Page 47 of Win My Heart

And my girl just beams at him. “Oh, I know. I follow them.”

Easton chuckles. “Right on.”

I don’t know why, but five minutes ago, I really liked this dude. Seemed like a real nice guy,

Brynn reaches out and touches Bernadette’s arm. “Bernie, did you see the UnNatural fan baskets in the silent auction?”

Bernadette gasps. “No, I haven’t had a chance to look through all the items.”

“Come on, let’s go check them out before the first performance starts.” That’s when Brynn grabs Bernadette’s hand and hauls her off to the prizes. She gives me the biggest grin as she drops my hand and tells me she’ll find me later.

Watching them go, a mix of pride and sadness fill me. She’s so kind and likable. It’s easy to see how she makes friends wherever she goes, but also, she’s my date tonight, and I was looking forward to spending the night with her. With an unexpected friend in attendance who she hasn’t seen in a while, I fear our time tonight is limited.

“Phew. Man, you’ve got it bad,” Easton says.

I had forgotten he was still standing next to me. I bristle at his comment.

He snickers. “Don’t tell me you’re in denial.”

I square my shoulders and turn toward him. “What are you talking about?”

He nods in the direction the girls went. “Bernie. Are you two a thing, or just friends?”

I don’t care for the challenge in his tone, but it’s a good question, one I truly don’t know the answer to. I scratch my jaw, the pads of my fingers scraping against the stubble. Easton lets out a guffaw that startles a couple walking by us.

He leans back on his heels. “Ah. Complicated answer. I know that look well.”

Eyeing him, I say, “What do you know about it?”

His answering grin reminds me eerily of Link. “I know that when your girl hugged me, you wanted to punch me in the face. I also know by the way you look at her and the way she looks at you, there’s fire between the two of you.” He trails off and I don’t respond right away, which has him asking his question again.

“So what is it? You together or still just friends?”

“Friends. We’re friends. I think we both want more, but we’ve got some roadblocks.” It all just pours out, and I realize I’ve been given the opportunity to confide in someone. Even though I don’t even know Easton, there is something about him that I read from his person when we first met. In another life, we could be friends.

He nods grimly. “Look, I said I knew the look well, and I meant that. I know a thing or two about falling for your best friend. Brynn and me, well, it took us a hot minute to figure our shit out. It’s a rough road, changing lanes into something more. But fuck if it isn’t worth it.”

His advice hits me hard. Is Bernadette my best friend? I want to tell her everything. She’s the first person I want to share news with. We haven’t been working on our friendship for long, but shit, I want to know everything about her, even more so than that, I want all her time.

I just grunt in reply, deep in my own thoughts. He claps a hand over my shoulder. I know after his advice, he’s not laughing at me, but more at the situation I’m in.

“I wish you the best of luck, my guy. Figure out whatever’s getting in the way of you two moving forward and remove the issue.” He pats my shoulder in support. “I don’t know as well as you do, but Bernie is a great girl. I suspect she’s the kind of girl you won’t want to get away. It will gut you to see her with another man. That I promise you.”

I nod because he isn’t wrong.

He drops his hand. “Well, that’s enough of that.”

I chuckle. “Does this mean we’re BFFs?”

“One hundred percent.”

The MC for the night announces that the first mini concert will start in fifteen minutes. I check my watch to confirm that time is speeding by.

“That’s my cue to find my lady,” Easton says. “If she isn’t fed regularly, she gets hangry. You don’t happen to know if there are chicken nuggets at the buffet table, do you?”

I try to think back to the menu for a fun snack-food type of buffet that was finalized weeks ago. “Maybe not nuggets, but strips are more likely. Your girl has some sophisticated tastes, eh?” My teasing is accepted when he grins.

“Nuggets and BBQ sauce win her heart every time.”

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