Crushing on my Billionaire Best Friend - Jolie Day Page 0,80

Super single. You can’t hurt his feelings because he doesn’t have feelings for you…at least nothing beyond you being a friend that he likes to fuck. I mean, who wouldn’t love it? You two are dynamite in bed. But! That’s beside the point. Maybe Kyle’s dynamite in bed, too, and you have every right to find out.

I shook off my doubts and pressed “Send” before getting back to work. But, to be honest, there was the relentless nagging feeling in my gut that I’d rather be with Oliver at the gallery opening…and I’d take whatever came after that, too. But going out with Kyle instead was the smart thing to do.

I had to start looking out for myself and get over this thing with Oliver once and for all.

25

Laney

Instead of working late as usual, I raced home at a decent hour to get ready for my dinner date. After taking a shower, I wrapped up in my robe and thumbed through the clothes hanging in my closet. The infamous cherry-popping evening red dress had been dry cleaned and returned to a hanger, but I’d worn that the first night I met Kyle. I didn’t want him to think I only owned that one dress.

My gaze drifted to another dress I’d bought with Lisa but hadn’t had a chance to wear yet. I tilted my head, considering it. It was a black vintage-style dress that hugged and accentuated all of my curves. In the past, I would have opted for something that hid my curves instead. But I was starting to realize that there was a lot of power in owning and flaunting my body like it was one of my best features, rather than hiding it away like a flaw.

I turned for my purse, sitting on the edge of the bed, and rifled through it to find my phone. I dialed Lisa on Facetime and waited for her smiling face to appear on the screen.

“Hello, lovely! Wait…is that your room I see in the background? Can it be? Did the geek Elaine Carter actually leave work before dinnertime?”

“Very funny,” I grumbled. “Listen, I need your help. I have a date tonight.”

“With who?” she gasped. “Let me guess, with Oliver? I’m so happy!”

“Ah, no. This guy I met at the club a few weeks ago. He’s a dentist, and he wants to take me to dinner. So, what do you think? The black dress?”

Lisa’s face melted into a frown. “Wait, why are you going out with a dentist? Ugh.”

“Why ugh?”

“What about Oliver, girl?

“What about him?” I snapped. “I’ve told you. I can’t handle being a friend with easy benefits to him. I have to move on, and this date is a perfect way to start doing that.”

“But you never actually gave him a chance and told him what you really wanted besides some BS, or see if that’s what he wanted, too. You’re just assuming,” she argued. “And more importantly, you never told him how you’ve felt all these years, which is the real game-changer.”

“Oh, yeah, it’d change the game, all right.” I scoffed. “He’d be forced to say he doesn’t feel the same way, and I’d be humiliated and heartbroken all over again. Just like in high school when—”

“I know, I know. You gave him the letter and he laughed at it. You’ve told me the story before.”

“I know, but it’s the truth.”

“Laney, you dummy…I’m sure he doesn’t even know that letter was from you. You’ve never actually just come right out with it and confessed your feelings for him! The closest you came was telling him you wondered what it would be like to sleep with him and lose your V-card to him. And what happened? You slept together! So just think what could happen if you told him how you really feel? Men are idiots, basically. You have to tell them things straight out. They don’t get hints. They don’t understand subtleties. They don’t read between the lines.”

“This is really not the conversation I expected to be getting into with you right now. The black dress, or no? Maybe that yellow and pink one I showed you?”

“No! Not the yellow and pink one!” she shouted. “It’s dinner in the city. Not a summer barbeque in the Hamptons. Yes, the black is fine. If you insist on doing this. All I’m saying is, don’t you think you should find out exactly where Oliver stands before you go running off to see someone new? And a dentist? After the foot-fetish