“Win, I’m tried,” I said instead of incriminating myself.
“Yeah, I bet. But imagine how I must feel?” he said, and I scowled.
“What do you mean?”
“See, my best friend, one of the best guys I know, hmm-ing and ha-ing for what has it been? A year? Almost two?”
“Win—“
“Tell me I’m imagining shit. That I’m way off base here, and I’ll drop it. This conversation never happened, and I will apologize for sticking my nose in your business.” I opened my mouth then shut it just as quickly.
I couldn’t lie to him.
“What gave me away?” I asked. There was no denying or fighting the way I felt about Blanca. I’d tried that the first couple of months after seeing her at the mall. I’d tried everything I could to convince myself what I felt, what I ‘d seen in her gaze, hadn’t been real.
“Well, first off, you forget that I was there when you first met her.”
“Who?” I dared, and his lips twitched.
“Noah’s ex.” I winced.
“Fuck,” I cursed under my breath. I dropped my head against the back of the leather desk chair’s headrest and pressed the palms of my hands against my eyes. “I forgot you were there,” I mumbled and heard him chuckle softly. I could still remember that day clearly. What she wore, how she looked at me. How I felt.
“I saw how you looked at her. Then I thought maybe I was wrong. Maybe she was just someone you thought was attractive.She was a cute girl. I wouldn’t have blamed you.” My hands dropped as I watched my best friend. “Then you told me how they broke up in front of you and didn’t say anything else. Not until later last summer. Then suddenly, you kept going to the movies.”
“So?”
“So?” He chuckled and shook his head, a knowing look in his eyes. “Man, I know you. You hate going to the movies. That’s why you set up a theatre room here.”
“Maybe—"
“Maybe she works there?” My silence probably confirmed his suspicion. “I’ve been with you to the movies, Nick. I’ve seen how you look around trying to be subtle while you watch out for her when you think I’m not paying attention. Not to mention the fact you had us change gyms.”
“I told you it’s closer—“ I stopped mid-sentence and stared at the guy in front of me.
Winston and I had known one another for years. Decades. He knew me better than probably anyone in the world. Because of that, I couldn’t keep lying. “She goes there,” I admitted, and he chuckled.
“I know that, too.” His lips twitched.
“I know, but I didn’t know you––“
“Noticed her? Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have. I mean, it was suspicious you would rather go to that run-down place than the state-of-the-art gym we went to before, but I did notice the way you almost dropped a free weight last month when you saw some trainer talking to her.”
“He was too fucking close,” I growled. Every damn day that slipped by was one more chance for some asshole to slip in and take what was mine. I wasn’t stupid. I knew how idiotic I was for jeopardizing my future with her. But I was older, a lot older than her. Jesus, I was old enough to be her dad, not to mention myson had dated her. After that day in the mall, I had talked myself into waiting. Giving her time to grow and do things on her own. Because I knew if I stepped in, I wouldn’t let her go.Ever.
“So, why don’t you talk to her? Ask her out?” I blinked, quickly realizing he had definitely been watching me a lot closer than I could have ever realized.
“She’s young,” I reminded him. But by the look he gave me, it didn’t seem to matter to him.
“And?” he challenged like I knew he would. Winston was the kind of man who went after what he wanted. Always. No matter what. It’s how he was seeing Allie. Or I thought they were seeing each other. Though, now that I thought about it, for how close they had been the last six months, it surprised me she hadn’t shown up to Thanksgiving. I studied him more closely and noticed the dark circles under his eyes. “And?” he repeated, and I shook my head and sighed.
“Win, she dated Noah.” The argument was flimsy at best. They had only dated for a couple of months at the end of their senior year. Noah had had his share of girlfriends since.
“I don’t know, man.” He shook his head, and that was when I spotted it. A sadness in his gaze. “I mean, look, I get it. I get the situation isn’t the best but…” His voice drifted to nothing. His eyes dropped to the top of my desk, and I felt my brows bunch together while I watched my best friend. He was definitely going through something. And I was a shit friend for not having noticed.
He almost seemed torn.Troubled.
“What?”