“Alex and Iare not dating!” Brinley groans.
“Well, I think focusing on yourself and your future is the perfect thing to do during college,” Maia agrees. “I’ve been focusing on myself since,” her eyes meet Ember’s and then come back to me, “my breakup, and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”
“Thank you. Somebody gets it.”
“But I also give you three months before you and Fletcher are jumping each other’s bones.” Maia grins.
“And Maia’s intuition is rarely wrong,” Ember begins.
“I knew Ember and Declan would be jumping bones in no time after I saw them at the diner for the first time, and she told me itwould never happen. Now look at her. Brin made the guys throw a party just so Declan and Ember could—”
“Jump each other’s bones,” Brinley finishes.
“There’s been no bone jumping.” Ember sighs.
“Okay, Miss Hickey.” Brinley teases.
“I hate all of you.” Ember rolls her eyes and sinks into the booth.
ten
Fletcher
You chickened out, didn’t you?”
I don’t like the condescending tone in Becca’s voice. She doesn’t understand how everything could change if I went to Tate and told her I’ve been in love with her since we were kids. I know Tate. I know things that Becca could never understand.
“I wouldn’t say I chickened out.”
She crosses her arms as I take a drink of my coffee.
“You like her, Fletcher. Why are you so scared to tell her that?”
“The last time I went to tell her I had feelings for her, she shut me down before I even got the words out.”
“Maybe she thought that’s what you were going to do. Maybe she was actually hoping that when she told you that the kiss was a mistake, you were going to say you didn’t feel the same way. Did you ever think of that?” Becca leans forward. “Did you ever think that maybe it was easier for her to just shut the situation down rather than possibly embarrass herself?”
“And what about me?” I question. “I’m supposed to put my heart on the line and possibly get shut down so—”
“Yes.”
“How’s thatfair?”
“I never said it was. But there’s only one thing worse than being shut down, and that’s sitting there wondering what would have happened if you had told Tate how you felt. That‘what if’will haunt you more than the‘oh well.’I can promise you that.”
“Oh yeah?” I tap on the side of my coffee cup. “Because you’re an expert when it comes to relationships?”
“I’m not saying that.”
“If you were in my shoes, would you tell the person you care about how you felt?”
“I actually have been right where you are.” Her expression saddens.
“And?”
“Remember how I mentioned most of our football team being assholes?”
My eyes widen, and it takes everything in me to stop my jaw from dropping open.
