Chapter 1
Blake
“Dude. Why do you keep looking at Briar?”
I tear my gaze away from my best friend and glance down at the beer in my hand. “I’m not.”
I’m lying. Of course I’m staring at her.
And of course my teammate, Nick St. George, picked up on it. He’s been giving me shit about how I’ve been keeping tabs on her the whole night.
I can’t help it though. She’s standing in the corner with some guy I don’t recognize, and I can tell she’s uncomfortable.
She’s nodding along with whatever he’s saying, but her smile is forced. Her arms are crossed. She never crosses her arms unless she’s disinterested or uneasy. And every time he leans in to close the space between them, she takes a step back.
The urge to march over there and tell him to back the fuck off hits me hard, but I hold it in. She hasn’t looked over at me yet. If she needs help, she’ll let me know. She always does.
“You’re acting like her bodyguard,” Nick says.
I sip my beer. “I’m just trying to look out for her.”
He shakes his head as he scans the crowded house party. My housemates Nick, Travis, and Leo, and I are throwing a back-to-school party at our place on the edge of the Hollis U campus. It’sthe start of our senior year, and we’re throwing a rager to kick off our last year of college.
“You’ve been death-glaring that guy the entire time he’s been talking to her. You’re coming off like a crazy jealous boyfriend,” Nick says.
“I’m not her boyfriend.”
He flashes a shit-eating smirk. “But you wanna be.”
I roll my eyes, annoyed. “No, I don’t.”
“You’re a shitty liar, man.” He laughs.
I don’t say anything. Because he’s right.
I have a massive crush on Briar. I have ever since we met in high school and became friends.
We were paired together as lab partners in biology class freshman year, and bonded over the fact that we both sucked at science and loved the showBrooklyn Nine-Nine.
I was instantly attracted to her. Any guy would be. She was funny and sweet and smart. And beautiful.
Her long, honey blonde hair falls to the middle of her back in soft waves, and her eyes are the most mesmerizing color I’ve ever seen: green with a burst of gold in the middle. And her mouth is so damn cute. Lush and pouty too.
Nick elbows me. “You’re staring again. Creeper.”
I tear my gaze away from her, look over at the TV, and pretend to be interested in the football game playing on the screen.
He’s right. It’s creepy as fuck that I’m gawking at her, thinking about how pretty she is, when she’s made it crystal clear that she doesn’t see me as anything other than a friend.
I think back to all those times I tried and failed to work up the nerve to ask her out in high school. How I was finally going to tell her I liked her and then ask her to go to the winter formal dance with me freshman year…but then some guy in her French class asked her out before I could.
I kept my feelings quiet the whole time they dated. When they broke up months later, I took her out for tacos to cheer her up. And then, as we sat in the restaurant together, she looked at me and said, “You’re like a brother to me, Blake. Thank you for being the best friend I could ever ask for.”
Despite how disappointed I felt, I just smiled and said, “I’ll always be your friend, Briar.”
And that was that. I buried my crush. Yeah, it sucked that she wasn’t interested in anything more, but that was okay. I’m more than happy just to be her best friend.
And being Briar’s best friend means looking out for her at parties where weirdo guys try to hit on her.
