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“Ready?” Lila asked, springing me from my thoughts.
“More than ready.”
“Were you talking to Liam and Nathan just now?” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Can you say love triangle?”
“Ha. Ha,” I replied, standing up from my desk and wrapping my wool coat around me. I bit my lip, debating on sharing Nathan’s weird behavior. But what was a best friend for if not to overanalyze every small detail about men and your nonexistent love life? “Something strange did happen, though.”
“Do tell,” Lila said, stepping onto the elevator and pushing the “L” button.
“Nathan kind of dragged Liam away from me. He was kind of irritable too.”
Lila winced. “Isn’t he always a touch irritable?”
“Not like this. It seemed like he didn’t want Liam and I talking…almost as if he was jealous or something.” It soundedunlikely even to my own ears, but I hated how much I wanted it to be true.
“No offense, Char, but could you have been exaggerating it in your head because you still have a crush on him? He’s hardly spoken to you since that trivia night.”
“I don’t have a crush on him,” I lied.
She side-eyed me. “Yes, you do. And I don’t blame you. His whole stoic attitude is hot. But he made it clear nothing is going to happen between you two so you’ve got to let it go.”
“I hate that I have to see him every day. Why does he have to affect me so much?”
“You wouldn’t have to if you’d quit with me already,” Lila muttered under her breath.
Sighing, I stepped into the lobby and opened the door to the crisp, dark evening. I still hadn’t gotten the courage to mention resigning to her. Even though I had put it in my calendar, lately I had been resisting the urge to scratch it out. I thought about my last conversation with my parents, and how they had gone on and on about how proud of me they were. I had spent my whole life trying to please them. How could I break their hearts now?
“I’m thinking about it, Lila. It’s not that simple.”
“Of course it isn’t,” she said, irritation lingering in her tone.
“Hey, can we just have fun tonight?” The wine and cheese night was one of my favorites. We had only hosted one before at this cute little bistro downtown, and it had been a blast. The owners were so organized that Lila and I had to do very little and could spend the evening mingling instead of running the event.
“Absolutely.” She bumped me with her shoulder. “You just frustrate me sometimes.”
Trust me, I frustrate myself a lot more.
Chapter Fifteen
NATHAN
“How do those feel?”Oliver finished lacing up the boot and took a step back.
Wiggling my toes around, I shook my head. “Tight.”
“They’re supposed to be a little tight,” he insisted. “Is your toe just touching the end or is it actually crammed in there?”
“Feels pretty crammed to me.”
“Hmm, are you sure?”
“Why do you keep asking me how they feel if you don’t believe my response?” I glared at my brother as he grabbed another snowboard boot off the shelf.
“I know how you are. You like comfort, and snowboarding boots aren’t that comfortable. I just want to make sure you're assessing it on the proper scale.”
“I can promise you, I am,” I said through gritted teeth, trying not to get frustrated.
We had been at this for over an hour now. Oliver still insisted on teaching me to snowboard, even though the rest of my outdoor activity adventures had not had amazing results.
