Page 86 of The Friend Zone

This thrust me deeper into my dark place. As ridiculous as it sounded, it also rang true. Even Celeste had kept a few of my hoodies at the end and she fucking hated me.

Sometimes I worried Shawn was some sort of idiot relationship savant. Too much of what he said had a convoluted wisdom to it.

This terrified me.

Still, there was one thing. “If she’s not into me, why did she check up on me through Brandon?”

This was weird. The whole time I was gone, she wouldn’t return any of my calls or texts. But then, on day eight of clearing brush, I’d gotten moved to a different firebreak than Brandon. When he got off shift, he told Sloan he didn’t know where I was, and within seconds of Brandon hanging up with Sloan, Kristen started blowing up my phone. It was the only time I’d talked to her. She’d sounded almost desperate to know I was okay.

Of course as soon as she realized I was alive and not burned to death, she hung up with me. But that’s when I realized she’d been using Sloan’s updates to keep tabs on me. Why? Why not just answer one of the many calls I made?

Shawn snorted. “Congratulations, motherfucker. She cares if you die.”

I glared at him. But it wasn’t just that. I caught her looking at me sometimes. Or when we were in bed, she would kiss me when she thought I was sleeping. Even at karaoke night, she was hugging me but she made a lame excuse about it. It’s like she didn’t want me to know she gave a shit. Like she’s pretending.

Shawn jabbed his cigar at me. “This is what you get for being a thirst responder.”

“A what?” I said moodily.

“A thirst responder,” Shawn said, leaning his back against the rail and crossing his legs at the ankles. “A thirsty motherfucker who hits on a bitch the second she’s single.”

Brandon chuckled.

I scowled at Shawn and then turned to Brandon. “Has Sloan said anything about it? Anything about Tyler? Or dating other people?”

Brandon shook his head. “No. Do you want me to ask her?”

“No.” I wanted to know, but I didn’t want Kristen to think I’d sent Brandon to sniff around. And Sloan would know if he was sniffing.

I dragged a hand down my face. I’d go right back to work at the fire station when I got back from Vegas, so that would be two more days. And then what? I’d come over and she’d ignore me in person? What the hell happened? I mean, I knew Tyler showing up had fucked with her, but I didn’t see what that had to do with me.

I fucking missed her. I couldn’t understand how she didn’t miss me back. Even on a friendship level, she should miss me. We hung out every minute that I wasn’t at the fire station. We were close. Could she really care this little?

“I just haven’t seen her in a while,” I mumbled, as if that explained it all.

“Good,” Shawn said, grinning at the asses of a group of women walking past in short skirts and high heels. “Let her miss that shit. What up, ladies? Want to help a couple of firemen celebrate a bachelor party?”

They giggled and smiled at us but kept walking.

Brandon pulled a cigar from his pocket. “It’s not the worst advice,” he said, lighting a match and puffing on the end of his cigar until it lit. “Try to have a good time. Focus on something else.”

Music erupted around us, and the fountains burst into life. An instrumental of “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head.” Water shot a hundred feet in the air and danced in time with the song, sending a cool mist over us.

It was a vibrant high-energy contrast to my shitty mood.

Brandon and Shawn leaned on the rail and watched the show, and I looked at my phone again.

Nothing.

I stared grouchily out over the congested strip at the black limos and taxis with their light boxes advertising shows I didn’t want to see and steak houses where I didn’t want to eat. What I wanted was to go home and see Kristen.

The ball was in her court.

It had always been in her court. This was her game.

Maybe she really didn’t have feelings for me. She’d said that one night at the karaoke bar that she’d had a crush on me, and that was the last bone she ever threw me. Hell, it was the only bone she ever threw me. And I’d been gnawing on it ever since. At the time, I’d even been a little hopeful that maybe, if she gave Tyler the boot, it was the start of something more between us.

Every time I thought I was getting closer to more, it was ripped away from me.