I squinted at him, thinking he might have a point, but I immediately dismissed the thought. “Making a movie is different from being in love.”
“Well, how about us moving in together? You haven’t told him about that either.”
My jaw twisted, and my shoulders slumped. “Fuck.”
“Yeah.”
My butt returned to the couch as I replayed the last thirty minutes in my head. Mike did text me before the show, asking me to watch. Perhaps that was his way to tell me. What a shitty way to tell anything to his best friend.
God only knew how long he’d been in love, how long he’d been hiding it from everyone, even me. The fire in my chest burned in my eyes now. I thought I’d distanced myself enough from Mike to get rid of his effect. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Although I hadn’t called him since our last dinner together, I never stopped missing him. Despite all my promises, I still wanted Mike.
Now more than ever.
My fingers itched to dial his number or, at least, text. I had to know who the superwoman who stole Mike Gennaro’s heart was. I eyed my phone in Kyle’s fist for long moments, tears almost slipping from my eyes. Quickly, I looked the other way and wiped my face.
No. What difference does it make? This is it. The end of the stupid dream.
If I still had any hope left, it died now that his heart belonged to someone else. Not only had he never been mine, now he never would be.
Evening my breath, I stared back at my boyfriend. “Kyle…”
“Yes,” he answered, his gaze distant.
“What’re we doing for Christmas?”
“I’m not sure. I thought you hated Christmas, so I didn’t plan anything.”
“I do. But this is our first one together. We should do something.”
He leaned forward, suddenly interested in the conversation. “Okay. What do you normally do?”
“Party till I drop.” Last year, when Tony blurted out he loved me at the Christmas party, I broke up with him and ran to Mike’s party. I slapped the memory off my head. “But let’s not do that. What do you normally do?”
“Since my parents passed, I spend it with my brother’s family in Denver. We have a nice dinner, the kids sing, and we play some games. But this year, they’re going to Spain.”
My head rested on his shoulder. “Too bad. I thought we could invite them over this year.”
“Thanks, sweetheart. That would have been nice.” His fingers combed through my hair. “What about you? You never see your parents on the holidays?”
“God, no. Not since I’ve gone to college. Everybody was psyched to go home for the holidays, but I stayed. They never understood why I wanted to spend Christmas in dreary England when I could be in sunny L.A. Apparently, they’ve never met Andrea.”
“You didn’t miss your father?”
“I did. But I didn’t miss Andrea more.” I laughed. “Besides, Dad always visited. Sometimes he had business there. Other times, he gave lectures at my school.” I looked at him. “You know? He called the other day, asking me to join them for the family’s Christmas dinner. He also said he’d love it if I brought you with me. Anyway, I told him no as usual, but…if you’re up for it… I mean, do you think you wanna do that?”
“Yeah. Of course.” He grinned from ear to ear. “I’d love to meet him, too.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “That’s what we’re gonna do then.”
His whole face beamed with excitement. “You know what this means?”
“Yeah,” I squeaked, my brows high in my forehead. “We’re going official.”
Fuck.
Scene25
Mike
