Page 107 of Friend Me

The pain in his eyes killed me. “No, it’s not like that. We were just dancing.”

He tapped his fingers on his thigh, but the rest of him was still.

“Jackson made us. Cooper doesn’t mean anything to me. I only—”

But Tyler strode away from me, back toward the music and people. I launched myself toward him, tottering in my stilettos, until I could grab his sleeve. I latched on and dug my heels into the deck, pulling him to a stop.

“I don’t want him. I want you.” There. I’d said it at last. But he was an obelisk, all dark, cold stone, frozen in front of me.

“The way you wanted me after the wedding? As a consolation prize when you can’t get your first choice? I deserve more than that.”

Even in the moonlight, his pain was clear in the lines around his eyes, in the tense set of his mouth. What could I do to smooth away that pain? I reached a hand toward his cheek.

He pulled away and stormed toward the party again. I sprinted as fast as my heels would let me—Tyler and his damned long legs—until I caught him and planted myself in front of him.

“I agree. You deserve…you deserve everything. There’s no question about who’s first for me. There’s only you. I loveyou,Tyler. Only you.”

NowI’d done it: I’d laid it all on the table. If this were a romantic comedy, he’d take me into his arms and tell me he loved me, too, just before he kissed me.

“You love me?” His face was blank, not a dimple in sight.

“I do.” I swayed toward him, ready for our kiss.

Tyler stood still long enough for what I’d said to settle between us, to drift to the deck and soak into the wood like so much spilled beer. His glasses reflected the party lights, opaque.

“I need a minute,” he said.

“A-a minute?” To do what?

He lifted a hand, but instead of tucking a piece of hair behind my ear or stroking my cheek, he brushed my hand from his jacket sleeve and smoothed the fabric. Then he stepped around me and marched through the door into the light and noise of the party.

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