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How…how did she know? How did Seth know? And if he’d really known all these years, why hadn’t he said anything?
“Because he didn’t think you knew. He was giving you time to figure it out for yourself. Men.” She sighed, clearly reading my thoughts. “But something changed. You know now, don’t you?”
There was no point denying it. “I do.”
“So instead of sweeping the woman you love off her feet you what? Set her up with a friend? That’s the most colossally stupid thing I’ve ever seen or heard in my life.”
“I can assure you no one has ever accused me of being smart.”
“Obviously.”
I could continue to fight this…or I could ask for advice. “What do I do?”
“Well I’d begin by not bringing other guys around.”
Her sarcasm was…unappreciated. “Noted.”
“Next is a big one that I’m pretty sure you’re going to hate.” I braced. “Talk to her.” She placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “You’ve been friends for a long time. Trust in it.”
“What if she’s horrified? This could ruin everything.” Rejection I could handle, but forever altering our friendship in a bad way, I could not.
“Is that really what worries you?”
Annalise was head over heels for Seth. She had her love goggles on. All she saw were the positives. “Of course it is.”
She tapped her chin. “Or…you’ve never put yourself out there before and you don’t know how to.”
“That’s ridiculous.” But then I paused…
She grinned. “You’re thinking I’m right. It’s because I am.”
“But how do you—”
She put up a hand. “Seth. I’ve quizzed him extensively. I can’t go on social media and troll gossip like I used to, so you’ve filled in the gap for me. You’ve never had a serious girlfriend, never been in any kind of relationship that required commitment. You know why?”
Annalise was on a roll so I let her keep going without interruption.
“Because you’ve always been in love with Willa. You can’t attach yourself to someone when you’ve already given your heart away.”
I ignored her smug smile. Mostly because she was probably right. “And?”
She shrugged. “It’s incredibly sweet. You need to tell her. I think she’s in the same boat, but even if she isn’t, your friendship is strong enough to withstand the truth. And if it’s not…then it isn’t the friendship you think it is.”
I wanted to argue but she had a point. Here I was protecting our friendship at the cost of my own sanity but if it couldn’t weather a hard truth, it wasn’t as strong as I thought it was.
Didn’t mean it wouldn’t be hard though.
“Sex makes everything messy.”
She gave me a small smile. “Everett, you don’t want to have sex with her. Well, not only have sex with her. You love her.”
“Okay, I amend my earlier statement. Love makes everything messy.”
“You’re really out here lobbing me easy ones, aren’t you?” She shook her head. “You’ve already been in love with her this whole time. The only messy part is you lying to her. And romantic feelings aside, all three of you love each other. You always have. You can’t use love as an excuse.”
I took issue with the lying accusation. But everything else… “I’ll find a time.”
“Hmmm, beautiful island resort we’re all going to be secluded in for three days…you might be able to figure something out.”
