Nice Guys Don't Win (The Boys #2) - Micalea Smeltzer Page 0,76

but music is my soul.

The song ends and she throws down the mic, diving into my arms.

I carry her off the stage and into the cheering crowd.

The actual music starts up again and I pull her onto the dancefloor. I’ve been wanting to dance with her again, but it never seemed to go right any time we did, but now it’s different. Now I’ve had her. Now, I hope, I think, she’s mine.

I spin her around and she shakes her hips to the song.

I could still kill Teddy for that stunt he pulled, but I know he’s right, if he hadn’t Zoey and I would still be tiptoeing around this thing.

Fear tends to hold us back from the greatest things imaginable and I know she’s the real deal. She’s the girl you don’t let go of. The one you marry. The one who has your kids.

I just hope she sees me the same way.

26

Zoey

I’m striding across campus when I hear my name being called repeatedly. I don’t pay attention at first, assuming someone is calling after another Zoey. It’s not a super common name, but it’s not uncommon either.

But as the voice grows closer, louder, and more insistent I finally stop and look around.

When I see the girl trying to flag me down, I nearly throw down the textbook in my arms and haul ass out of there like I’d been trying to do.

The last thing I ever expected in a million years was to see my former best friend on the Aldridge U campus.

I blink and blink again, thinking maybe she’ll disappear like a mirage, but nope she’s still there.

With one hand I tug my beanie down over my ears, protecting myself from the cold and the incoming avalanche of emotions.

She stops in front of me, her blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. Her makeup is done flawlessly, and she’s dressed like she’s just stepped off a runway. She fits in on the posh campus far more than I do.

Now that she’s in front of me she seems unsure. “Hi,” she says awkwardly.

“Liza, what are you doing here?” The words tumble out of my mouth.

“I…” She looks around at the students milling by us. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“You came here, all the way to my school, to talk to me?”

She bites her lips, eyes hesitant. “Yeah.”

I exhale a breath, watching as it fogs the air. Do I want to talk to her? I really don’t, but she was my friend for years and if she came all the way here just to talk to me, I’m not sure I can turn her away.

“Okay. There’s a coffee shop close by.” There’s a hesitancy in my voice, but something is telling me to do this. This conversation is long overdue.

“Are you sure?” she asks. “You don’t have class? I can come back later or—”

I level her with a glare. “It’s now or not at all.”

I know if I give myself too much time to think I won’t speak to her.

“Okay. Now then.”

Neither of us say a word on the walk over. We place an order for coffee and then take a seat in the back where there are less people.

“So,” she curls her fingers around her cup, “how have you been?”

“You came all this way to ask me how I am?” The snarkiness in my tone is obvious and I try not to cringe. I know I’m not in the wrong here. It’s not like I slept with her fiancé, but I would like to be the bigger person. After all, I’ve moved on.

She winces. “No.”

I take the lid off my coffee, letting it cool down. “I think it’s better if we don’t waste our time on the niceties.”

She looks out the window as snow flurries start to descend from the gray sky. More than likely it won’t even stick. Not yet at least.

Inhaling a breath, her eyes meet mine. There’s a hesitancy there, a worry like she’s afraid I might reach across the table and throttle her. I have news for her, I’ve moved on from her and Todd. I’m not angry. Not even hurt anymore. If anything, all I feel is indifference.

“I wanted to apologize to you. Face to face.” She stares down at her cup. “I can’t even begin to tell you how horrible I’ve felt—”

“Because I caught you.”

“No,” she shakes her head, “I felt bad as it was happening, but I couldn’t stop it because … I wanted it. You and Todd seemed like