Friend Zoned (Barnett Bulldogs #2) (20 page)

“Of course there is!  So, after seeing him like that, I bolted from the apartment and when I came back like eight hours later, both Sam and Roan were sleeping.  So I snuck into Dylan’s room.  But I couldn’t stop thinking about him sliding his erection against me when we were cuddled up in bed together that morning.  And I…”

Seriously can’t believe I’m about to share this with Mia but here it goes, “I rubbed one out.”

Heat stings my cheeks as I finish off the story, “Just when I was about to come, he knocked on the door, wanting to talk!”  I shake my head still unable to believe that it actually happened. Just in case she doesn’t get the full picture I’m trying to paint, I add, “
I came with him standing right outside the door!  Like right outside it
!  I couldn’t stop myself!”

Looking completely shocked and yeah, just a bit impressed- thank you very much, she dissolves into another fit of giggles.  “Good for you!  I have to say- I seriously didn’t think you had it in you!”

Laughter bubbles up within me again as I admit, “It was such a good orgasm!”

I really need to stop talking now.  This is total overshare.  Which I tend
not
to do.  But honestly, this is Mia and I can tell her almost anything and she won’t judge me for it.  That’s one of the reasons I love her to pieces.  She’s a great friend.  The absolute very best.

Swiping at her eyes again, a big grin lights up her face.  “I really have to thank you.”

The muscles in my abdomen hurt from all our shared laughter.  “For what?”

“For telling me about this.  You seriously have no idea how much I needed it.”

“Anytime,” I smile.  Because you know what, I needed it too.

“So what happened after you came with him standing right outside the door?  Did you finally let him in so he could finish you off?”  Mia looks ridiculously hopeful.

I roll my eyes.  “Hell, no.”

“Let me guess- instead of finally talking it out, you ran away again.”

Looking sheepish, I admit, “Yeah.  I snuck out around seven in the morning when they left to work out and had breakfast with my grandparents.  Which is precisely why I borrowed your car this morning.”

Settling back against the small couch, Mia gets back down to business.  “So what are you going to do about this, Vi?”

Groaning, I shake my head.  “I don’t know.  Part of me wants to tell him that my feelings have changed and the other part just wants everything to go back to normal.  I don’t want to lose him as a friend and we all know that I pretty much suck at love.”

She scoffs, “You don’t suck at love.”  Pausing for a moment, she finally says, “You’re kind of like Goldilocks… you just haven’t found the right fit yet.”

“What makes you think Sam is the right fit?”

“What,” she counters, “makes you think he’s not?”

Chapter Seventeen

For the next two days, Mia’s words roll around like marbles in the back of my head.  On Tuesday, I deliberately dawdle on my way to Rickets class so that I’m late.  Not by much, certainly not enough to incur his wrath.  But just enough so that there’s no real time for Sam and I to delve into anything meaningful.

During the entire class period, all ninety tortuous minutes of it, his leg keeps brushing up against mine.  Every time it does, a little burst of awareness shoots through my body making it nearly impossible for me to focus on what Rickets is discussing.

At one point, I start wondering what it would feel like to climb that big body of his like a damn tree.  Those thoughts naturally lead to me squirming around rather uncomfortably in my seat, trying to alleviate just a little bit of the pressure that is forming between my tightly clenched thighs.  Apparently noticing my inability to sit still, Sam leans over, asking if I need to use the restroom.

Yup… that’s precisely what’s going on.

Thank you oh-so-much for noticing.

Once class is wrapped up for the day, Sam immediately pounces, asking if I want to grab a coffee so we can sit down and finally
talk
. Instead of just manning up and hashing things out, I make up some lame BS excuse as to why I have to haul ass across campus.

God, I hate to admit this but…

Yeah, I rubbed another one out last night thinking about him.

Okay, okay… twice if I’m being
completely
honest about it…

Total deviant.

In light of the current situation, I’ve decided that one last ditch effort to salvage our friendship is needed to keep everything from irreversibly changing.

For.

Eveeeeeer.

And no, I’m not being melodramatic at all.

What I need to find is someone who can take my mind off Sam.

That’s right, I’m talking about a good old fashioned hook up.  Because I’m starting to spend way too much time alone in my room, if you catch my drift…

I’m afraid I might get carpal tunnel or something like that.

Which is exactly why Mia and I now have our asses planted in a booth at O’Brien’s.  Sure, it’s a Wednesday night.  And it’s not exactly as hopping around here as it would be on a Friday or Saturday evening but there are still a fair number of people out enjoying themselves.

Actually, upon closer inspection, there are a decent number of prospects.  I’m guessing the NHL game on the mega huge TV behind the bar has a little something to do with that.

All I need to find is one measly guy who can take my mind off Sam.  One guy who can distract me long enough for things to simmer down and slide back to normal between us.  It has to be someone who can get my hormones snapping to attention like a certain someone else with big bulging biceps, a nice wide chest, bright blue eyes, sexy blond hair, and a thick co-

Damnation!

I really have to stop thinking about him like that.

It’s going to completely ruin our friendship.  Not to mention that I’ve never masturbated so much in my life…

Head swiveling, I scope out the local talent, trying to find a target to lock on.  Mia takes a small sip from her ice cold mug before cocking a disinterested brow my way.  “You sure this is a good idea?”

Hell no, I’m not sure.  But it’s the best one I’ve got at this point.  For most of the ride over, Mia encouraged me to pull on my big girl panties and just be honest with Sam.

Well… I’m not ready to do that just yet.  I’m not ready to deal with the ramifications.  Or… the inevitable fallout.  And yes, that makes me a complete puss.

