Page 2 of More Than Just Friends

‘I know what I said. I really did think he was the one. He said so many nice things. He bought me flowers and chocolates! And the sex was⁠—’

‘You already slept with him? I thought you’d only been on two dates?’

‘Judgemental, much?’ I crossed my arms. ‘Like you never put out on the first date.’

‘So you didn’t even wait until the second date? You shagged on the first one?’ Sammie gasped.

‘I didn’t say that!’ Heat flooded my cheeks. ‘I just said… whatever. Doesn’t matter.’

‘Ali, I told you,’ she said, ‘if you want to find a guy who respects you, don’t give him the goodies until you’re sure he deserves them.’

‘But he had a great job and we got on so well! And he bought me gifts!’ I repeated in case she hadn’t heard me the first time.

‘I know, hon, but as he’s just demonstrated, that proves nothing. I know you think I’m judging, but I’m trying to help you avoid the mistakes that I made. I just want to see you with a decent guy. Someone genuine, sweet and kind who will treat you like a queen.’

‘Like your boyfriend, Romeo.’ I rolled my eyes. Of course I was happy that my sister had found love, but she was one of the lucky few. Now that she was all coupled up, it was like she’d forgotten how tough the dating scene was.

‘Yeah, like Romeo, but there’s plenty of other good ’uns out there. I see them every day at work. And I’m sure you see them around too.’

Sammie worked at the Love Hotel, which was a group of luxury matchmaking resorts. She was a Love Alchemist there which meant she basically helped the couples fall in love, so of course she’d come in contact with decent blokes. Whereas I worked in Human Resources for a supermarket and most of the colleagues in my department were women, so it wasn’t the same.

‘Er, no. All the good guys are already taken. All that’s left are the rejects.’

‘Bollocks!’ Sammie shouted. ‘What about Noah?’

‘Noah?’ I scoffed. ‘He’s my best friend. We’ve known each other since we were four. That’d be like dating my brother!’ I squirmed.

‘We don’t have a brother,’ Sammie countered.

‘Doh. I know that. But if we did, it’d be him.’

‘I don’t understand why you two never got together. He’s a sweetheart and you obviously get on well.’

‘Because of a million reasons!’ I blew out a frustrated breath. If I had a penny for every time Sammie asked me this, I’d be retired and living on a Caribbean island by now. ‘Firstly, like I just said, we’re friends, so it’d be weird to think of him as any more than that. Secondly, Noah has helped me through some of the toughest times in my life and I don’t want to ruin our friendship. He’s worth more to me as a friend than a lover. Cringe.’

A shiver ran down my spine as I thought about doing anything remotely romantic with him. Not because he wasn’t nice to look at. It was just because, like I’d told Sammie a zillion times, it’d be wrong to think of him in that way.

‘Thirdly, you know what happened when I crossed that line before, so I’d never, ever date a friend again. And fourthly,’ I added, ‘he’s not my type.’

‘What? You mean he’s not an arsehole?’ She laughed.

‘I don’t only…’ I was about to say that I didn’t exclusively date arseholes, but I stopped myself because based on my string of disastrous dates, I didn’t have enough evidence to support my denial.

‘You need to stop Groundhogging,’ Sammie added.

‘I’ve no idea what that means.’ I frowned.

‘Get in!’ Sammie cheered triumphantly. ‘I’ve been waiting to try out some of the lingo we learnt in that modern dating training course for ages. “Groundhogging” is when someone, in this case you, keeps choosing to date the same type of person, but expects different results. And no judgement – we’ve all been there, sis. I was the poster girl for bad decisions and choosing the bad boys. But then⁠—’

‘Then you went to the Love Hotel and found the man of your dreams. Yada yada. I know. You’re starting to sound like one of those “Smug Marrieds” Bridget Jones talked about. How’s that lingo for you?’

‘Nice to know you’re still watching your noughties romcoms. I don’t mean to sound smug. I’m just trying to do my big sister duties and look out for you.’

‘I know,’ I sighed. Sammie’s heart was in the right place. ‘Dating’s pants, that’s all.’

‘Yep. I remember. Did he really just ghost you? No call, no text, nothing?’

‘Yep.’ I huffed. ‘And I don’t know what’s worse. The fact that he didn’t show up or the fact that I sat there crying for three hours waiting for him.’