AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Maybe you should. Maybe this whole best friend thing isn’t working out anymore.” She crosses her arms.
“You’re not serious.” There’s no way she is.
Her hands fly up at her sides. “You clearly can’t see how you crossed the line.”
“And you clearly can’t see why I would.”
Both of our phones ding at the same time, and we each grab them.
* * *
Bryce: Here you go. This is already live, nothing I could do.
* * *
Sure enough, it’s a clip of the fight, and Ellery’s face is at the top of the screen. The captions say she’s responsible for our fight.
“Great. Just fucking great. Damn you, Cooper!”
She walks out of my door and slams it before I can stop her.
I decide not to chase after her because she needs to calm down. I unlock my screen to see a picture of Bradley with a black eye that someone must’ve taken this morning. My head rocks back. What the hell was I thinking? I’ve always been able to deal with my emotions like an adult.
That afternoon, I go to the office for the Chicago Grizzlies because Coach Stone has called me in. I’m not surprised when I walk into the waiting area and find Bradley sitting in a chair. His black eye isn’t going to score me points with the coach.
I nod at Bradley. He’s an idiot if he thinks I’m going to apologize.
“Happy you get her all to yourself now?” Bradley snipes.
I sit as far away from him as possible. “Why did you want to date her if you wanted to fuck around on her?”
“I wasn’t fucking around on her, we weren’t a committed couple. I’m not sure what you don’t understand about that. She said she understood right before she dumped me at breakfast this morning.”
I inwardly clap for Elle. “That’s not the point. She’s my best friend.”
He scoffs.
“She is. We made a decision to just be friends a long time ago. But she’s too good for someone who can’t commit until you’re having sex with her. That’s the reason you were with that girl, right?”
His cheeks redden.
I figure I don’t need to ask any more questions, I just need to tell him where it’s at. “Ellery is the girl you cherish as soon as she says yes to dating you. The one you court, who gets all your attention, all your effort. The one who makes you feel blessed that she wants you. The one you’ll wait forever for until she’s ready. She’s not the one you date at the same time as five other girls.”
“It was a hookup. Jesus, Cooper.” He rolls his eyes.
“Exactly! You shouldn’t want to fuck up things with Elle.”
He laughs and shakes his head. “Go see a therapist and figure out why you can’t tell her how you feel. Why you’re so scared of starting a relationship with her because you love her more than any friend.”
Coach’s door opens before I can respond. “Get in here, you two idiots.”
We look at one another. I threw the first punch, so it’ll all be on me. I wait for him to walk in first, then I follow, shutting the door.
“Nice shiner,” Coach says, staring at me.
I bite the inside of my cheek. “I’m not apologizing.”
“Sit down.”
