Friend Zone to End Zone - Judy Corry Page 0,78

here.”

“Yeah?” I asked breathlessly.

“Yeah.” His eyes darted back and forth between mine.

When he kissed my forehead, I wanted to beg him to stay and not even go on his trip.

“Anyway.” He rested his forehead against mine. “It’s a lot to consider. But I hope everything will be crystal clear in a few days.”

I sighed, knowing just how much his decision could affect me and what I was realizing I wanted more than anything. “I hope so, too.”

33

Cole

Arianna had to be at the salon by nine o’clock for an appointment, so after she left my house, I got started on packing for my trip. I grabbed my suitcase from my closet and loaded it with all the things I’d need for my four-day trip.

At this point, it was probably a waste of my time to even go, since things here in Denver were looking so good—like things could actually work out between Arianna and me.

But they’d already made all the arrangements and I had already planned for some sightseeing while I was in the area, so I figured I might as well go.

And I did miss the ocean. Sure, San Francisco wasn’t exactly Hawaii, but it still had fishing, which I loved. Maybe Arianna would consider moving there with me. Her mom was doing a lot better these days and would still have Vincent and Emerson nearby if she needed anything. Plus, Arianna could do her social media stuff anywhere.

I zipped up my suitcase and set it on the carpet by my bedroom door. If anything, meeting with the 49ers would just give me an even better bargaining chip to go back to the Dragons with.

When I was done packing, I went into the kitchen to fix myself some lunch. And as I sat at the bar, eating the leftover steak and veggies I still had in my fridge from a couple of nights ago, I opened my phone up to see what I’d missed since yesterday.

After I finished going through the email from my agent with the details of my meeting with the 49ers, I switched over to Instagram to see what was going on over there.

I gasped when I looked at the first post that showed up on my feed.

It was a photo Arianna had posted of the two of us from last night. The one she’d asked our waiter to take of us before we started dancing. She’d blurred my face so no one would know I was the guy she was with, but we had the same suit and dress on that we’d worn to dinner. The smile she had on her face in the photo was even bigger than I’d remembered.

The caption she’d written was: I’m so excited about this recent development.

And then, below the caption, she had typed in: #mybestfriendishotterthanyourbestfriend.

My chest warmed.

I clicked on the comments to see what her fans were saying.

* * *

@kellystenfield: Who is he? Why have we never seen this best friend before?

@rizzofranklin8090: What happened to Chad?

@charlieandmadisonforever: If I had a best friend with a body that looked that good in a suit I’d be all over him.

@romanticallyhopeless17: I hope this means Chad is gone. You look so happy in this photo.

* * *

And on and on.

She’d only posted the photo an hour ago but there were already thousands of comments from her fans, wondering who I was and what this meant for her and Chad.

And because I couldn’t help myself, I switched over to my @ariannasbiggestfan account and typed: I bet you had to blur his face because he’s so ridiculously good looking that revealing his true identity would break the internet.

Then chuckling to myself because I thought I was hilarious, I switched over to my messaging app and texted Arianna.

Me: What time do you get home from work? I have something to give you before the party.

She must have been in-between clients because her message came through a few seconds later. I’ll be home by five-thirty. So, barely enough time to change and get ready for tonight.

Me: Perfect. I’ll meet you at your place then.

I went back to Instagram to look at the photo she’d posted one more time. She did look happier than usual in it, didn’t she?

I knew there was a chance that she’d only posted it for Chad to see in order to get a jumpstart on her plan for revenge tonight, but I hoped there was more to what she’d typed than just that.

Hopefully, she was ready for things to develop even further between us.

34

Arianna

“What