Page 46 of My Fake Date With My Childhood Friend
“A rule?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said. He moved forward slightly. “I want to kiss you.”
I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. Oh my gosh! Did he just say he liked me? Like, for real? Maybe I misheard him or this was a trick of some sort. Was he pranking me? I wanted to laugh it off and pretend this didn’t happen — but what if it was real? What if Alexander Rigby liked me, for real this time?
“What?” I asked because I had no idea what else to say. My voice was shaky. “But... we can't.”
“We can't?”
“Like you said,” I murmured. “The rules...”
“Rules were made to be broken,” he said with a grin. He leaned forward again. And I wanted him to. I so wanted him to lean in and kiss me like I'd been waiting for. But as he came closer, I stopped seeing him — I started seeing Joseph and everything he'd done to me. The way that Joseph kissed me and told me he loved me, then turned around and kissed my best friend. I couldn't let another boy hurt me again.
“Alexander,” I said, pushing him away. “I'm sorry, but this can't happen.”
Alexander's face fell. “I understand,” he said softly. “Maybe... someday?”
“Maybe,” I said miserably.
We sat in silence for a minute before Alexander stood up and started walking to the door. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes, but I refused to give in to them. I was too angry and frustrated to cry.
“Alexander,” I said. I stood up as well. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...”
He shook his head. “No, you don't need to apologize for anything,” he said. “It was my fault. I shouldn't have suggested it.”
“It's not that you shouldn't have suggested it,” I said pathetically. “It’s nothing about you. It’s…”
“Joseph,” he finished for me.
“Yes,” I whispered.
Alexander nodded. “Of course.”
“I really am sorry. There’s just so much history there that I can’t forget, just like that.”
“I get it,” Alexander said. “He was your first love. Not easy to forget.”
“Maybe one day it will be different,” I said.
“Yeah,” Alexander said. He let out a deep sigh and shook his head. “I’m sorry if I misread the signals. I really like you, Penny. I’ve been so nervous to tell you, but you’re all I think about these days, and I miss you so much whenever you’re gone. And I really thought you felt the same way.”
“Listen, Alexander,” I said nervously. How did I go about explaining this? How did I tell him that I liked him too, that he was all I wanted, but I’d sworn off boys for a good reason?
The doorbell rang loudly, interrupting me. He groans. We both turn our attention toward the door. I had no idea who that would be. If it was my parents coming home, they would have just let themselves in, but I didn’t know who else would want to come by.
“I’m sorry,” I said to Alexander. I backed out of the room toward the door. “I’ll be right back, okay? I just need one second.”
I ran over to the door and threw it open, ready to tell whoever was there to go away because I didn’t have time to talk right now. But to my surprise, it was Joseph. He was standing on my porch, holding an umbrella in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other, with a smirk on his face.
“Joseph?” I wanted to snap at him to leave right now, but the words didn’t come out. What was he doing here? I didn’t want Alexander to get the wrong idea or anything. I never expected that Joseph would show up like this.
“I broke up with her,” he said. “I broke up with her for you.”
Woah. Joseph breaking up with Nikki was definitely not on my bingo list. I couldn’t believe he actually did that. I thought he had been bluffing all along, but he actually did it. I was shocked.
eighteen
“Joseph, why are you talking about?”I snapped.
