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But once I got it out, Evie kind of pursed her lips and winced in a way that made me feel weird. I then broke my rule and asked her to say something, at which point she broke my heart by asking a bunch of questions that made me think she might actually be on Emmett’s side.
And since I refused to lose yet another friend to Emmett Hoult, I told her we should just forget the whole story and never speak of it again.
That was ten years ago and I decided I was going to keep my table-it streak going.
“You know what – don’t answer that question,” I said hastily. “Just…” I sunk into my chair as I groaned up at the ceiling. “Tell me my next move, Evie. He’s been texting me all day about wanting to see me, and I don’t know what to do or say because my brain is completely broken right now.”
“Fine.” Evie exhaled hard and chewed her nails for a minute. Then she shut the door, which meant she was getting serious for once. “Aly.” Pulling her chair from her desk, she sat in front of me. “If we’re being real here… financially speaking, you can’t afford anything else. As both your business partner and your closest friend, I can tell you objectively that your best move here is to do anything you can to make things work with Emmett.” Drawing in a huge breath, she let go of a sigh. “Even if it means wasting his hotness and forcing him to be completely platonic.”
I looked up at her weakly.
“Somehow, I don’t think the platonic thing is going to work after last night.”
“Well, it’s either that or move in with me and Mike. Because you can’t afford to rent even a motel room from now till Labor Day, Aly. Even the shittiest one that’s close enough to work is going to cost you well over five grand for the rest of the summer.”
I bit down hard on my lip. Goddammit. I wished so desperately I could just move in with Evie and nix Mike from the equation, but that was actually a horrifyingly selfish thought, and it just didn’t work like that. People had lives to live outside of my personal problems – my best friend included. Besides, I could never live with myself if I knew I was the reason they called off their engagement. And I could barely imagine the restaurant surviving if a drama like that went down. If Mike left Evie, we’d both be wrecks. She’d be heartbroken, I’d be guilty, and we’d probably wind up running the business straight into the ground.
Which meant I really only had one option.
“So basically, I have no choice but to stay with Emmett,” I mumbled.
“Yep!” Evie said brightly as I groaned to the ceiling. “Oh, come on, Aly,” she frowned, patting my knee. “It’s going to be fine. I’m sure that you two can coexist platonically under one roof. And if for some reason, you fall out of the shower one day and land on his cock, that won’t be the worst thing in the world, right?”
I shot her daggers before swiveling around in my chair and letting my head fall to my desk.
God, this was going to suck.
6
EMMETT
I was working out on the deck when Ozzy leapt from his spot in the sun and bolted straight into the house. My heart was already beating fast from my set but now it was racing because I knew his sudden dash inside meant that Aly was home.
With the back of my forearm, I wiped the sweat off my brow and trailed Ozzy into the kitchen, my blood rushing faster when I heard the sound of Aly being caught so sweetly off-guard.
“Oh my God, hi. Hi! Where’d you come from?” I heard her greeting Ozzy a second before I laid my eyes on her in the foyer.
And when I did, I had to hold my breath for a second, because Christ, she was beautiful.
My heart damn near stopped as I hung back in the kitchen, happy to let Aly play with Ozzy while I quietly ran my eyes all over her. She was just in her work clothes, but she looked fucking incredible. Her hair was pulled back in a low knot, and she had two locks of blonde hanging down to frame her face. Her tan pencil skirt hugged the living hell out of those hips, and her blue button-down fit just tight enough to trigger memories of exactly how perfect and sexy she was underneath.
The fact that she looked this good while laughing with my dog made me want to get down on one knee and propose right there.
But then Ozzy gave one short bark to alert her to my presence.
“Oh. Hi.” The joy vanished from Aly’s voice the second she spotted me. I tried not to take it personally.
“Hey,” I said, doing my best to keep it together as she stood up again. I wanted to touch her. I wanted to put my hands all over her. It felt like every nerve ending in my body was on high alert just waiting to feel her skin on mine. But I could tell from the way she stood stiffly that she wanted none of that.
So despite the fucking tornado of need ricocheting in my chest, I wrangled every one of my urges and controlled myself.
“Aly…”
“Wait, Emmett. Let me start first.” Aly tore her eyes off the sweaty crew neck clinging to my chest. “About last night…”
For some reason, I held out for the miracle of her saying she didn’t regret it.
“It was a big mistake.”
