Finn straightens. “And?”
“And I told her I’m in love with her.”
“Holy shit.” Blake chokes on his drink. “But that’s good, right? I mean, you finally told her how you really feel.”
Finn is still staring at me. Not judging. Justwatching. “You finally did the thing. You finally told Julia Brooks you’re in love with her.”
“She didn’t take it well,” I say, voice dry. “Basically, the whole thing blew up in my fucking face.”
“What?” Blake questions, shock highlighting every line of his features. “What do you mean, it blew up your face?”
I push at a napkin on the table. “She said…she’s been waiting around for me. That all these years, I never saw her the way she saw me. And now that she’s with Drew, she thinks Isuddenlywant her. Like some fucking puppy who’s jealous someone else has his toy.”
Finn whistles low. “Ouch.”
“She’s never been on the sidelines, not to me. She’s always beenit. The girl. My girl. I—” I stop, exhaling hard. “Deep down, I thought she knew. Deep down, I thought Julia understood that no one else compares to her.”
Neither of them says anything for a second.
Then Finn says, “Did you tell her that?”
“I don’t know.” I shrug. “Everything got pretty fucked up after I told her I was in love with her and mentioned some of the shit I’ve done to be closer to her. She wasn’t happy about any of it. She said she felt manipulated. Felt like I violated her.”
“Oh shit. That’s no bueno,” Blake mutters.
“I know. And it’s the furthest thing from the truth. I mean, I wasn’t trying to manipulate her. I only wanted to be close to her. I just wanted to be with her.”
Finn looks at me like he doesn’t exactly agree with me, but Blake clears his throat and asks, “So…let me get this straight. You kissed her, told her you loved her, told her the wild shit you’ve been doing since you realized you’re in love with her, and then she walked?”
“Not exactly,” I answer. “I saw her agree to be Drew’s girlfriend at the Double C after party, and that really fucked with my head.”
“Scottie and I saw,” Finn murmurs. “I was hoping you missed it.”
“Oh, I fucking saw it. So much so that I left early and waited like a stalker by my front door for signs of her to come home. I had to watch Drew fucking kiss her, and the instant that asshole was gone, I walked straight over to her apartment and…kissed her. She kissed me back, and I told her I was in love with her and mentioned the fire I started in my apartment so I could move in to her apartment and how I broke her AC unit and—”
“You started a fucking fire in your apartment?” Blake booms. “What the fuck? How didn’t I know this?”
“Probably because you were so far up Lexi’s ass you didn’t have time to do anything else.”
He shrugs and nods. “That’s valid.” But then he smiles like a man in love because the woman he loves conveniently loves him back. Hell, they’ve officially moved in together and shit.
“Okay, so what happened after you told her all the shit?” Finn asks.
“I left.”
“You left?” Blake questions. “What do you mean, you left?”
I shrug. “I left because it hurt too fucking much to hear her say the shit she was saying. I mean, she thinks I only want her as my backup plan. Like, what the fuck? You don’t start a fucking fire for a woman if you want her as a backup plan.”
Blake runs a hand through his hair. “Still can’t believe you set your apartment on fire, man.”
Finn leans back slowly, the realization sinking in. “So…you guys haven’t talked since Saturday?”
“Nope.”
“So, what, you’re just not friends anymore?” Blake asks, his lips turning down at the corners.
I stare at the table. “I guess not.”
