AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“One is fine. See you then.”
He turned and headed up toward the front door of his mother’s house.
“Enjoy book club!” I called out.
“Fuck,” he mumbled and turned on his heels and started back down the street toward his car.
I couldn’t help but laugh as I called out, “I should have just let you go in!”
Lucas held up his hand and shot me the middle finger.
My smile faded as I watched him for a few more moments before I slipped into my car.
Starting it, I drew in a long breath. Working closely with Lucas was going to be torture. Not because I thought he would interfere with my job—no, because I knew being so close to him would wreak havoc with my stupid emotions toward him.
“I’m so screwed.”
As I drove away, I never saw Rose standing in the window looking out, a wide, triumphant grin on her face.
Lucas
I stopped right outside of Turner’s Seafood, drew in a long, deep breath, and exhaled.
“Dude, do I really have to go in there with you?” Shawn Roberts, my best friend of twenty-five years, asked.
“Yes. You do.”
He rolled his eyes. “Listen, this weird thing you’ve had going on with Hollie ever since we were, what, six?”
“Five.”
Staring at me with a blank expression, he closed his eyes, shook his head, then looked directly at me. “Whatever. It’s stupid. You’re thirty-fucking-years old now, Lucas. Just admit to Hollie you like her.”
My mouth fell open, and I quickly looked around before stepping closer to him. “I do not like her.”
He smirked. “You admitted to me that you did. That you wanted to—”
I pointed to him. “Don’t even say it. I was drunk at the time, and I was twenty. That was ten years ago. It was… It was a thing, that’s all.”
He gave a one-shoulder shrug. “Dude, I’m not judging you. I’d have already gone after her if I didn’t think you were secretly obsessed with her.”
That little bit of information made my chest tighten. “What? You like Hollie?”
Shawn laughed. “Half of the guys we hang with like her, Lucas. No one will ask the poor girl out because they think you’ll be pissed. Did you ever wonder why in high school, no guy ever asked her out? I mean, clearly, it wasn’t because of her looks. She’s smoking-hot and has a body.”
I blinked a few times and tried to figure out what emotion I was feeling. Anger? Jealousy? Fear?Wait—fear?What in the hell?
“I don’t… I don’t care if one of you guys dates her,” I bit out.
Shawn raised a single brow. “Really? If I was to go in there with you, have lunch, suffer through listening to a bunch of party-planning talk, then ask her out, you won’t care.”
I went to answer that I would care less if he asked her out, but nothing came out when I opened my mouth. Shawn gave me a knowing look, so I cleared my throat and lied.
“Shawn, I honestly do not care if you ask Hollie out.”
He wore a skeptical look.
“Scout’s honor.”
