Crushing on my Billionaire Best Friend - Jolie Day Page 0,87

to make them feel special.

She was special.

One of a kind.

Nobody could even compare to Laney.

I thought of all the times she tried to tame her frizzy hair and how often she jumped to remove her glasses before she saw me. I’ve been such an idiot! How could I have been so blind and not seen this gorgeous woman and made her feel how she deserved?

Fuck. I’d blown everything with Laney. From day one. I’d never be able to look at her the same again, not as just “my best friend.” And hell, I doubted she could, either. I knew I’d already let her down by being too blinded by everything. It was like I’d been wearing some kind of fucking goggles all these years, and somebody finally ripped them off so I could see clearly. That sounded corny, even for me. But it was the truth. I never really saw her for the beauty she was, not in the way she wanted me to. And the signs had been there all along. Yeah, asshole, now you’ve lost the best thing that’s ever happened to you. Good going, fuck-stick.

My heart sank when I thought about the night she asked me to be her first. How she’d made herself vulnerable and offered her most precious gift to me. And what did I do? Fuck… Why the hell was I such an idiot? Why didn’t I just make her understand that she was mine and only mine from then on and the rest of our lives? Why hadn’t I insisted that there was so much more between us than just friendship?

And now she was going out with a loser, when I could be the one by her side, inside her, instead of some motherfucking dentist.

“How did things turn out after your stalker freak-out the other night?” Damon asked grimly as soon as I sank onto the stool next to him.

I buried my face in my hands. I wanted to get away from it, but no such luck. “Oh, perfect,” I answered sarcastically. “She came home. I yelled at her. It went just great.”

“Dude, when are you just going to give it up?” he asked. “You’ve liked that girl since high school.”

“According to her, all I’ve done since high school is hop from one woman to the next.” I took a swig of my beer as soon as the bartender slid it into my hand.

“Well, she’s not wrong.” He winced, tilting his head. “Did you ever think maybe that’s why she hasn’t admitted how she feels about you?”

“Surely she knows it’d be different with her.”

“Are we still going on about this?” Miles appeared behind us, slapping me on the back. “Come on, man. This broken record shit’s got to stop. Just go tell the woman you love her. Or one of us is going to crack and do it for you.”

I raised an irritated eyebrow. “Shut up.”

Miles shrugged like he’d be open to doing just that, but Damon was quick to interject. “He didn’t mean it. Geez. Lighten up.”

“You’re going to lose her if you don’t make a move. And soon,” Miles told me, and then ordered a beer when the bartender came back.

“I know,” I said. “I fucking know.”

“Hey, do you remember when she used to pass all those notes to you from girls back in the day?” Miles asked. “Too bad things aren’t so simple now. A note would make things so much easier.”

A thought sparked in my brain. I glanced over to the stack of napkins on the edge of the bar. A pen for signing receipts rested in a cup right next to them. I snatched them both and started scribbling.

“Oh, no,” Miles groaned. “Bro, I was just kidding. Don’t do that shit.”

“No, it’s perfect,” I insisted as I finished the last of my note and grabbed my jacket from the back of my chair. “One of you cover this beer for me. I gotta run.”

“Go get her, man!” Damon tipped his glass toward me as I bolted out of the bar.

I ran out and called a car to take me home, reading the ridiculous napkin letter in my hand as the driver took off. I yelled at him to go faster and tried to calm the nerves bouncing around inside of me. Suddenly, I was filled with anger and regret for letting everything stew between us the past few days. I should have said something sooner. The familiar worry that kept me silent started to stir inside, but I