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Janessa noted that he spoke about Daphne without the strain that had been so evident when he’d spoken of her in the weeks immediately following their breakup. She was glad to see that he seemed to be moving past that time. He deserved to be happy again.
As she ate her ice cream, Janessa’s thoughts went to that moment when Will had prevented her from heading out of the bleachers to help Jay. It was rare—maybe even non-existent—that she was ever that close to a guy who wasn’t related to her.
Part of her wanted to claim that Will was just like a brother, but if she was truly honest with herself, she’d never viewed him that way. That was probably because, as a teen, she’d had a crush on him. Didn’t every girl end up with a crush on an older brother’s best friend if he was a decent guy?
She’d known that nothing was going to come of it, and that was fine. There was something… special about having those feelings in her heart, even though she’d had no intention of letting Will know how she felt.
Perhaps that made her weird.
Other teenage girls had done their best to let the guy they had a crush on know how they felt, but Janessa hadn’t had any interest in a relationship. Just having Will in her life as a friend had been enough, and that was still the case now.
They might have had a bit of a rough patch because of her reaction to what was going on with Jay, but she hoped they were beyond that now. She truly enjoyed the time they spent together, which was why she was glad that he’d joined them for ice cream.
Once they were done with their treats, they didn’t linger long. They left the restaurant, then said goodnight before splitting to go to their own cars.
Gareth and Aria still weren’t at the house when she and Charli arrived home a short time later. They’d gone to another sweets shop that they’d frequented when they’d first started dating rather than join them for ice cream.
While Charli went to put Layla to bed, Janessa spent some time in the kitchen, unloading the dishwasher and reloading it again with the supper dishes.
Charli reappeared just as she was finishing and went to the water cooler to get a glass of water. “Is there something going on between you and Will?”
Considering where her thoughts had been earlier, Janessa wondered if people were seeing things she wasn’t. “No.”
“I’m going to keep asking you that because I have a feeling that at some point, the answer is going to be yes.”
Janessa laughed. “I don’t think so. We’re just friends.”
“Friends can become something more.”
“True. But I’m going to keep saying no.”
Charli took a drink of water, her gaze contemplative as she watched Janessa. “Will seems to be doing better. I thought maybe you had something to do with that.”
That suggestion did something inside her. Made her want to be able to say yes, shehadplayed a role in that. However, she didn’t think that was the case.
“Well, it’s been a few months since the breakup. I don’t think it’s a big surprise that he’s getting over her.”
“What if he decides that he’d like to date you next?”
Janessa glared at Charli. “Where are you getting these ideas? There’s as much of a chance he’d want to date you as he would me.”
“I’m not the one spending lots of time with him,” Charli countered.
“You can spend more time with him. I’ll babysit.” However, even as she made the suggestion, Janessa knew she didn’t want to give up her time with Will.
“That would be a waste of time for us both,” Charli said. “Especially if Will is interested in a relationship. That’s not going to happen with me.”
“I doubt he’s spending time with me because he wants a relationship.” She’d never really gotten that vibe from him, and it would be best if it stayed that way.
“Why don’t you want a relationship?” Charli asked as she rounded the counter and sat down on one of the stools with her glass of water.
Janessa shrugged. “Just how I feel. We don’t all need a negative experience to feel that a relationship isn’t for us.”
“I know, but for some reason, I’ve just always assumed you wanted to get married and have kids.”
“I wasn’t the one playing wedding with my Barbie dolls,” Janessa reminded her.
“That’s true,” Charli said, her expression thoughtful. “That was me and Kayleigh.”
