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I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. “That’s what I thought, then last night, we kind of had this moment of honesty and then one thing just led to another.”
“So you’re like really dating now?”
“No,” I said a little too quickly.
“Okay, then it was like a perk in the contract?”
“No,” I said again. “This…it was just…a friend thing.”
“Babe, we’re friends. We don’t do that.”
I laughed, thankful for my best friend’s ability to take the pressure off this monumental tea session. “Last time I checked, I don’t have what you’re looking for,” I teased right back.
“If only you did,” he said wistfully. “We would’ve been perfect for each other.” I laughed again, happiness settling into my bones. “Okay, so you had a friendly frolic,” he continued, and I snorted at his use of the word frolic. “Now, how was blue eyes?”
I sighed contently.
“Damn, that good?”
“Better,” I said.
“Le swoon,” he said. “And you’re still at his place?”
“Yep,” I said. “He’s not here though.”
“He left you alone?” he asked. “Do I need to find him and kick his ass? Remind him you never leave a lady alone?—”
“No,” I laughed. “He left a note. He had to run into the office, but he said to make myself at home.”
“Ohhh,” he said, intrigue laced in his tone. “Doesn’t he have one of those ridiculously expensive and equally gorgeous penthouses in lower Manhattan?”
“That he does.”
“That’s a score, babe. I’d go take a dip in his tubPretty Womanstyle and never look back.”
“You have the best ideas,” I said. “I’m sorry for not texting back and worrying you.”
“Great sex is always an acceptable excuse. I’m proud of you, babe. You needed this.”
I gaped at my phone. “Who says I needed it?”
“Your best friend, that’s who,” he chided me. “You never do anything for yourself. And this entire situation, however unorthodox it is, has really worked out for you. You deserve it and you should sure as hell enjoy it.”
I chewed on my bottom lip. He wasn’t wrong. I couldn’t remember the last time I actually did something for myself beyond treating myself to a night with Jesse or the girls or taking Brecken out to a play. Was that why a flower of apprehension bloomed in my chest? The fact that I wasn’t used to this situation or was it because Crossland had turned out to be the exact opposite of what I’d expected when I entered into this deal?
A friend.
That’s what we’d established last night. Over the last month, during our ruse, we’d become friends.
I shook my head.
“Don’t overthink this, Aspen,” Jesse said like he could read the silence between us.
“I’m trying not to,” I said. “But you know me. Anytime anything good happens…” Icy dread laced through me.
“You worry your past will show up to steal it,” he finished for me. “I know. I remember it took you years to realize I wasn’t going anywhere. No matter what.”
“I love you,” I said.
