Page 43 of Eligible Best Friend

My jaw grinds. “He had a shit ton of influence and none of it good.”

“You’re not your dad, Ford. And you’re better than your stepdad ever gave you credit for.”

“I know.”

“Do you?”

“Of course, Lia. But not all of us are born with the opportunity to go wherever we want and be whatever we want. Some of us are rooted to a spot out of necessity. I’m okay with it. I just wish everyone else was.”

I slide into the back seat with Jayden and Lia gets in to drive. Neither of us says much, even after we drop Jayden off.

Twelve

Lia

“You’ve been quiet.” It’s my third shift working with Ford this week. He hasn’t referred to anything about last weekend.

I can’t quit thinking about it.

He pulls out of the hospital bay. Our elderly male patient with the broken hip is in good hands. The nurse we left him with is one of Ford’s old conquests and her smile was as shiny as her new engagement ring. Ford usually flashes his trademark grin and indulges in a little flirting—after we’ve left the patient’s room and are navigating our way through the ER. But today, he only gave her a polite nod, then left to restock meds.

“We’re working.”

“It’s more than that. You’re upset.”

“I’m not.” He shifts his gaze toward me and his jaw flexes. “I’m not.”

I wave my finger between us. “This isn’t us. You haven’t given me shit once for being five minutes late yesterday.” I had a flat tire and only one bar on my phone, so I could barely watch YouTube to learn how to change it. I finally had to call a tow truck and a ride.

“So you didn’t know how to change a tire. I’m not giving you trouble for that, and you talked to the boss.”

“Ford. Out with it.”

He drapes a hand over the wheel. “Are we at the nagging stage of our fake relationship?”

I don’t know whether to laugh or be offended. “I swear to God, Ford, we can be at the ‘you can walk home’ stage of our relationship.”

“That’s parenting, not dating.” He goes quiet for a moment as he maneuvers onto the boulevard that’ll take us to our station. “Think I should talk to Cass?”

“About custody?”

“No, about whether she’s, you know, waiting around for me or something.”

I was the one who brought it up. I should have an answer, but I don’t. “I wish I knew. I have no idea how she’d take a question like that.”

“She might pick up and leave.”

“Maybe that was why she gave you an ultimatum. Until you moved on, she couldn’t move on, but moving on with you still didn’t feel right.”

“Maybe.” He waves to a patrol car that passes. “I guess we keep playing this out and see where it goes.”

He means with regards to Cass, but as soon as he says it, I want to nod emphatically and say yes, let’s keep dating and see where it goes. I can’t mix fake dating with sleeping together in a relationship that isn’t there.

After the weekend we spent together, I’m tempted to tell him I want to see where we can go.

“I still owe you a geocache date,” he says suddenly.

I’m hung up on the word date and the thrill racing down my spine. God, are those butterflies in my belly? I press a hand to my stomach. I haven’t been excited about going out with someone in a long time. Probably because I haven’t gone out with anyone for forever. Samuel and I were at that comfortable stage in our relationship. Besides living together, our dates were career-focused—his career. “I have a hike planned for tomorrow.”

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