Page 93 of Sit, Stay, Love
‘I panicked and kicked him in the balls.’
Her friend rocked back in her chair and howled with laughter, one hand resting on her baby bump, while her high blonde ponytail bounced from side to side. ‘Poor Toby,’ she wheezed.
‘I know. I felt terrible. I bolted to the bathroom, slammed the door and almost died from embarrassment.’
‘Did you talk about it afterward?’
‘God, no. We changed movies. WatchedDie Hardthree. He stayed in the spare room and in the morning, he was already gone. He apologised for being weird, as he put it. I think he wanted to talk about it. But I didn’t.’ She shook her head vigorously. ‘But ever since then, it’s like a switch has flipped between us and I can’t seem to turn it back off.’
‘Well, duh. You had a sexy moment on the couch.’
Sera tucked her hair behind her ear. ‘We did, didn’t we? I’ve been trying to pretend we didn’t. But we did.’ Her shoulders lifted and dropped with a sigh. ‘And then the other night, after the premiere debacle, I went to him.’
‘That makes sense. He’s your best friend.’
‘Yeah, but when I was in his arms and he was holding my hand, it seemed so… right.’ She bit her lip. ‘And I found myself wondering what would happen…’
‘If you were more than friends?’
Sera nodded.
‘Surely that’s not the first time that’s crossed your mind?’
She hesitated. ‘I guess not. In the early days of our friendship, I sometimes wondered if we’d ever go there. But we got into a groove, and the groove worked. I like our groove. But lately, I feel like I’m always checking him out. It’s like he’s suddenly, magically got hotter. I mean, he was always hot, I’ve always thought that, but now he’s…’ She trailed off, fanning her face. ‘And he keeps looking at me weird, and I keep blushing. There’s this vibe between us. I don’t know what’s going on. It’s super distracting.’
‘And this has all started after you began dating Ethan?’
‘I’m not sure if we’re dating. We might be dating. We’re certainly kissing.’
‘Have you kissed Toby?’
Sera blanched. ‘God, no.’
‘Never? Not even when you were drunk?’
Sera shook her head. She rested her cheeks on her fists and leaned on the table. ‘I’m probably confused, right? I haven’t been hot for anyone for ages. My feelings are just getting all muddled up. Right?’
Linda raised an eyebrow, picked up her fork and jabbed at her salad. ‘Going back to your earlier question. I don’t know that you can be in love with two people at once. I’ve only ever loved Tom. I guess you could love one person and still lust after another. But love two people at the same time? I meanlovelove?’ She shrugged.
Sera prodded the wilted spinach leaves on her plate. ‘That’s what I thought.’
‘What are you going to do?’
‘I’m going to go to Ethan’s and try to get him to make friends with a dog that seems intent on killing him. A tiny white fluffy thing.’ She laughed. ‘And if I know us, we’ll end up kissing.’
‘And Toby?’
Sera drew in an uneven breath. ‘I can’t risk screwing up what I have with Toby. He’s my rock. I don’t know what I’d do without him.’
‘Because he takes care of your animals for free?’
She shook her head. ‘He’d keep doing that even if something happened between us. He’s that level of amazing. But nothing’s going to happen. I can’t let it. Iwon’t. I love how we are together, how we work as friends.’
‘So, you date Ethan and Toby stays in the friend zone?’
Sera forced a smile. ‘Mm-hm.’
Because their friendship was perfect and it was all she wanted. Wasn’t it?
