Page 29 of Betting on her Best Friend
“Does that mean you do want to go to the ball?” she asked.
A smile split his lips, and he shook his head. “No. I don’t.”
“Oh.”
“And I don’t want you to go either.”
“But—”
“There’s a limo waiting for us downstairs. I have a whole evening of romance planned.”
Well, he’d managed to surprise her, that was for sure. Even with limited access to her expressions, the disappearance of her eyelashes behind the mask told him her eyes had widened a fair amount. That and the way her jaw slackened were pretty good indicators of the surprise factor.
“Come on, Aly-gator…let’s go on a proper date. I might not be able to take you to the real Paris yet, but I thought the restaurant in the Eiffel Tower here would be a good start.”
“Dylan, I…” She took a step back. “I don’t know what to say. I mean, I know that you’re here to try and make my weekend a success and all that, but this isn’t necessary.”
“I didn’t plan all this because I’m trying to make sure you have a good time, Aly.”
“Then why did you plan it?”
“Because I want to take you out. Not as friends, or even as friends with benefits. But as a guy taking his girl out to a nice dinner and a show. If you were looking forward to dancing tonight, I’m sure we can find time to fit it in.” He gave her a lopsided grin and closed the distance between them, placing his hands on her hips. “Just remember that the only dancing I know how to do is the slow kind where you sway back and forth and turn in a circle, so I hope you’re not expecting a night with John Travolta.”
Alyssa frowned and stepped out of his arms again. Not the reaction he’d been hoping for. He’d been replaying different scenarios for how the night could go, over and over in his mind. This part was supposed to be easy.
Step One: Make romantic plans to surprise the woman you love.
Step Two: Sweep woman you love off her feet by revealing said romantic plans.
Step Three: Enjoy watching woman you love blush and smile at various romantic gestures throughout the night.
Any second-guessing he expected her to have wasn’t supposed to be until much later in the evening, but apparently, he’d miscalculated something along the way.
“Aly, what’s wrong?”
“I don’t understand. You came here offering a no-strings weekend fling, and despite my better judgment, I went along with it.” Holding herself around the middle, she added, “Now suddenly you want to change the rules, and what, date me?” Cue humorless laugh. “The last thing I want right now is to date—”
She clamped her lips shut, obviously catching herself before she finished her sentence. But it wasn’t hard to figure out. “Me, right? The last thing you want to do is date me.” She didn’t say anything, which said plenty. Indignation mixed with his already frayed nerves. Not a good combination. “That’s a pretty bold statement considering the last twenty-four hours, don’t you think?”
“Not at all. Why would I think that when my best friend has done nothing but shove that line of thinking down my throat? Just because two people enjoy each other in the bedroom doesn’t mean it has to be—or should be—anything more than that.”
“Point taken.” The muscles in his jaw ticked in aggravation. “That how you really feel?”
No longer needing her own embrace, Alyssa switched to crossing her arms over her chest. Seemed indignation was contagious. “Don’t patronize me, Dylan. You and I both know feelings have nothing to do with this.”
“Actually, feelings—both yours and mine—were the driving force behind this, but you wouldn’t know that because you’re focusing on the wrong damn thing.”
“I disagree,” she said with a shake of her head. Then something in her eyes changed and dread crept into his gut. “Getting physically involved with you was a mistake.”
Dylan froze. Somehow this had gone from bad to the beginning of Armageddon. Taking a deep breath, he held his hands up as though he could physically stave off the end he felt bearing down on him. “Okay, let’s calm down. This is spiraling and we’re starting to say things we don’t mean.”
“But I do mean it. For as long as we’ve been friends, you’ve never once even hinted at having romantic feelings for me. Then we start having sex and in less than twenty-four hours you’re suddenly interested? So I’m supposed to fall at your feet like all the other women and dread the day when you inevitably tell me you’re getting antsy?”
“Getting ant— Aly, what the fuck are you talking about?”
“That’s what you say every time you break up with a girl. You don’t even realize you do it, but I’ve heard you say it more times than I can count. Kind of like you wrote on my note this afternoon. Despite what you’re telling me, Dylan, your subconscious was already preparing to end things.”
Fucking brilliant. A phrase he hadn’t thought twice about was ruining his chance with Alyssa before he even got started. “You’ve got it all wrong. It was just a fluke that I used that in your note. It meant nothing.”