But guess what?

I really don’t care.

So I’m going with option B.

And option B is all about finding a distraction for the evening.  It’s really the only viable option, when you think about it.  I either find someone to take my mind off Sam or I end up screwing up the best relationship in my life because I just so happen to want to jump his bones.

Like a whole bunch of times.

Mia thinks option B is destined for failure.  She’s being a real negative Nancy about this whole thing.  I probably should have asked someone else to be my wingman for the night.  She actually likened this expedition to craving a huge juicy double decker burger with the works loaded on top but deciding to settle for a crappy, three day old convenience store hot dog instead.

And maybe that’s true.

Maybe I
am
settling.

Sure, of course I want that burger.  I’m all but
starving
for a taste of that damn burger. But, for obvious reasons (ie- that burger is my best friend), I can’t have that burger.  So I’ve decided to go for that crappy, three day old convenience store hot dog instead because it will take my mind off the big juicy burger I’d rather be sinking my teeth into.

But you know what?

Maybe that crappy ass dog will end up surprising me.  Maybe I’ll actually feel somewhat satisfied after consuming said dog.  I mean… anything can happen, right?  Or maybe it will just make me so violently ill, that I’ll end up puking my damn guts out.  Either way, I sure as hell won’t be thinking about that freaking burger, now will I?

In one thirsty gulp, I down half my beer.  Or as I like to call it-
liquid courage
before eyeing up my prospective candidates for the evening.

With a sly smile simmering around the edges of her lips, Mia points to someone loitering at the bar.  “I think bachelor number one over there is right up your alley.”

Either she’s mocking me and has found a guy who I would never go for or…

She’s found someone who looks exactly like Sam.  We’re talking six feet tall, short blond hair, not to mention a hard muscular body.  And don’t even get me started on those well-defined shoulders.

Yeah… I know
exactly
what Mia’s up to by picking this guy.  He hits a little too close to home, if you know what I mean.

My narrowed gaze swings back to Mia who is wearing a ridiculously smug smile.  She raises a brow in silent inquiry.  Yep… it’s definitely a trap.

One I’m going to steer clear of, thank you very much.

“He’s not really my type.”

Actually, he’s completely my type.

She rolls her big mossy green eyes.  “Oh, please.”  But rather than argue, she simply turns back towards the bar where a good number of guys are sitting, watching the hockey game. 

“Okay…” her eyes continue scanning the general vicinity, “how about him?”

As my gaze falls on bachelor number two, I already know it’s a no-go.  But I don’t want to judge him too harshly because that’s not going to help my current predicament.

I mean, it’s not like I’m picking out my future husband here, right?

This is nothing more than a distraction.

Before completely disregarding the guy, I allow my eyes to slide over him one last time.  Sure, I guess he’s kind of okay looking…  If I squint my eyes real hard.  I’m just taking a guess here, but I probably weight more than he does.  And that thin pedophile mustache he’s rocking has seriously got to go.

I’m not even kidding right now.

We’ll just keep that one on the backburner.  For when I’m, you know, totally desperate.  After a moment, I shake my head.  “Nah… he’s too…” I shrug my shoulders, not quite sure what to say.

“Not Sam enough?”

My gaze narrows before cutting back to her.  “No,” I lie, “that’s
not
what I was going to say.”

“But it’s what you were thinking,” she chides sweetly.

Yeah… okay… so maybe it was.  But I certainly don’t have to admit that to her.  The last thing I need to hear is yet another rendition of -
I-told-you-this-was-a-bad-idea
.  “No… he’s just a little too lean for my tastes.”

She snorts before taking a sip of her beer.  “Whatever you say.”  Then she perks up.  “How about the buff dude over there.”

My eyes slide to bachelor number three.

I’m pleasantly surprised to discover that bachelor number three has some definite potential.

You know what I like best?

He doesn’t look a damn thing like Sam and I’m one hundred percent sure that I weigh more than he does.  Plus, he has wavy chestnut colored hair.  I’m trying to imagine what it would feel like to drag my fingers through it.  Tilting my head to the side, my eyes narrow in speculation.

Or… maybe I won’t be raking my fingers through it because he looks to be wearing more product than I am.  Kind of doubtful my fingers could even get through that shellacked helmet without ripping out a good chunk of it.

But whatever… his helmet hair isn’t important here.

I focus on his eyes.  They’re definitely not a piercing blue.  From what I can tell, they look to be a nice rich brown.  Dare I say soulful?  Yeah, I’m going with soulful.  Added bonus- he has muscles galore.  Okay, okay… in that regard, he sort of resembles Sam.  So sue me, I like well-built men.

Or
strapping
as my grandmother would say.

Now… is there any pinging action going on in my nether regions?

Nope.  At least not yet there isn’t, but I’m pretty darn sure I can work with this.

Not wanting to waste any more time, I start sliding my way out of the booth.  “Wish me luck, I’m going in.”

“You don’t need luck, you’ve got great tits.  Just thrust them out.  It gets ’em every time.”

I snort at her advice because, well… it’s true.  Not the part about me having great tits, but just having tits in general.  If you thrust them out, picking up guys becomes ridiculously easy.

Feeling like a woman on a mission, I stride purposefully towards him.  When I’m about three feet from where’s he’s standing, his eyes suddenly collide with mine before sweeping quickly down the front of my body.  He must like what he sees because his mouth slowly curls up at the corners.

Alrighty then.

Yup… just like taking candy from a baby.  It’s almost criminal how easy it is to pick up men.