Page 10 of Win My Heart

I hear a giggle somewhere, and I look up to see them all looking at me again.

“Now, can we please talk about this crush you have?” Morgan asks, hope all over her lovely face.

“You can’t deny the bride,” Ruby singsongs just as a knock comes at the door. I suck in my breath, straighten in my seat. Could that be Wade?

Ruby peeks through the peephole, then opens the door. “Relax, it’s the food.”

For the moment, I’m off the hook with the girls. We’ll consume all the food, and with any luck, they’ll forget to ask me about my massive unrequited crush on one of my best friend’s older brother.

Who am I kidding? They’ve seen the bone. There’s no way they’re going to forget where it’s hidden. I’m not wrong. We haven’t jumped into dinner for even two minutes before I’m expected to share everything.

I tell them the truth, that I wasn’t hiding my crush per se. It was more that I just didn’t want to make a big deal out of something that would never happen. I met Wade during our first tournament, but I didn’t know he was Dex’s bother at the time. He was some hot guy I met in line for fried pickles. We hit it off and then continued to run into each other. It wasn’t until we met at the club where the team and I were celebrating our win that we realized the connection.

At first it was cool that we had that connection, but that feeling lasted all of about five minutes. He wasn’t interested in anything serious, and the age difference between us was too much for him. I want to roll my eyes at that. Four years between us isn’t crazy, but whatever. He laid it out for me all those years ago, then he friend-zoned me. And I can’t say that it doesn’t still sting a bit.

Over the years, my crush on Wade has been there, but it hasn’t controlled my life. We even became friends at some point. I’ve dated—a little—and had a boyfriend there for a while, while Wade’s dated pretty much all of Chicago, it seems. But it all worked out for the best, because he hasn’t been around much. My feelings for him always grow stronger when he’s around.

I just know that things are going to be more difficult this time. With him down the hall, how am I going to keep this crush under wraps?

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