Page 12 of Just Bromantically Invested

“Right …”

“Areyouokay?”

“Of course. I’m … sometimes it’s like … look, maybe I’m reading into things too much here, but there’s tension. Between us. Or something. Maybe it’s all in my head.”

I sigh because of course Madden has picked up on my weirdness. “It’s not …” I trail off, not sure how much to tell him or even what to say.I’m jealous of your roommatesmakes me sound like a fucking head case, and truthfully, I don’t even know if it’s that. I love that he has a new family for support where his doesn’t give him that. I guess I’m struggling to see where I fit into it. “Sometimes I think I’m lonely.”

“Lonely?” He sits up to look at me. “But you’ve got me.”

I smile gently and pause the movie. “Don’t you think I should have, you know, more than you?”

“What … like a girlfriend?”

“Maybe. Or other friends.”

He frowns and looks away, thumb absently rubbing his sternum. “Yeah. I guess you probably should.”

A long silence stretches out while I try to come up with something to say. Something that isn’t stupid likeif you spent all your time with me, it wouldn’t be a problem.Instead, I try for the less creepily possessive route. “You can’t spend every day with me, that’s all I’m saying. You’re my best friend, you’ll always be my best friend, but I need more than that. I can’t keep sitting around at home all the time, wondering if we’ll get to hang out today.”

“But you have loads of friends.”

“I have none. Literally none.”

“Your work friends. And our college buddies. And the Bertha boys.”

“The Bertha guys areyourfriends.” I try to keep the tone out of my voice. “Work is work, and our college friends live … well, so many other places that aren’t here. I have hookups, which is great, and I chat with my family on the phone, but a guy can’t have one real-life friend to rely on. It’s not fair on you.”

Madden swallows, staring at my carpet. “Sort of sounds like you want a girlfriend to me.”

I shrug because I still don’t know where I’ve landed on that. “Maybe. That could work, or it might not. I haven’t given it a lot of thought beyond the lonely thing.”

Madden reaches for my hand and gives it a squeeze. “You know I want you to be happy, right? Like I’ll do anything to make that happen.”

“Of course you do. I feel exactly the same.”

His blue eyes lift and meet mine. “Then I’ll help you.”

“Help me?”

He nods quickly. “Yeah. Girlfriend, friend, whatever.” An idea hits him. “We can start with Lana. You said she was pretty. You guys are already meeting up …”

I don’t think I said that at all, and IknowI don’t like where this is going.

“Oh, hey! I can teach you yoga. Come over to the house early, and we can do it together. Two birds, one stone. We get to hang out, and you’ll have something in common to talk about.”

That suggestion immediately has my interest. More time with Madden? Not like I can say no to that. Whether it helps me with Lana or not doesn’t matter. But … well, I just questioned how the hell we spend more time together, and I think I might have found the solution.

“What time do I need to be there?”

Chapter 5

Madden

I end up crashing on Penn’s couch, and when I drag him out of bed at ass crack o’clock, he grumbles about sleep and mean best friends and needing coffee.

“Coffee can wait,” I say. “You’re getting it with Lana later.” And props to me because I manage to get all of that out without bitterness creeping into my voice.

Because fuck Lana. Okay, no, don’t fuck Lana. I don’t want any fucking to take place. With her, that is. With me, that’s the greenest of green lights, but at the end of the day, I know that can’t happen. I know Penn and her possibly could. Plus, she’s the type of assertive woman who’ll knock on a stranger’s door to make friends, so I grudgingly admire her for that.

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