Friend Zoned (Barnett Bulldogs #2) (19 page)

“You did the right thing.  It would have been so much worse if you had actually said yes and then tried breaking it off later.”

Her face screws up at the notion.  “When he pulled out that box, I just sat there, completely frozen,” she admits quietly.  “My heart sunk.  I wanted to jump up and tell him to put it back in his pocket.  That we could just pretend it never happened.”

“I’m really sorry,” I say softly, “I can’t imagine how hard that must have been.”

“It sucked.  And he was so damn hurt.”  She swipes at the wetness shining in her eyes.  “God, you should have seen the look on his face when I said
no
.”

Reaching out, I take hold of her hand before giving it a gentle squeeze.  “It’ll be alright.  He just needs some time to get over it.”

“I hope so, Vi.  Because I really do love him.  I just don’t think I need to be a child bride to prove it.”

I can’t help the gurgle of laughter that escapes from my mouth.  “No, definitely not.”

Apparently needing a distraction, she changes the subject by asking, “Everything good with Sam?”

Even though I try to keep my expression perfectly blank, something sends her brows skyrocketing across her forehead. 

Not wanting to discuss the whole Sam situation, I fold my lips together before clamping them tightly shut.  That’s about the only defense I have against her tenaciousness.  Sensing a juicy story, Mia immediately leans forward.

She’s all eyes.

And ears.

The words are like a rip roaring river behind my teeth.  But still, I do my best to keep them contained.  Although there’s only so long I can hold them back before the dam bursts and the truth, for better or worse, comes pouring out like a massive case of diarrhea.

“Well, well, well,” she finally drawls, “do tell…”

When I remain silent, she wheedles, “Come on, you know you want to.”

I don’t.

I really, really don’t.

Shaking my head, I finally say in the most offhanded manner I can muster, “Oh, it’s nothing really.”

This only has her chuckling with even more eagerness than before… if that’s possible.  Mia continues sitting with her legs tucked beneath her.  At this point, she’s practically rubbing her hands together in anticipation.  “How about you just tell me what it is and I can be the judge of that.”

Her words leave me groaning. 

Alright… so maybe I’ll throw Mia a small bone in hopes of avoiding the real issue that had me hightailing it out of Sam’s apartment at the freaking crack of dawn this morning.  “I went out with Liam yesterday.”

Her eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets as she stares at me in stunned disbelief.  Her flummoxed response makes me want to laugh. After a moment, she clarifies, “
Liam Garrison
?  We’re talking QB for the Bulldogs? Hot tattoo motorcycle riding Liam Garrison?”

I roll my eyes at the absurd question.  “Is there another Liam Garrison that you know of?”

Her eyebrows rise so far up her forehead, they practically hit the ceiling.  “And just how,
pray tell
, did this come about?”

Rather matter-of-factly, I recount what happened, “Yesterday morning, Sam and I ran into him at breakfast and he asked if I wanted to spend a few hours with him.”

Still looking completely shocked, she slowly shakes her head.  “Sheesh… You’re gone for just a few days and I miss everything.”  Pausing, she inhales a breath before asking, “Did he have his motorcycle with him?”  She suddenly clasps her hands tightly in front of her.  Rather ridiculously she looks as though she’s about to plead for her life.  “Please, please, please tell me he had his motorcycle with him.”

A small smile curves my lips upward as I give her a brief nod. 

“And?”  Barely does she pause for a breath before asking, “What happened after that?”

“Well, we drove around the city for a while and then stopped to play some pool.”

Mia shakes her head in disbelief before a tiny smirk settles its way across her lips.  “And how did
Golden Delicious
take that?”

“
Sam
,” I emphasize loudly, “was fine with it.”

My mind tumbles back to yesterday morning and the look on his face when I was walking out the door.  Okay… so maybe he wasn’t
completely
fine with it.  But he certainly didn’t tell me not to go.  And we all know just how overprotective Sam can be.

Mr. Cock blocker himself.

The smirk continues to grow.  For the first time since walking in this afternoon, my roommate looks more like the Mia I’ve grown to love over the last three years.  Rather airily she waves a hand.  “Oh, I’m sure he didn’t mind one damn bit that you took off on a motorcycle with one of his hot teammates.”  Eyes wide, she actually starts to laugh.  “I bet he helped you onto the back of Liam’s bike and gave you a condom so you could practice safe sex before telling you to have a great time.  Right?”

I almost roll my eyes. “Of course not.  You know how Sam is.  He’s like an annoying big brother.”

Suddenly all I can think about are his ocean blue eyes, gorgeous blond hair, and those huge bulging muscles.  And don’t even get me started on that thick cock standing proudly at attention...

Yep… there goes that insistent throb between my legs.  I try not to squirm in the chair I’m sitting on.

Laughing, Mia shakes her head.  “Jeez, Vi, it’s almost cute just how oblivious you are.  It really is.”

Frowning, my eyebrows slide together.  No one has ever accused me of being oblivious.  “No, I’m not.”

She snorts.  Loudly.  “Where Sam is concerned?  Yeah, you kind of are.”

Brushing off the remark, I redirect our conversation away from Sam, which is now considered to be dangerous and murky territory.   “Anyway, there’s nothing between Liam and me.  He kissed me and-” 

I’m barely able to get the words out before she’s pouncing on that little tidbit of information.  “He kissed you!  Liam Garrison actually
kissed
you?”  She looks as if she might swoon.
“Yes.”  Folding my hands demurely in my lap, I add, “And it was nice-”

Again her brows rocket up.  Rather slowly she repeats, “His kiss was just…
nice
?  That’s it?  Liam Garrison gave you a ride on his motorcycle, took you to shoot pool, and then kissed you and it wasn’t anything more than
nice
?”  She looks so completely disillusioned.

