Page 10 of More For Me

I take some solace in the fact that her cousins aren’t Trey fans, but only a little.

“‘He’s like that at the house, too,” Fox says, jabbing his finger at me—his aim is a little off and he ends up pointing over my shoulder, instead. “Every time she has a date.”

“You’ve kind of got a shitty poker face, sweetie,” Rose says kindly.

“And beyond that, the two of you are perfect for each other,” River says. “You’re into the same stuff. You make each other laugh.”

“You’re both basically walking sunshine machines,” Will adds. “You go out of your way to make everyone else happy.”

“You already spend most of your time together,” Rose says.

“Plus, you’re both absolutely ridiculous,” Leo mutters and Rose smacks his shoulder.

“They’re both fun-loving,” she corrects him firmly. “And a little silly.”

Leo coughs at the wordsa littleand I glare at him. “I can’t believe you’re betraying me after all the work I put into your wedding.”

“I’m not betraying you,” he says, actually looking a little stung by my words. “I want to help you.”

“This could be you guys,” Fox says, waving his hand around—and spilling half his drink in the process. “All happy and married and shit.”

I can’t ignore the image that pops into my head at that. Everly walking up the aisle toward me, the way she did today, but this time she’s the one in the white dress.

Jesus. Leo’s been telling me I’m overly romantic since the day we met. Maybe he has a point.

“You should see your face right now,” River says smugly.

I throw up my hands, beyond frustrated. “What the hell do you want me to say? I have feelings for her, okay? That doesn’t change anything.”

“What doesn’t it change?” Rose asks gently.

“That she doesn’t feel the same way!” I don’t realize how loud I’ve shouted until the five of them go silent, staring at me, Fox’s mouth hanging open at my outburst. I’m not one to shout or get pissed. I’m the fun guy. The easy-going one. What did Will say? A walking sunshine machine.

Funny, I’m usually pretty proud of descriptions like that, even though people aren’t always being complimentary with them. I like making others happy, like smoothing over the difficult times for my friends. So why do I feel so shitty about it right now?

“How do you know she doesn’t feel the same way?” Rose asks.

I jab a finger back towards Everly on the dance floor. “Because that’s who she dates.”

Fox squints in that direction. “Guys with potato shaped heads?”

Okay, that makes me smile a little—his head is pretty potato shaped. But it fades quickly as I continue. “No. Guys with names like Trey. Guys who drive Mercedes and BMWs. Guys who work in the entertainment industry. Flashy guys. The kind of guys who could model for like, Rolex ads.” I gesture at myself. “That is so not me.”

I don’t say the next part—that Everly seems to have a thing for blonde hair. For big muscles. Tanned California guys who look like they spend half the day on the beach—or driving around LA in their shiny convertibles with the top down.

Not middle school teachers who spend most of their time watching rom-coms or trying to see celebrities hanging out in Hollywood.

Sure, Everly does those things with me—no one gets more excited about a good celeb sighting than that girl. But the simple fact is that I’m always going to be the guy watching the famous people—whereas Everly is actuallybecomingone.

“We’ve been friends for years now,” I say in a low voice. “And she’s never once dated a guy like me.”

Leo’s face clouds over. “If you’re talking about being Indian—”

I dismiss that with a wave of my hand. “I’m not talking about my skin color or my background. I’m talking aboutme. My job. My future. We’re on completely different paths.”

“You don’t think you’re good enough for her,” Rose says, sounding pretty damn sad about it.

I don’t argue with her, and the table is quiet for a long moment before Leo finally snorts. “Well, that’s bullshit.”