Friend Zone to End Zone - Judy Corry Page 0,34

he really is like. Then I was thinking I might go all ‘country-song’ on him and slash his tires while he was at work. And, oh,” I said as another idea came to mind. “I could also fill his shampoo with hair remover. He relies on his good looks and charm a little too much in the boardroom, it would be nice for him to be taken down a notch and work a little harder for a change.”

As I named off more plans for revenge, Cole’s expression went from disbelief to shock. “Remind me to never get on your bad side.”

I shrugged again. “Just don’t turn into a Chad and you’ll be fine.”

I shook my head. I really should have known that he’d turn out like this eventually. Every time a book or movie had a guy named Chad in it, they always turned out to be the villain.

“Then, I was thinking that after making him go bald, I could—“

“Wait.” Cole put his hands up, stopping me mid-thought. “Let’s think about this a little longer.”

“But he’s gone now. He gets back tomorrow, so this is my one chance to get into his place before he expects it.”

“But do you think that roughing up his home and car, and ruining his head of hair are going to really hurt in the long run?” Cole asked. “Because those are only temporary inconveniences. Don’t you think it would be better if we really focused on bringing out his insecurities?”

“Except he doesn’t have any,” I said. “He’s rich, he’s good-looking, he’s good at what he does, and he obviously already has another woman interested in him. What else is there?”

“You don’t think he has any insecurities?” Cole asked.

I thought about it. “The only thing he’s ever complained about is my bad cooking and how much time I spend with you.”

Wait.

I froze as a spark of something formed in my mind.

That's it!

My friendship with Cole had always been a sore spot with Chad. So much so that after having him complain about it so much, I stopped telling him about the times I’d spent with Cole.

It had never felt like cheating, since Cole and I were only friends. But if I was to play with that and make it look like his insecurities had been well founded, it might be just the thing to make him feel horrible.

“What is your devious little mind thinking about?” Cole stared at me with narrowed eyes. “Are you planning to spray paint the word cheater on his car before he gets home?”

“No,” I said, piecing together my plan in my mind. “I’m going to do so much worse to him. But I need your help.”

“So here’s the plan,” I said, sitting back on the couch next to Cole. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that Chad likes you about as much as you like him.”

“Sure,” Cole allowed.

“So, I was thinking that the best way to get revenge on a cheater is to make them think that they never really had you in the first place.”

Cole scrunched up his nose, confused. “But you were his girlfriend for three years and didn’t date anyone else. How are you going to manage that?”

“Well,” I said, my insides bubbling with excitement just thinking about my plan. “That’s not exactly right.”

“You were seeing other guys?”

“Just one other guy.”

He furrowed his brow and leaned back against the couch, looking utterly confused.

I smiled. “I’m talking about you.”

“Me?” He put a hand to his chest.

“Yes, you,” I said. “Chad has always been insecure about my friendship with you. He’s said multiple times that our friendship is weird and that there’s no way that a guy and a girl can be just best friends without the lines being blurred here and there.”

“Okay…” Cole eyed me skeptically.

“So,” I said. “I was thinking that we could make it look like he was right.”

“Make it look like we’ve blurred the lines?”

“Yes.” I nodded. “You see, Chad and I were supposed to go to a housewarming party this weekend for one of our friends. And since I’m obviously not gonna go with Chad anymore, I was thinking it would be perfect for you to come with me and pretend to be my secret lover.”

“Your secret lover?” Cole’s voice came out an octave higher than usual, followed by a short coughing fit.

I laughed, already in love with my brilliant idea. “Everyone already wonders why you haven’t dated. And they know that we spend all kinds of time together. It would be totally believable for us