I nod before shrugging.  “It was
just
nice.”

“Hmmm.  That’s disappointing.” She lowers her voice before asking, “Is he bad at it?”  Almost immediately she shakes her head.  “Because I just can’t imagine that he is.  He’s way too gorgeous to be bad at making out.”

“No, the kiss was fine.”  I think back to yesterday.  “It just wasn’t anything special.  There was zero chemistry between us.”

Her lips slant downward.  “
Definitely
disappointing.”

This is the point in our conversation where I start nibbling at my bottom lip because I have a decision to make.

Do I tell her what happened with Sam?

Or keep it to myself?

It’s just that I could really use Mia’s advice regarding the situation.  I know what my grandmother said and part of me thinks she might be right.  But still…  The prospect of opening myself up to Sam, telling him that my feelings have changed is a scary one.

What if he doesn’t feel the same way?

Or what if he’s into it and then we end up fizzling out a month, or even ten months down the line.  I’ll still end up losing my best friend.  The one person I can always count on to be there for me.

As I continue gnawing away at my lower lip, Mia’s green eyes narrow with suspicion.  She’s like a damn bloodhound picking up a scent.  “Clearly there’s more.”  She pauses for just a moment before demanding, “Oh my god, what else could have possibly happened?”

Playing dumb, I widen my eyes before asking, “What makes you think anything else happened?”  I shouldn’t even bother with subterfuge.  I’m no good at it.  I have zero acting chops.

She swirls her pointer finger towards me.  “Because you’ve got that look on your face.”  Her eyes thin in an assessing manner before she adds, “It’s that
I-don’t-want-talk-about-it
look.  Just do us both a favor and spill already.”

I know there’s no way in hell that Mia will allow me to slink away without telling her every single juicy detail.  Dropping all pretenses, I finally shake my head before resting it in my hands.  A moment later, I groan, “A lot happened and none of it is good.”

One dark brow slides up.  That brow is going to be in traction tomorrow from all its up and down movement.  “Yes, I can see that.  Now tell me
exactly
what happened with
Sam
.”

My head pops up before my eyes cut to hers.  There’s a big shit eating smile wreathing her face.  “Why do you think this has anything to do with Sam?”

Unwilling to be distracted, she says, “Because I know you and honestly, it’s long overdue.”

Blowing out a steady breath, I start off by saying, “Okay, so I’ve probably mentioned that when we were younger, I used to crawl through Sam’s window at night and sleep in his bed, right?”

“Yeah.”  She drawls out the word so that it sounds more like
yeaaaahhhhhh
.

“Well, things felt a little weird between us at the bar Saturday night and I couldn’t sleep, so I went in to talk with him and ended up sleeping in his bed.”

Rather comically, her mouth tumbles open.  Just as she starts rapid firing questions at me, I cut her off.  Trying to add emphasis to my words, I slice both hands through the air.  “
Nothing happened
.”

The way she deflates right before my very eyes has my lips twitching with humor.  “Well, that’s a damn shame.”

Ignoring her, I soldier on, “When I woke up in the morning, he was pretty much wrapped around me.”

She scoots a little closer before propping her chin up on her hand and gazing at me all wide eyed.  “Go on.  This is just starting to get interesting.”

“His hand was on my boob and…”

If Mia tries scooting any closer, she’ll fall right off the couch she’s now perched precariously on.  “Yes,
yes
?”

My voice drops an octave.  “His erection was pressed up against my backside.”

A knowing grin tumbles across her face.  “Please tell me you put that morning wood to good use.”

Biting down on my lower lip, I slowly shake my head.  “Once he started grinding it against me, I freaked out and got the hell out of there.”

For just a moment, she simply stares at me before smacking her hand against her forehead.  “Are you being serious right now?”

“But I don’t think he remembers what happened because he was sleeping.”  My teeth sink into my bottom lip before I add, “At least, I’m pretty sure
he was still sleeping.  He was breathing really heavy.  Anyway, I left as quickly as I could.  When he came out of his room two hours later, he was dressed and asked if I wanted to grab some breakfast.”  I shrug my shoulders.  “Everything seemed okay.”  Well, as okay as it’s been between us lately…  “While we were out, we ran into Liam and I ended up taking off with him after breakfast.  End of story.”

Yeah… that’s not the end to this story by a long shot…

Mia eyes me as if I’m a strangely exotic specimen smeared across a microscope slide before murmuring, “Huh.”

Sucking in another deep breath, I decide to tell her everything.

And I do mean
everything
.

There’s just no point in holding it back.

“When I came home a few hours later, I got your text about spending another night at Sam’s.  He had just come back from working out and said I could use his truck to pick up some more stuff. I was just about to pull out when I realized that I didn’t have my key.  So I went back to get it.  When I got to the apartment, Sam had just finished with his shower-,” I pause.  Frankly, I’m not even sure if Mia is breathing at this point.  Her entire body is rigid with suspense. “And the only towel he had was being used to dry his hair.”

I allow those words to hang suspended in the air as we simply stare wide eyed at each other.  Mia folds her lips around her teeth as a smile tries its damnedest to break free.  Now that I have roughly twenty-four hours separating me from the incident, I can’t resist doing the same thing.  Almost on cue, the pair of us burst into laughter.  Gut pinching, belly aching, can’t-stop-if-I-tried laughter.

Oh God, but it feels so good to laugh about all this.

We’re both dying when I finally gasp, “And then he got another erection while I was standing there gawking at him!”

She swipes at the tears in her eyes before nearly chortling, “Oh, I bet he did!”

I shake my head, trying to force the words out around all the mirth. “Here’s the worst part-”

She practically shrieks, “Oh my god, there’s a
worst
part?”