Page 89 of The Girlfriend Zone

“So proud of you,” Fable adds as I spoon the last dregs of my milkshake.

But Maeve holds my gaze. “And how’s it working with the Fucking Falcon?”

I nearly spit out my drink. She’s called him that before—after learning about our day together. But it’s been a while.

“Yes,” Josie says, her eyes gleaming with curiosity. “Are you stealing moments in the stairwell? Nipping off to the equipment room? Making doe eyes across the ice?”

“No,” I say pointedly. But there have been close calls.

Maeve snaps her fingers. “Dammit. I wanted some good tea.”

“I wanted tea and solidarity,” Everly adds with a pout. “Max and I did all those things before we were officially together.”

“We know,” Fable teases her, then turns to me. “I’m impressed with your restraint.”

I wish restraint wasn’t my strong suit. Sometimes, I wish it were easier to throw caution to the wind. But Miles has worked too hard to take this kind of chance. I’ve worked too hard as well. My dad’s not an unreasonable man, but at the same time, thisthingwith Miles is too uncertain. It’s not something I want to bring up to my father, so really, thisthingis best left in the friend zone. “We’ve mostly behaved. Though, not to sound full of myself, I think if it were up to him, we’d have broken all the rules.”

Maeve’s eyes widen. “So he has it bad for you?”

I shrug. “I think so. He’s pretty upfront about it.” My chest flutters from memories of his intensity—saying he can’t stop thinking about me, that I’m the only one. It’s heady to be the object of his longing, but risky too.

“Sometimes, I feel like I have to be the one who remembers what’s at stake. Like he’d be willing to throw caution to the wind, even though he has a lot on the line too.”

Everly sighs knowingly. “He’s in the fuck-it stage, isn’t he? I’ve seen how he looks at you during photo shoots.”

I can’t resist asking, “How does he look at me?”

“Like he can’t help himself,” she says, smiling.

I fight a grin, fizzy inside. I like that his feelings are obvious to her, even if they can’t go anywhere. “Nothingcan happen, though,” I say heavily. A wicked smile creeps in. “But is it terrible that I love that it’s obvious?”

They laugh, shaking their heads.

“I just hope it’s not obvious to my father,” I say, wincing.

Everly shakes her head. “Men don’t usually pick up on that stuff.”

We lift our glasses in a toast to that truth.

As the clock ticks to ten, I wish I could slow time. I don’t want to go home to my roomies, especially since this night has been exactly what I needed.

All good things must end though.

After we say goodnight, I head home, terribly hopeful that my roomies will be asleep when I crack open the door.

A girl can dream after all.

But the universe gives, and the universe taketh away. When I unlock the apartment with a quiet snick, I step right into the alligator pit. The two of them are perched on the living room couch, facing each other, with Indigo’s hands folded into a prayer.

“I do understand that because you have a penis, you pee standing up and you lift the lid. But when you don’t put the lid down, I inherently feel like I’m being punished for having a vagina.”

I would like her to be punished for having vocal cords.

Keeping my head down, I smile blandly, and point to my ears, signaling that I’m listening to something. But Indigo pops up, grabbing my arm before I can reach my room.

“What’s going on?” I ask innocently.

Indigo turns to her guy. “Please ask Leighton if your behavior is okay.”

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