Page 15 of We're Just Friends
So, not single.
After pouring myself a whiskey on the rocks, I wandered around the downstairs. That didn't mean we couldn't be friends, even though secretly I wanted it to be much more than friends.
I made my way over to one of the couches, turned on the television, and threw my feet up on the ottoman. I stared at the news but wasn't listening. My mind had already started to come up with a plan on when and how to ask her out…
As friends.
I was trying really hard to convince myself that “just friends” was what I was going for.
5
Julianna
The sound of Jake’s voice after all those years was a considerable shock and, quite frankly, threw my whole day out of sync. I tried to act unconcerned at work the next morning, but I couldn’t help but wonder if Jake actually believed what I had said.
That I was happily married.
After talking with a few potential buyers over the phone, I snuck into the bathroom and locked the door. I leaned up against the wall and let out a huge breath, trying to relive the past 24 hours. I just couldn’t believe that Jake called after all those years. More importantly, that I had lied to him about my relationship status. Dating someone would really stick it to my soon-to-be ex-husband.
If Jake had been a different kind of man, then maybe I would have been honest.
He’s a playboy, Julianna. Let it go.
I splashed water on my face and stared at my reflection. Jake wasn’t that way in high school, but he sure had become the most eligible/not-eligible bachelor gazillionaire since then.
It was impossible not to know about the personal life of Jake Truman, the blue-eyed billionaire of San Diego. He was constantly in the media promoting his business and flaunting his wealth, and he almost always had a woman, or two, on his arm.
I couldn’t help but reminisce about our past friendship, though. Billionaire playboy or not, Jake was the reason the popular girls in high school stopped bullying me.
Not only did he get the girls to stop the harassment, but the two of us became best friends.
Like so many other friendships, all of it fell apart when we went off to college. Of course, Jake decided on an Ivy League school. His father had always been such a disciplinarian. There was no way he’d have let his son go to anything less.
I sat at my desk and thought back to the first time I really developed feelings beyond friendship for Jake. It was about a month before we were set to go to college. There was just something about the way he looked at me as we sat in the diner, the same one he stood up for me in later on. It was the kind of look that sent butterflies exploding into my stomach.
I took a deep breath and dried my hands, knowing I had to stop thinking about him. It wasn't going to do me any good. I walked back out into the gallery, catching a glimpse of Annie coming through the doors.
“Hey girl,” I said to her as she made her way to me.
My sister leaned over the front desk. “How’s work going?”
I shrugged. "Meh. Boring. So, what are you up to?"
“Not too much," she sighed, obviously bored. "Beautiful day outside. It sucks that you have to work.”
I shook my head while pulling out my cell phone, scrolling through my call history, and staring at Jake’s number. “Guess who called me last night?”
I held the phone up to Annie’s face, showing his picture above his name and number. I had immediately saved his information into my phone after our call the night before.
“Are you kidding me,” she said so loud that her voice echoed through the gallery. “I can’t believe he still has your number!”
Her comment kind of hurt my feelings, but I know she didn’t mean to. It was no surprise that Jake was a playboy.
“I know,” I said, pulling up the internet on my phone.
She lifted a brow. “What did he want?”
I kept my eyes on the screen. "He's in town and wanted to meet up for drinks."
