Page 97 of More Than Friends

I finish relaying the entire conversation with Florence to Lucy. She listens the entire time, letting me explain everything before she offers any insight.

I lean back in my chair. “And just the way he looked at me, Lucy, I can’t get it out of my head. It looked like I was breaking his heart. If the feelings weren’t real, would he really look so crushed when I left?”

Lucy puffs out her cheeks and nods. I appreciate that she doesn’t feel the need to fill the silence at first. She gathers herself before speaking. My heart races as I wait for her to answer, butI don’t say anything. I’ve told her everything, now I just want to know what she thinks.

“Do you want me to be honest with you?” Lucy asks. She sits up and places her elbows on the counter, her gaze solely focused on me.

“Of course.”

“My first thought when I saw you and Jude with Ava was how terribly this was going to end. I must admit, I wondered if the two of you basically raising a child together would blur lines, but I think I was wrong, and I think Florence is wrong too.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because I know you and I know Jude. I think the attraction has always been there for both of you. It’s not like it suddenly came on the moment Ava arrived. You guys kissed after drinking for a reason. The tension finally snapped, and that didn’t have anything to do with Ava coming into the picture.”

I nod as I mull over her words. She isn’t wrong. The kiss happened before Jude found out he was a dad. If I had stayed that morning instead of rushing to get to work, what would’ve happened? Would he have asked me out on a date? He mentioned he wanted to before Ava showed up, and we decided to remain friends instead. Did he mean that? I can’t help but wonder if things would be any different if I’d just stayed the next morning and talked about the night before with him instead of leaving.

“Yeah, but Jude’s had a year to act interested. I just can’t help but read into how quickly things changed for him once Ava was involved. What if his mom is right? What if he wants that conventional family picture so badly that it’s making him believe he feels things for me that he doesn’t?”

“Okay, don’t hate me, but can I chime in here?” a voice interjects.

My eyes go wide, and Lucy lets out a gasp when we find Cal standing in the entryway to the hallway. He holds up his hands like he’s taming a bear, which he very well might be with the shriek that leaves Lucy.

“Callahan Hastings!” she scolds, pointing a finger at her fiancé. “How dare you eavesdrop on this conversation.”

He takes a hesitant step forward, his hands still out in front of him as he walks into the kitchen. “I didn’t mean to. I walked out of my office, and the two of you were so locked in conversation you didn’t even notice me standing there.”

He aims an apologetic look in my direction, but I’m too busy trying to process the embarrassment of him hearing everything I just said to respond.

“I’m mad at you,” Lucy admonishes. She tosses her long hair over her shoulder and rips her gaze from Cal and looks at me. “I’m so sorry, Charlotte. He said he was in meetings for the rest of the day. I didn’t even think about him hearing us.”

“It’s fine,” I whisper, even though it definitely doesn’t feel fine. Is he going to tell everything I said to Jude? My cheeks heat at the thought. I don’t want anything I’ve said relayed back to Jude unless it comes from me. I’m still trying to wrap my head around everything so I feel comfortable enough to see him again and explain why I ran off in the first place.

“If it’s fine, can I give my opinion, then?” Cal asks. His gaze nervously bounces between Charlotte and me. “Jude’s my best friend, and I think you might want to hear what I have to say.”

I sigh but nod. Lucy reaches across the counter and puts her hand over mine. I squeeze hers, loving the connection with my friend as I wait for whatever Cal’s about to say.

Cal closes the distance before he leans against the counter, his gaze focused on me. “I think Jude’s had feelings for you from the moment you guys met.”

I shake my head. “That’s not possible. It’sJude.”

Cal lifts an eyebrow. “I used to hear all about the women he took on dates and his adventures. It’s all he ever wanted to talk about. But after he met you, it stopped. In fact, it felt like if he wasn’t giving me shit about how obsessed I was with Lucy, he was talking about you.Charlotte this, Charlotte that.He talked about you like you hung the damn moon.”

My mouth hangs open as I stare at him in disbelief. “There were tons of women after he met me. I saw him flirt with them with my own eyes.”

Cal lifts a shoulder in a casual shrug. “Sure, he flirted, but I think it was all for show. I love Jude, but I don’t think even Jude realized how he felt about you until Ava came into his life. He’s grown up a lot in the last month, and if you ask me what I think, I’d tell you that I believe he has feelings for you that have been there all along and have nothing to do with Ava or wanting a family.”

I blink a few times as I try to process what Cal’s saying.

Could it be true? I want to believe it’s true because, in my gut, I know that what I feel for Jude is real. The only reason I was ever able to push him away was because I didn’t want to be someone he slept with and left. I didn’t want things to be awkward, and I didn’t want to lose him as a friend. But now, I can’t hide from what I feel for him. I’m falling for him.

“What if you’re wrong?” I whisper. “What if he breaks my heart and I lose not only him but Ava too? What if it doesn’t work out?” I ask. I shake my head back and forth, trying to process how I could ever cope with losing either of them.

Lucy squeezes my hand. “What if itdoeswork out? What if letting go of the fear of losing them and allowing yourself to love them is the best thing that happens to all of you?”

FIFTY-THREE

JUDE