Winning my Best Friend's Girl - Piper Rayne Page 0,42
have any feelings for me?”
Her fingers run the length of the wood and I’m about to warn her about getting a splinter, but part of me wants her to feel a morsel of the pain she’s inflicting on me.
She turns all the way around but remains sitting. Pulling up her knees, she hugs them to her chest. “King, you’ve been a great friend—”
“Fucking hell. Friend?” I roll my eyes.
“Well, if you’d let me finish instead of continuing to interrupt me.”
I snap my head back in her direction. “Just tell me. Put me out of my damn misery.” I’m already feeling as pathetic as they come right now.
“When I first came to Lake Starlight, I was envious of the friendship you and Owen had. You always had each other’s back. He was so protective of you because you’d just lost your parents. And it only grew over the years.” She shakes her head. “I never should’ve agreed to going to homecoming with Owen and I never should’ve dated him, because there was a part of me that wanted you. That wished it were you who’d asked me. I honestly thought Owen had cleared it with you. I thought I misunderstood your flirtation with me, because let’s face it, you can be flirty with a lot of girls. But then as I saw the friendship between you and Owen disintegrate and then you stopped talking to me… I’d always ask Owen what the reason was, and he said that friends part sometimes and shook off my concern.”
I keep my back to her, watching as the sky lights up in white, red, and blue, listening to the sizzle of them burning out as they fall to the water.
“I’ll always regret being the reason you and Owen aren’t friends anymore. And that I ruined your chance to play baseball in college. It’s all because of me and that will never change, King. No matter what happens between us, our past will always plague our future. Don’t you see that?”
I circle back around. “All I see when I look at you is love. My heart doesn’t hurt, it soars.”
“All I see when I look at you is regret. Regret that I let what happened, happen. If I never would’ve moved here, you and Owen would still be friends. You’d be playing baseball on a scholarship at college.”
“You can’t say that.” Owen and I are complicated. We’re competitive to a degree that’s borderline psychotic sometimes. If it wasn’t Stella we were competing for, it would have been something or someone else.
“I can because I’ve been in the middle of this tug-of-war for the past two years. I’m going to go to New York City tomorrow and I’m not sure when I’m gonna return. I hope you can make amends with Owen, but I really hope you find something you love to do with your life. I only want happiness for you.”
I break the distance and crouch to eye level with her. It’s like she doesn’t understand what I’m saying. “You are my happiness.”
Her deep brown eyes lock with mine. “You can’t put that on me right now.”
I stand and turn away from her again. There’s my answer. “Did you ever have feelings for me, or have I always been the fool?”
“I did… I do. I’d do almost anything to turn the clock back and say no to Owen when he asked me out. For us to handle this differently. But there’s no time machine and I cannot live with myself knowing I’ve ruined your friendship and your future. I have to go to New York City to save myself as well. We need the distance. You need to—”
“Don’t say it. If you say his name one more time, I’m gonna go ballistic.” I whip around. “I don’t give a shit about Owen.”
“Then give a shit about your own future. Find something you love, find your calling. Baseball isn’t it.”
She knows me so well. I love baseball, but not like Austin did. It was his pushing to get me to play in college that led me there. But I never dreamed of the majors, and I’ve known enough college athletes to know it’s a grueling schedule that I’m not sure I want. Still, there’s no denying that scholarship would’ve been a good head start in life.
“You have time. You have a loving family who will help you figure it out. I’ve only made your life miserable for the past two years.”