Roll my eyes, he’s clueless.
And I… I am all alone. No one around. Everyone but me is paired up, and I am massively regretting my promise to stay single and live with myself.
I don’t know why I made that promise. I can’t do it. I can’t stand being alone. My own friends know what it’s like to be alone with me, and yet they have set me up for failure regardless.
“Can we please start the game night?” I ask into the void, knowing no one in their love bubbles can hear me.
“We’re waiting for—”
“Knock knock!” A voice sounds from behind me, making me sit up and turn and see none other than my best friend and his new wife walk in the door.
I make a beeline for Graham, but he knows me by now and grabs his wife, shielding himself.
“Aw, come on! You’ve been gone for weeks!” I throw my hands up and groan in jest.
“That doesn’t mean you get to kiss me, Derek. We’ve talked about this,” Graham gripes from behind Quinn’s head.
Quinn laughs and wraps her arms around me in a tight hug. She’s the best, and she knows my love for Graham is real and never complains about our bond.
I hold her tight and give Graham a grin over her shoulder. He glares at me.
“Hey! I’m so glad you’re here!” All the girls gather around Quinn and pull her into hugs while the guys shake Graham’s hand, asking them how their vacation went.
“Well, we missed the kids, but it was pretty nice to get away for a bit.”
“Hawaii must have been gorgeous!” April says, “I’ve always wanted to go.”
“It really was,” Quinn says, whipping out her phone and showing off pictures of the ocean and beach and places they went while they were on the island.
People start to settle down onto the couch, the game is picked, and right as we’re about to start, there comes a knock at the door.
I groan, “Seriously? Who would be knocking?”
“Oh, I invited someone!” Quinn announces, looking at me, and I get up to answer it. Only because I love her.
When I swing open the door, I realize just how much she loves me back.
“Elizabeth?” I stare in shock at the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen smiling shyly back at me and holding a case of beer in her hands.
“Hey, Derek, right?” Her pretty pink lips say my name, and I’m unable to tear my eyes off of them for a moment. “Can I come in?”
My eyes snap back up to hers, and I gape, trying to find my words. “I—yes—yeah, come in.”
I step aside and let her through, seeing Quinn jump up and greet her friend with a big hug. I shake my head at myself and shut the door.
I need to get a grip.
You can’t date anyone anyway, so there’s no need to fuss in front of a pretty girl.
Except that seems damn near impossible because she is the most stunning woman I’ve ever seen, and there is something else to it. There’s something magnetic about her personality that makes me want to be around her.
Fuck. This is going to be a hard night.
“Everyone, this is my friend from college, Elizabeth. Elizabeth, this is… well, everyone.” Quinn goes around and introduces her to everyone. There are so many of us that I’m sure she’ll forget names as the night goes on.
Finally finding my freaking manners, I take the case of beer from her.
“Oh. Thank you.” She laughs lightly and shakes out her hand. “That was getting heavy.”
