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I narrowed my eyes on him. “Fine. Tell me the catch. There’s always one with you.”
He smiled. “Yet time and again, you always agree.”
I rolled my eyes and snorted on accident, which, had he not been my best friend, would have been mortifying.
“You have to go out to dinner with me after the event at my favorite place in Seattle.”
“Why not back here? There’s plenty of amazing restaurants on Marigold Island. How about Milo’s Pub?”
“Maybe, but you just need to get out of your comfort zone a little,” he offered. “City life isn’t so bad.”
I snickered and shook my head. “I did that plenty in college. I like it here, but fine. I’ll have dinner with you in the big city.”
He laughed and shook his head, handing me a ticket.
“The reading is at two o’clock, so if we leave here by noon, we should be fine.” Lucas spun around and headed toward the stairs.
“How’d you get these tickets? Seriously. They were impossible to find.” I touched my necklace and ran my fingers along my wildflower pendant. My mom had gifted us with something special upon our birth that was meant to guide us, and mine happened to be a wildflower. I always found myself reaching for it when Lucas was around.
He shrugged. “Just an old friend who owed me a favor. No biggie.”
I smiled and shook my head as Lucas went down the stairs, leaving me to my pile of knickknacks.
That was the thing about Lucas. He was always full of surprises. But soon, I hoped, I’d have one of my own to share.
Chapter Two
Lucas
“Dear, God, man.” I shook my head, holding my forehead in my palms. “I cannot keep doing this. It’s literally eating me up from the inside out. I can feel every little cell of my body getting chewed up and spat out before moving on to the next piece of me to do the same. Every second is torture.” I looked up at my cousin and stared at him. “There will be nothing left of me by the end of this.”
James rolled his eyes and laughed. “Don’t be so dramatic.”
I sat up and glared at my cousin. “You don’t understand what it’s like to be put in the friend zone by a woman who makes your knees weak and your world stand still.”
“Listen, if it’s meant to be, it will be.” He shrugged.
“That’s it?” I laughed, staring at him in disbelief. “That’s your advice?”
James brushed his short beard with his thumb and looked toward the water. I’d driven to his place to pass the time andget some brotherly advice from the next best thing, my cousin. He moved in with Amelia, and it was the perfect place for them. His son had his own spacious bedroom, and then there were two other guest rooms, one that I frequented a lot when I babysat my nephew, like last night. Technically, he wasn’t my nephew, but my cousin was my best friend, and being an uncle fit my duties.
But Amelia and James had it easy. They knew they liked each other.
With Emily, it wasn’t like that. She saw me squarely as a friend.
I was fighting a losing battle.
But the more time I spent around her, the more I wanted her.
“So, why are you here if the girl you like is over there?” He pointed toward the front door.
“I can’t just follow her around for three hours like a lost puppy dog. I have to exude confidence and give her the feeling I have other places to be, other people to see.”
James’s right brow quirked. “Dude, it doesn’t need to be that hard.”
I waggled my finger at my cousin. “That’s where you’re wrong.”
He grimaced and took a sip of coffee. “I just don’t think it needs to be this complicated. Tell her how you feel.”
