Better If He Goes (Always You #1) - Allie Everhart Page 0,43
today and it was nonstop chaos for the entire hour they were there.
"I'll let you get some sleep. See you tomorrow."
"Yeah, bye."
I hope Giada is right and things with Nate will go back to normal in a day or two. Even if it takes a week, it's better than having him never talk to me again.
Chapter Eleven
Nate
When I go in the kitchen to get breakfast, Brad's sitting at the counter, eating his usual scrambled egg whites and toast.
"Hey, man, how's it going?"
"Not great," I mutter. "How about you? How was your date last night?" I grab a mug and fill it with coffee.
"Didn't work out. Went for drinks and decided to skip dinner."
"How could you not like Giada? She's great."
"She is, but we're better as friends."
"Friends." I huff. "You really think guys and girls can be friends?"
"Sure. I've had plenty of friends who are girls."
I sit next to him, stirring my coffee. "And you never felt anything more? You never had feelings for any of them?"
"No." He gets up and takes his plate to the sink.
"Lucky bastard," I mutter.
He stands across from me. "Listen, Nate, I know what this is about. I talked to Riley last night and—"
"You talked to Riley?" I slam my mug down, spilling my coffee. "What the hell?"
"What? I'm not allowed to talk to her?"
"You can, but why'd you do it?"
"Because you came home pissed and I wanted to know what happened. Since you wouldn't tell me, I asked Riley."
"You called her?"
"Yeah, and then I went over there."
"Why would you go over there?"
"Because she was fucking upset. I don't know all the details of your little conversation last night, but whatever happened, Riley couldn't stop crying."
"She didn't tell you?"
"She said you told her you love her and when she told you she didn't feel the same way, you got pissed. Now she's scared you'll never talk to her again."
"Maybe I won't."
He reaches over and shoves my shoulder. "What the fuck's wrong with you? You'd end years of friendship because she doesn't want to date you? Seriously?"
"I'm not ending the friendship. But right now, I don't want to be around her."
"Then take a day or two to cool off, but not more than that. It's not fair to her. She didn't do anything wrong. I'm sorry she turned you down, but you can't force someone to love you."
"You don't think I fucking know that?" I shake my head. "I'm going to my room. I don't feel like talking."
I storm down to my room and slam the door. I grab my laptop and start searching for jobs. Now that I know Riley doesn't want me, I want out of this town as fast as possible. Maybe I could even find something this summer. I'd rather stay and work at the pool, but not if means watching Riley date someone else.
"Nate?" my mom says, knocking on my door.
"I'm busy."
"I'll make it quick."
"What is it?"
She opens the door. "What's going on with you and Brad? It sounded like you two were fighting."
"We weren't fighting," I say, my eyes on my laptop.
"It sure seemed like it," she says, coming over to sit on my bed. "I heard raised voices."
"He was just annoying me. Telling me things I didn't want to hear."
"About Riley?"
My eyes flit to hers. "Who told you about Riley?"
"So this is about Riley. I was just guessing, knowing she's the only one who could make you this upset. What happened?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Nate, you know Riley will tell me if you don't."
"Fine." I close my laptop and look at her. "Riley doesn't love me."
Her brows furrow. "What do you mean? Of course she loves you. She tells you that all the time."
"As a friend. Nothing more."
"Oh." She looks down, biting her lip.
"You knew I loved her, right? As more than a friend?"
Her eyes lift to mine. "Actually, no. You've always said she's just a friend. And all through college you dated other girls."
"Yeah, but it's always been Riley. She's the one I wanted."
"Then why'd you wait so long to tell her?"
"I was afraid she might not feel the same way." I look down. "Turns out I was right."
"Oh, honey." She scoots closer to me and puts her hand on my arm. "This happened last night? You told her how you felt?"
"Yeah. I took her to dinner and told her after that."
"That's why you didn't want Brad going along."
"Yeah. It was supposed to be a romantic evening. Just the two of us."