Crushing on my Billionaire Best Friend - Jolie Day Page 0,56

the years?”

After dropping that popping-the-cherry bomb on me, it was all I could think of right then, and for a second, I hadn’t even registered her words. But the question made the swig of Jäger go down funny. I hated that shit. Fuck it. I poured another and downed it in one go.

Laney stared at me expectantly the entire time.

“No, I haven’t,” I shot back as quickly as I could. “I can’t say I’ve ever wondered that.”

As I said the words, I knew I was lying, but not really. Earlier tonight, I’d been staring at her body in all the fucking wrong ways. It was true, I’d let my brain wander, many times, in fact. Even though it felt wrong to deny it, it didn’t feel right to mention any of it, either. I knew she wasn’t talking about just a couple of kinky thoughts. She was talking about all the years during our friendship.

What the fuck was wrong with me? She’s offering herself to me.

She wants me to be her first, I repeated in my thoughts, still not believing it. Hadn’t I thought of this before we’d gone out tonight? Shit.

Laney nodded slowly, letting my answer sink in.

I watched her demeanor change.

And it changed completely.

Her smile quickly faded, and her cheeks blushed. Suddenly, she wouldn’t look me in the eye.

Instead, she fidgeted with her hands in her lap and stared at the couch cushion beside her folded legs.

“Of course you haven’t,” she mumbled under her breath, almost too quiet for me to hear. “This has been a lot of fun!” She stood up quickly. “Thanks for celebrating with me tonight. Too bad it’s already so late. Oh, well. I should…definitely get to bed.”

“Wait, Laney. No, don’t run off to bed. I’m sorry. I really am. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I’ve just never—” My words caught in my throat as I struggled to remember exactly why I had never let myself go there. Her confession had drowned out my reasoning. “We’ve just been best friends for so long.”

“Right, of course.” She nodded. “No, I totally get it. It’s fine. But you know…I’m a little tipsy—so now, ‘Laney secret-telling time’ is over. At least for tonight.” She tried to force a smile. “Good night.”

“No. Don’t go.”

16

Laney

Oh, shit.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

All at once, I felt painfully sober as I saw Oliver there with his eyes wide and his mouth gaping.

I didn’t know what had gotten into me.

The high from my acceptance letter followed by our accidental kiss, however brief it might have been, made me forget about everything for a while. Everything. I’d had a plan. A good one… I thought maybe I could truly be the kind of woman that looked irresistibly sexy and danced with the most attractive guy in the city at the club without a care in the world.

Mostly, I thought I could be the kind of woman Oliver would want as more than just a friend.

I was such an idiot. A complete fool. Ugh.

I’d forgotten about all the things that stood between us and kept me from being the type of woman he would ever go for. For a few short hours, I wasn’t just the dorky girl that was completely out of his league. I was a smart, beautiful, sexy woman who could do anything—maybe even seduce her lifelong crush. Even if his body had been practically perfected and sculpted by the gods themselves.

But seeing the look on his face at the mere mention of him viewing me in a sexual way—it was enough to bring it all crashing down, hard and fast, leaving me to feel like the world’s biggest idiot. I got up, mumbled something to the effect of “good night” and headed (okay, basically ran) for my room, ready to hide under the covers, and hoped that by tomorrow morning the humiliation of it all would be buried deep somewhere in another “Idiot me shouldn’t have done this” memory. And him hopefully forgetting that the evening even happened.

“Laney, wait.” He pulled at my arm to stop me in the hall. “No. Don’t go.”

I spun around, ignoring the thrill that still pulsed through me any time I felt his touch. I refused to let it get to me anymore. All this time, and it had never once led to anything but me feeling exactly like this—heartbroken and so, so stupid.

“Oliver.” I sighed, staring up to face him with brutal honesty and acceptance. “Look, I get it. It’s okay. I know why you’ve