“Of course you're my best friend.” Andy said, shrugging. “And I can see why you didn’t tell me. But you lied to me.”
“Not about the important things,” I said.
We needed to have this conversation, and I knew it, but the whole thing made my stomach hurt.
I just wanted my best friend, too.
“Not about the things thatmatter. I understand why you’re upset and I never meant to hurt you, but I wouldn’t change anything if I had to do it all again. The last three years have been the best of my life and that’s thanks almost entirely to you.”
When I chanced a look at Andy, he was biting his lip, keeping his eyes firmly on the ground.
“You’re my best friend, too. I don’t want that to be over,” I said, heart clenching in my chest so hard it physically hurt.
I couldn’t stand the thought of losing him. Losing his trust, his friendship, his company. It would have shattered my heart into pieces.
Andy snorted, as though it was nothing. “It’s not over. You can’t get rid of me that easy. I’m just... in shock.”
Oh.
Oh, this wasn’t quite the big, friendship-on-the-line argument I thought we were about to have.
“If it helps, consider the benefits of having a fantastically wealthy best friend who feels very guilty for keeping all this from you.”
I was so relieved I would have done anything Andy asked.
“Oh, you’re buying my coffee for the rest of the trip,” Andy said.
“I buy your coffee anyway.”
“Yeah, but you keep making those dumb bets you know you’ll lose as an excuse to do it.”
“Ah.” I swallowed. “You, umm. You’ve figured that out.”
I suppose that made sense, it had been three years.
“You’re not as smart as you think you are.” Andy grinned at me.
“I am in fact terribly stupid and very lucky I was born into money,” I agreed. “You’ve always been the brains of the operation.”
“You can read Latin.”
“A lot of very stupid people can read Latin. You speak Spanish, you could read Latin if you cared to. As languages go, it’s really not all that difficult.”
“It’s cool, though. That you can.”
When I looked at Andy again, his smile had softened into something that almost looked like forgiveness.
“Is coffee really all you want?” I asked. If I was being forgiven, I wanted to hang onto it.
Andy nodded, hands shoved deep into his pockets. “All I’ve ever wanted is to be your friend, Kit. When we met you were sweet and lost and when they told me you were looking for a roommate I almost peed a little with excitement because you seemed so cool and funny and also like you probably wouldn’t leave dirty dishes all over the kitchen.”
“Peed a little?” I asked, strangely flattered.
“Almostpeed a little,” Andy corrected. “I was so afraid you wouldn’t like me, that I’d be too loud, too enthusiastic, toomuch.”
“I always liked you. From the moment you asked me if people shook hands in England,” I said, smiling fondly at the memory.
Andy chuckled, glancing up at the sky again as we slipped through the side gate and onto the grounds, heading for the long gravel drive up to the house. “You must’ve thought I was an idiot.”
