Page 30 of Welcome to the Friendzone

He shifted his body a little so that he was facing Marta before grabbing the bowl of popcorn off her lap to place it on the coffee table. She knew what was coming: another big speech from Oliver to convince her to go on a date with him.

Did she like him? Sure.

More than friends? Maybe.

But there was no way she could date him. Her heart was not ready.

“Why are you denying that there’s something between us?” He continued, his voice full of pain.

She knew it hurt him every time she declined his request and of course she was scared that someday he wouldn’t be able to be her friend anymore.

“I’m not denying it,” she mumbled, her gaze fixed on her legs.

She had switched to sitting cross-legged so that she was easily able to face him as well.

“So you feel it, too? That there‘s more between us? I’m pulled towards you as soon as you step into a room. Your laughter sets my heart on fire and every time you touch me I feel like I’m flying. You do things to me, Marta, that no one else has done before and I know that I’m in love with you.”

It was the first time he’d actually spoken out loud about what had been building between them for months. The mutual attraction had been very obvious. Of course Marta felt it too, it was hard not to. Oliver made her happy and she longed to lay in his arms while they watched a movie. When he caressed his fingers over her shoulder fireworks exploded under her skin.

Only one other man had made her feel like that before and he was the reason she wasn’t able to enjoy this growing relationship between her and Oliver.

Frank hovered above them constantly, his ghost a lingering presence in the back of Marta’s mind.

“Oliver…” she started but didn’t have a chance to continue as the blond Agent grabbed one of her hands and held it tight within his own.

“No. Don’t bullshit me again with some kind of lame excuse. You and I feel the same so why the hell are you not able to say yes to a simple fucking date?”

He was angry, he was hurt, and he had every right to be. She constantly gave him mixed signals and it wasn’t fair of her. Of course she enjoyed the intimacy between them. Cooking, joking, cuddling. It was all she yearned for after a shitty work day when one task force messed up badly.

His scent was the only thing that calmed her down these days, but on the other hand she was holding him at arm's length when it came to other things like dating, kissing, or even sex.

She wasn’t ready for this but even if she was, she simply couldn’t. It wasn’t possible.

“We’re not allowed to,” she said, referring to their positions within the CIA.

She was his boss, his direct commander. He had to obey her orders, whether he liked them or not. The two of them dating would blur the boundaries between private life and work life and it could lead to problems on operations.

“For fuck’s sake!” Oliver snapped, jumping to his feet and stalking around the room in an effort to calm his raging thoughts so that he could have a normal conversation with her.

“But it’s true.”

“Of course it’s true, Marta, but when have you cared about rules from HR? You’re literally known for not giving a shit about HR. Gary has a picture of you on his dart board in their break room,” Oliver snarled, his mind recalling the moment he discovered that Gary indeed saw Marta as the worst.

“This is different,” she protested, but her voice wasn’t really convincing.

“How is that different, huh? Different from sending Agents back home in the middle of their shifts because they just lost a team member and can’t concentrate on filling out mission reports? Different from sending Agents undercover in order to burst a drug trafficking ring even though HR hadn’t given their permission yet?”

“We needed to be fast, HR didn’t understand that.”

“That’s not the point,” he groaned, his hands in front of his face while shaking his head intensely.

This woman drove him nuts. Sometimes in a good way and sometimes not.

“Oliver…” she tried, but again he interrupted her. She’d never seen him so angry.

“No. Don’tOliverme with that fucking angelic voice of yours. I’m done. I’m spent. We have amazing chemistry, we love each other, and we work well together. For fuck’s sake, just give me one damn chance to prove to you that I’d be a good catch.”

He stood in the middle of the room, almost screaming every word at her. Angry tears gathered in his eyes whilst his heart bled. Scared to hear yet another denial.

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