Yeah. Crushes were the worst.
2
Devin
“You have to go!”Marta called as I walked away from the pile of climbing jeans she was folding, heading over to the hiking pack display to put it back in order after a group of tourists who were definitely going to get eaten by a bear had gone through them.
“No I don’t,” I said, clipping the strap on one of the bags back together.
“You’ve had the time off booked for months, you worked so hard qualifying for this competition, and now you’ve got the chance to go and you’re not gonna?”
“I’m not sharing a cabin with Brad.”
It sounded like a stupid reason even as it came out of my mouth—this was a big competition. Winning could’ve meant sponsorships, travel, even going pro.
Not that I particularly wanted to go pro, but Marta was right—Ihadbeen training.
I just couldn’t stomach sharing a room with Brad. Not after… not after the way things had ended. Not forthis.
“So invite your boyfriend,” Marta said.
A blush crept up the back of my neck, stretching all the way to the tips of my ears.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I mumbled, insides squirming uncomfortably.
Marta was the only one who knew about my ridiculous, all-consuming, completely unrequited crush on Morgan.
“He comes over to your brother’s house and hangs out with you the whole time. Youtoldme he left you the last roast potato at your mom’s a few weeks ago and I’vehadthose potatoes and I wouldn’t have given it to you.”
“That’s because you’reyou. Morgan’s just sweet. He’s a florist, it doesn’t really get sweeter than that. People just assume he’s gonna be mean because he’s like eleven feet of solid muscle.”
“The shaved head doesn’t help,” Marta pointed out.
“Youlikeshaved heads.”
“On girls,” Marta said, waving the last pair of climbing jeans at me. “It’s hot on girls.”
“It’s hot on Morgan,” I defended. “I like the way it feels under my fingers.”
“… you’ve startedpetting his headnow?” Marta asked, eyes wide with horror as she came over to help me with the packs.
“Just the once when he had a fresh shave. Aiden did it first. It wasn’t… weird, or anything.”
“Uh huh.”
I got the feeling Marta wasn’t convinced about the not-weirdness of the whole situation.
“Ask him to come on the trip with us. Like, if you wanna know once and for all if he likes you… agreeing to spend three nights sharing a room with you would be a helluva way. And if Brad thinks you’ve got a new boyfriend who could crush him one-handed…”
Nowthatthought had appeal to it.
I’d been in love with Brad once upon a time. I’d been so sure he was the one.
But then we’d broken up, and now we weren’t even friends anymore. Not really. I could barely stand to be in the same room with him, and definitely not alone.
Which was also at leastpartof why I wasn’t saying anything to Morgan. He was my friend, and I didn’t want to lose him to stupidfeelings. He meant more to me than that.
“What if you ask the nice florist to save you from your evil ex, and if he says no, no trip, no competition, you can stay at home and watch the highlight reel on YouTube. But if he says yes…”
