I leaned closer to her."I'm hoping you consider me a friend now.And not just Tom's."
Her brow furrowed."Yeah?"
I nodded.Tom wasn't here, and what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.Or that was what I was telling myself now.
"I'd like to be friends," she said tentatively.
"Me too."Shit.Had I just put myself in the friend zone?I'd just walked into that one.This was what Cooper was talking about.I wasn't super experienced when it came to navigating relationships with women.I was good at the flirting and the attraction.But this?Navigating the space between friendship and something more was hard.I didn't want to screw anything up.I wanted her to trust me.But I also wanted to take her to my bedroom and make her forget any man that approached her tonight.
She smiled wide, and it was so bright; I wanted to bask in her warmth.
The bartender placed a tray of drinks in front of her.
"You can put it on my tab."Reina turned and picked up the tray."Enjoy your night."
"Yeah.You too."When she walked away, I asked the bartender, "Can you put their tab on mine?"
He chuckled."Are you sure?Those girls can drink."
"I'm sure."
Cooper sat next to me."Are you positioning yourself as their sugar daddy for the night?"
I ran my hand through my hair."I don't know what the fuck I'm doing.I think I just agreed to be her friend."
Cooper started laughing again.
"I'm not going to hang out with you anymore if you're just going to laugh at me all the time," I grumbled.
"I can't help it.You're a disaster.Worse than Maverick.It's like you've never dated anyone."
I waited for him to stop laughing at me, then asked, "Since you have so much experience, how do I get out of this friend zone?"
"First you have to decide if you want her.Truly want her.Because she's Tom's younger sister.How's he going to feel about it?"
"You don't think we can fool around and go back to how things were when she moves out?"I asked, genuinely curious about my options.
"In my experience, even when a woman says she's okay with casual, her feelings usually change over time."
"That's what I was afraid of.Not that she'd agree to that anyway."
"It might help if you hang out around home more often.She probably thinks that you don't want her there."
I frowned."How do you know that?"
"I talked to her when I dropped off the truck."
I turned slightly to face him."I assumed you'd leave the key on the tire or something."
He smirked."Nah.I knocked on the door.She was grateful for the truck but a little confused about why you were working long hours.I told her you wanted to finish up some jobs before you took on the bakery."
"How'd she react?"
He shook his head."You live with the woman.You should know these things."
I waved my hand for him to go on."Just tell me."
"I got the impression she was a little hurt by your absence.If you keep avoiding her, she's probably going to find another place to live."
