“Not well at all. Things were so good between us and I ruined it.”
“Did you really ruin it, Willow?” Before I can answer her, she goes on. “Think about it. What was there to ruin? You want a relationship, and he wants to be friends. Would you really be happy with just his friendship? You knew it was going to happen. It happened to Rhett and me. If one of the friends fall in love, it’s game over.”
A tear sneaks down my cheek as I squeeze the words out. “I know, but it didn’t stop me from hoping.”
“What are you going to do now?”
I dig a tissue out of my bag and wipe my cheeks while trying to hold the tears back.
“What can I do? The damage is done. I guess I’ll have to put some distance between Marcus and me like you did with Rhett.”
“You can always move here.”
I know that’s what Evie wants, but I need to be close to Marcus.
“I can’t leave my job now. It wouldn’t look good on my résumé.” I take a deep breath. “You need to get some rest. Call me on Monday to let me know how the interview went, okay?”
“I will,” she says, her voice growing raspy from all the talking. “You’re going to be okay. You learn to live with it. It won’t hurt so badly forever.”
“Thanks for listening, Evie,” I whisper as the tears threaten to overwhelm me.
“Talk to you soon.”
I drop the phone next to me on the couch and stare at the floor until my sight blurs.
I’ll give Marcus some space. Maybe things aren’t as bad as they look.
Chapter8
MARCUS
It’s Thursday, and I haven’t heard from Willow. Usually, we would message
each other a dozen times during the week.
I miss talking to her.
Jaxson walks into my office and takes one look at me, then shakes his head. He sits down and stares at me.
“Don’t start. Not today.”
He leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees.
“You’re an idiot.”
I glare at him, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s right.
“You’re throwing away a chance of a lifetime.”
“It’s not that simple,” I snap.
“Explain it to me then.” He leans back against the chair, waiting for me to go over it all for the hundredth time.
“Willow fell asleep at my place on Saturday. She spent the night. It fucked up the way things were between us.”
“How does Willow spending the night at your place, fuck things up?” He lets out a heavy breath. “Did you have sex?”
“No, we just slept in the same bed.”