I look around in confusion. “Where?”
“Between us.” He gestures to me, then him.
Us.
Wait. What?
What?!
“Are you—” I swallow hard, trying to process this. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah. At the ice rink, I thought…” he trails off, then huffs a laugh, glancing away. “I was going to ask you out.”
I gape at him as his words slot into place in my brain. Michael was going to ask me out. Michael. Asking me out. Is this for real or am I fantasizing again?
“Because…?” I prompt, wanting to make one hundred percent sure that I am understanding him correctly.
“Because I like you.”
I give a slow, mute nod, absorbing this information. My heart has taken off at a gallop and I’m desperately trying to rein it in. Of all the things I thought he was going to say when I came up here, this wasnotone of them.
He rakes a hand through his hair as an awkward chuckle slips from him. “Shit. I feel kind of stupid, actually.”
Oh God.
I shake my head. “No—”
“I’m sorry, Alex. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“No, really—”
“Can you just forget I said anything?”
Forget Michael said he was going to ask me out? Holy Moses. Of course I can’t bloody forget that.
I give a frustrated groan, dragging the heel of my hand over my forehead. “This complicates things.”
He grimaces. “I’m sorry. I’ve freaked you out, haven’t I? Please—forget I said anything.”
“Michael—” I open and close my mouth, hesitating. It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him that I like him too. But… what will that mean? Will he ask me out?
My pulse ticks up at the thought—at going out to dinner, maybe, somewhere nice. He’d be the perfect gentleman, we’d have a lovely time, he might even kiss me…
Fuck.
I drag my gaze away from him, my mind in free fall. I want that. I want all that.
But Ishouldn’twant that. I know better than to fall for it again, to give in to my romantic side. Harriet pointed it out:the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. And what did Mum say, that I’m always dreaming of Prince Charming?
No. I don’t want to be that person anymore. I know better than to hope for a fairy-tale ending again.
Besides, what would that mean for this opportunity with my writing? Justin never said I had tobesingle, but how the hell would I write a column championing the single life if I wasn’t? They wouldn’t offer it to me, would they?
I shake my head, clearing away the jumble of thoughts. There’s too much at stake to give in to what I ultimately know is a bad idea.
“It’s fine, don’t be silly. You haven’t freaked me out.”
He eyes me uncertainly. “Are you sure? I don’t want to lose you as a friend.”
