn’t feel quite so lonely, but she couldn’t seem to commit because every time she thought about going to the animal shelter, it overwhelmed her. In her heart, she wanted to take them all home and give them all the love they deserved.
“I wish someone would take me home and give me all the love I deserve,” she mumbled.
But that was something that just wasn’t meant to be, apparently. And now she was going to have to come to work every day and see Tucker’s face and know he had pity-kissed her while hoping to hook up with her friend.
Ugh.
And if he brought Bethany to the wedding, how awkward was that going to be? She’d be there dateless and alone, while the two of them would be frolicking on the beach and having crazy jungle sex at night.
Double ugh.
Obviously there was no way she was going to skip her brother’s wedding, but right now, she had no idea how she was going to handle facing her humiliation daily.
“I’ll just have to fake it till I make it. Again.”
With one last swipe of a tissue to remove the remainder of her messed-up makeup, she tossed it in the trash and braced herself to head back out to her desk.
Turning the corner, Evie was surprised to find Slater still sitting there. He was perched on the edge of her desk as if he didn’t have a care in the world. When she sat down, she felt extremely self-conscious, but did her best to look like she hadn’t just broken down in front of him only minutes ago.
She checked her emails, answered a call, and all the while Slater sat there. When she couldn’t take it anymore because she could feel him watching her, she forced herself to face him.
“You don’t need to sit here and babysit me. I’m fine. I swear.”
Liar.
“I’m not babysitting you, Evie,” he said, his voice so gentle and caring that it didn’t seem fair. “You’re my friend and I guess I just wanted you to know that…that guy’s a dick. Like…wow.” Shaking his head, he added, “He handled that like a total asshole.”
