Page 107 of Just My Type of wrong guy

Alexandra takes the cup and brings it to her lips, but I touch her hand, shaking my head.

“Not yet.”

“You’re going to tell me when I can drink my coffee?” she laughs, confused, an honest laugh, for the first time today.

“Just a few more minutes and I’ll let you drink, okay?” I wink at her and tap the tip of her nose with my finger, and Alexandra rolls her eyes at me.

For two seconds, it’s just the two of us again, and I place my hand at the base of her waist to guide her toward the elevator as soon as she looks away awkwardly.

On the sixty-ninth floor of this building is the most beautiful view of all of New York, and when the door opens, we’re greeted with a panoramic view of the city, tinted in orange and golden hues as the sun begins to set behind the skyscrapers.

Even though we’re not alone, the place isn’t crowded like it would be on the weekend, and Alexandra stares at me, then looks at the view, stunned, laughing and rubbing her eyes as though she can’t believe what she’s seeing.

“Wow, you outdid yourself, A.J. This thing doesn’t even need to be good.”

“It’s beautiful, right?”

I move closer, my eyes on her hypnotizing smile.

“I’ll run away from you more often if our reconciliation coffees are here,” she jokes, looking at me for the first time.

“So, are we reconciled?” I ask and continue before she answers: “Perfect, but we still need to go a little higher.”

I look for the escalator that will take us to the second floor.

As soon as we arrive, Alexandra doesn’t move. She looks around at the one hundred eighty degrees with a unique smile on her face. I’ve been sharing life with this girl for the last seven months, but I’ve never seen her smile so wide, so genuinely happy, and I thank the heavens that her desire to watch the sunset in a perfect place will be one of my few memories of that night.

“There are binoculars over there if you want…”

Alexandra doesn’t even let me finish. She hands me the cup and runs toward one with a nearly childlike smile on her face. In seconds, she calls me, saying I need to see it.

What she’s showing me is the huge buildings that block the view, but for some reason, she loves it.

“There’s another place I need to take you, but we need to talk first.”

“Another?” she asks with bright eyes, and I nod as soon as she takes her first sip of her hot chocolate. “Wow, much better than those bad cafés... A little cold, but I’ll blame the weather for that.”

“Thanks, I’d hate to be without my ride.”

“I’ll take you back, don’t worry,” she assures with a wink, and I touch my chest in relief. “And... do you want to talk about that night?”

I can’t identify the emotion in her voice, I don’t know if it’s anxiety or forced relaxation, but that doesn’t matter. The cold breeze hits us, and she shivers. Any other day, Alexandra would’ve leaned in. Any other day, I would’ve wrapped my arms around her. But today is different.

“No.” My answer surprises her. I shift my weight and slip my hands into my pockets before speaking again. “We’re not talking about that night because I don’t want to keep talking about that as if it were the only thing that matters.However, things are confusing, and this thing about you avoiding me...”

“I wasn’t avoiding you,” she interrupts me, taking a sip of her drink. “I was avoiding this conversation.”

“Why?”

“At this point, we don’t need to beat around the bush, do we?” Alex asks with a wary look, and I assure her we don’t. “To be honest, I don’t regret what happened between us at Guilherme’s, saying that would be a lie,” she begins, walking toward one of the wooden benches near the wall. “But if I could go back in time, I would have done things differently.” I raise an eyebrow as we sit down. “You’re my first friend after... everything, and this thing between us, this tension... I hated feeling that.” She says angrily then brings the paper cup to her lips without looking at me, but the chocolate’s already cold.

I know it tastes awful, and I also know she’s not looking at the horizon because of the sunset. I click my tongue and hold the cup, taking it from her hand.

“Give me that. No need to hide, not with me.” Alex nods, holding back a laugh. “When I met you, you were Guilherme’s hot friend, then the talented girl for my duet, and then someone I liked having around,” I enumerate the simple things, but her eyes meeting mine remind me she’s not just that. “In a way, almost as if it was written somewhere, you became my friend, and I let you see places no one else ever saw... Those days aparthurt me, not because of what happened between us, but because they made me feel like the coolest thing I built after Vicious wasweak.”

“You know that’s not true.” She gasps almost offended.

“That’s how I felt. You avoided me so much, Alexandra, that I didn’t see you for days, and we share a house.”

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