“You should be,” I agreed easily. He was attractive, and he knew it. “But Nate, I don’t think this is working.”
“What is this exactly? Because I think our followers would disagree.”
“The business arrangement is working out great, but I don’t think I want more than that.”
He dropped the chair back down on all fours and leaned his elbows on the table. “Strictly business?”
“Yeah. I mean, I want to stay friends. I like hanging out with you and shooting videos. I think you’re right that our followers love when we collaborate. I just don’t feel anything…more than that.”
He squeezed my hand. “Hey, no problem. It’s not like we ever defined what we were doing. I always assumed this was casual for the both of us. It worked when it worked, and if it isn’t for you, we can keep it business.”
I blew out a sigh of relief. I hadn’t thought that Nate would be upset, but I hadn’t dated all that much, and the breakups that I’d gone through were not this chill. “Good. I wouldn’t want to hurt you.”
“Blaire, you don’t have to worry about me.”
“Friends?”
“Definitely friends.”
We chatted for another hour about our videos. He kept trying to get me to do the “I See the Real You” challenge, but I had no interest whatsoever. So, we brainstormed other videos we could do together. Figured out a way for one of us to travel to the other to do them. We’d done some stitch and duet videos, but they never performed as well as when we were in the same space. So, it was worth it to make the drive.
When we finished our brainstorming session, he kissed the top of my head and let me go. I felt lighter as I drove home. Nate King was going to get an amazing girl. But it wasn’t me.
Jennifer’s car, Cornelia, was parked in the driveway when I pulled in. Piper’s Jeep was gone. She must have still been at work or with Hollin.
“Honey, I’m home,” I called to Jennifer, who was slumped over her computer at the dining room table, clicking incessantly. She was the best photographer I knew, and she spent hours editing her images to her perfectionist specifications. I was worried, one day, she’d have carpal tunnel from all the micro-clicks.
“Hey!” She met my gaze over the top of her computer.
“Get any packing done?”
She gestured to the half-filled boxes. “A little. Julian wants to hire someone, but I think it’s a huge extravagance.”
“Aren’t you behind on editing though?”
Jennifer bit her lip. “I mean…yes. I feel like I always am.”
“How far behind will you get if you pack up all your stuff on your own?”
“I did it last time.”
“Last time, you weren’t dating a Wright.”
She huffed. “That doesn’t mean anything.”
“They’re Texas royalty, Jen,” I said with a laugh. “If your boyfriend wants to make your life easier, why not let him?”
“I don’t know. I was taught the value of hard work and…all that.”
I laughed and plopped into the chair next to her. “You work hard enough on your actual job.”
“Yeah. True.” She yawned and closed her laptop. “How did the shoot go with Nate?”
“Good.”
Jennifer waited. “And?”
I glanced down at my chipped manicure. “We broke up.”
“Oh, Blaire.”
“No, it’s not sad. I mean, technically, we weren’t even official. We’d never defined our relationship. But I decided that he wasn’t the one, and I didn’t want to settle. He was cool about it. We’re still going to work together.”
“Well, that’s…good. Very grown-up of you,” she said, but I wasn’t sure if it was a compliment. “Why the change of heart?”
“No change of heart really. I’d been trying to feel something and decided it wasn’t there.”
“And it has nothing to do with Campbell salivating over you this weekend?”
My eyes widened. “He was not!”
“I thought it was obvious,” Jennifer said with a small smile.
“Ugh,” I groaned. “Not you, too.”
“You don’t have to tell me anything you aren’t comfortable with, Blaire, but I have eyes. I see the way you two look at each other.”
I blew out a harsh breath. “We knew each other in high school. That’s why anything with Campbell is a big no.”
“If you say so.”
She grinned knowingly at me and then returned to her work.
I wished it were as easy as snapping my fingers and declaring all the stuff with Campbell in my past. That I could just say it didn’t matter and we could go on that date he’d asked me out on—very clearly not joking. But there was no magic wand to wipe away our history. There was no fairy dust to make the world reshape itself around us. And going on a date with Campbell would be like asking for my heart to be ripped out of my chest and shredded.
Nate might have been the safe choice. But Campbell was absolutely the most reckless decision I could make.