Page 1 of A Necessary Nudge Out of the Friend Zone

CHAPTER1

Remi picked up the electric teakettle and poured hot water over the contents of the Swiss Miss packet that sat in the bottom of her Harry Potter mug. So what if it was July? Sometimes hot chocolate was needed, and this was definitely one of those times. She stirred the chocolate, the small white marshmallows swirling in the middle. They never added enough marshmallows. Why was that? Were they too expensive? Was there some global marshmallow shortage?

She sat down at her kitchen table and opened her scrapbook. Her super secret, super embarrassing crush book. Yes, she was twenty-five and far too old to have a crush book. Still, she couldn’t get rid of it. It was full of photos of Colton Drake, her childhood best friend. All the early pages were filled with photos from middle school and high school—pictures she’d snuck of Colton or selfies with him—and all the later pages were filled with Colton’s studio shots or movie poster images.

She hadn’t spoken to him in five years. Not since he was discovered and moved to LA to be a famous movie star. She pulled out the package of stickers of Colton she’d purchased from Amazon. Tonight she would add two more pages to her crush book and try to forget about the events of the day. The horrible, terrible, awful events.

A knock sounded on her door and her sister’s voice called through. Dang, she thought she might have some privacy, at least for a little while. Guess not. She closed the stickers into her book, ran to the living room and stuffed it under the seat cushion of the couch. No need to let Brooke see it. She’d get a lecture.

“Open the door,” Brooke called. She knocked again. Pounded, really. Sheesh. Panties in a wad, much?

“Just a second.” Remi padded across her floor in her bunny slippers, grabbed her mug, then went to the door and slid the chain lock.

Brooke burst in. “Remi? What are you doing?”

“Making cocoa. Want some?” She lifted her mug.

“No. It’s a million degrees out. What makes you think I want hot cocoa?” Brooke enveloped her in a hug. “Sweetie, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Remi said, backing away from her older sister. Brooke was everything Remi was not. Tall, fashionable, and suave. She could have been a runway model had they grown up in New York or Los Angeles instead of the middle of the Midwest. She turned every man’s head as she walked by. Some women just knew how to be beautiful. Remi didn’t get those genes.

“Fine? Aren’t we going to talk about what happened today?” Brooke looked at her with pity in her eyes.

Remi shrugged. “I changed my mind. That’s all.” She padded over to her overstuffed chair and plopped down.

“I know.” Brooke folded her arms. “Everyone in the chapel heard you yell it as you bolted down the aisle.”

“I didn’t yell. I announced.”

She frowned. “Don’t you think once you’re in your wedding dress and standing in front of the minister that it’s probably not a good time to change your mind?”

Remi stirred her chocolate. All the marshmallows were now melted foam on top. “It’s better than after the I do,” she mumbled.

Brooke’s gaze softened and she sat on the couch. “What happened?”

Remi’s gaze fell to the lump beside her sister that hid her crush book. “Nothing happened.”

“What do you mean? You were ready to marry Tavon yesterday. What changed?”

She lifted her mug to her lips, letting the hot liquid pass over her tongue. Brooke wouldn’t understand. Tavon was a nice guy. He was polite and punctual, he brushed his teeth three times a day, and he put money into a retirement fund each month. There was absolutely nothing wrong with Tavon except…he wasn’t Colton.

A large sigh came from Brooke. “Come on. Tell me.”

“I don’t love him.”

Brooke made a face. “You loved him yesterday.”

Ugh. Her sister was going to make her say it. Remi shook her head and stared down at her lap. “Not really.”

“What? Why would you say that? You dated him for two and a half years. You said yes when he asked you to marry him. What did you do all that for if you didn’t love him?”

Remi traced the outline of Hogwarts castle on her mug with her index finger. “I—I wanted to love him. I tried. But it never really took.”

“How can that be?”

“I don’t know. He just never gave me that feeling, you know. He was nice. But there were no sparks.”

“And you’re just saying somethingnow?” Brooke grunted and slapped the seat cushion. Her crush book made a crinkling noise and Remi cringed. Luckily, her sister didn’t notice.

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