Page 67 of The Friend Zone

I turn on my heels, but then I look at my ex-boyfriend still being held back by Luca over my shoulder.

My sister’s fiancé nods. “Don’t worry about a thing, Bay. I was about to take care of the trash.”

With that settled, I look at Cole.

“Follow me. You too please.” I say to Ryker.

As I head up the majestic staircase that leads to the upper floor of the mansion, I catch a pair of golden eyes track my movements.

Jagger’s gaze causes my heart to clench painfully in my chest. The strange mix of happiness and sadness almost making my step falter.

I know I need to tell him how I feel about his behavior. But this isn’t the time nor the place.

I usher the guys into one of Lakyn’s guest bedrooms.

This huge, luxurious room would put any five star hotel to shame. However the white and pastel draperies in every shade of blue and the wrought iron California king sized bed with a sea foam blue comforter aren’t what’s important right now.

I turn to look at Cole and Ryker once I’ve closed the door behind me.

They’re both so tall and perfect, even though they couldn’t look more different from one another.

Cole with his golden blond hair and dark blue eyes looks like the real life version of Captain America.

Ryker is the perfect example of dark and handsome with his dark brown hair and his mesmerizing ice blue eyes. If I had to compare him to a super hero, I would have to go with Batman.

I realize that while I’m standing here, ogling them and imagining them in skintight body armor, they’re staring at me and waiting for my next move.

My eyes meet Cole’s midnight blue gaze.

I’ve waited for this moment for a long time and now that it’s here, I’m afraid of what could happen. What if we really are too late? What if love is not enough?

There’s only one way to find out.

“I love you too, Cole.”

He doesn’t move a muscle, but his eyes darken as they search my face. “Like a friend?”

What the fuck is he talking about? I realize that he might think that I brought him up here to let him down gently. To help him save face as I turn him down.

I shake my head. “No. I mean yes, but?—”

He closes the distance between us and if I thought our first kiss was perfect, our second kiss is even better.

A moan of protest escapes me when he ends it too soon.

“Fuck,” Cole chuckles, his breathing as labored as mine, our foreheads touching. “Usually when someone says ‘we need to talk,’ it’s never good news. I thought you brought me here to tell me that you didn’t feel the same way about me.”

I nip at his bottom lip as my fingers trace the line of his perfect jaw. “How could you think that? Was I the only one who felt that kiss in every cell of my body?”

The corner of his lips quirk up in his typical barely there smile. “Oh believe me, baby. I felt that kiss everywhere too. Some cells of my body actually got very noticeably happy.”

Cole punctuates that statement by pushing me closer to his strong body.

“Oh yeah,” my voice comes out breathless. He’s rock hard in his jeans. “That feels definitely happy. I just didn’t want to say I love you for the first time in front of an audience.”

The noise of a throat being cleared makes me look at Ryker, who’s watching us with his arms crossed over his chest and a hard to read expression on his perfect face. “Don’t mind me, then.”

Shit.

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