Forever Love: A Friends to Lovers Collections Read online

  “Hmm?”

  “Are you one half of a great couple too?”

  “Not at all.” I hadn’t had a boyfriend in way too long.

  “Are you scoping out your new roommates then? I just heard you’re taking over Maddy’s lease. They’re both pretty adorable, aren’t they?”

  “I’ve obviously noticed they’re attractive, but I’m going to be living with them, not sleeping with them.” Of course the thought of sleeping with Macon got me excited, but I wasn’t sharing that with anyone.

  She gave me a knowing look. “I’ve seen the way Macon looks at you. I’m not so sure he feels the same way about you just being a roommate.”

  “I wouldn’t read into it.”

  “If you say so.” She smiled. “Okay, I’ve got to get ready for the dinner crowd. Good luck tonight!” She waved before heading off. Five minutes later the first diners began arriving.

  The first few groups were easy enough to seat. They were mostly families with little kids looking to get dinner in before the kids went crazy for the night. I’d babysat enough to know that taking kids out anywhere late at night was hard. I was careful to give the same color and number of crayons to each kid in a family. The last thing the parents needed was a meltdown because one got red and the other didn’t.

  Miraculously I made it until eight o’clock without too much of a problem. I seated too many people in one waitress’s section once, but aside from that slip up I was doing fine.

  “Hey, how are you holding up?” Maddy stopped by the station with two bottles of water. She handed one to me and opened one for herself.

  “I’m doing all right.” I opened the top and took a long sip. I hadn’t realized how thirsty I was. “Thanks.”

  “Not a problem. I figured if you were anything like me you’d need one.”

  I smiled. “Then I guess we’re alike.”

  “It’s getting later, so just know the clientele is going to change, and it’s going to get wilder.”

  “Wilder as in…?”

  “As in this is when you may want the large shirt.” She patted my shoulder before heading over to the bar. She’d been working the outdoor bar a lot lately, but I had a feeling she’d particularly requested the inside one so she could stay close by. I appreciated it, but I wasn’t going to call her out on it either. If she wasn’t making a big deal, neither would I.

  Macon

  I usually didn’t pay much attention to the hostess when I walked into the Grille. I just waved at whoever was working before making my way over to the inside bar first to look for Maddy. I nearly did a double take when I saw Carly standing there with her brown hair cascading down the back of that oh-so-tight black t-shirt.

  “Hey.” I didn’t have the brain power to come up with a more clever opening line. I was using every ounce of it to force myself to look at her eyes. There was no sure fire way to piss off a girl more than to get caught staring at her chest.

  “Hi, you made it.” Her voice was playful, and I took it as a good sign that her evening was going well.

  “It looks that way. Max got you working already?”

  “Yeah, he hired me on the spot. I’m special, huh?” She ran her teeth over her lower lip. It was a sexy action that had me thinking inappropriate thoughts again.

  “Oh, you’re special all right.” I laughed. Teasing Carly wasn’t the same as teasing Maddy; we didn’t have the same sort of history, but I liked it for different reasons.

  “I’m guessing you’re just going over to see Maddy at the bar and don’t need me to seat you.”

  “Yeah, but I’ll miss out on your mad escorting skills.” Damn. That came out all wrong. “And by that you know I mean escorting me to a seat.”

  She blushed a little. It was cute on her freckled cheeks. “You mean you weren’t referring to my call-girl skills?” She said it completely dead pan.

  “You never know what they’re teaching in college these days.”

  “How long ago did you graduate? Two years?”

  “Two years is a long time.” I put a hand on the hostess stand. “Good luck, and keep those escorting skills clean for me tonight. You’re going to be my roommate you know, you need to stay on the up and up.”

  “Yeah, yeah. I’ll try.” She laughed, and I made my way over to the bar. Maddy was busy making some frozen drinks so she didn’t come over for a few minutes. I watched Carly talking to a few people while I waited. Finally she walked over.

  “How’s she doing?” Maddy didn’t bother with a normal greeting. I didn’t mind at all. I knew her enough to expect it. She was really protective of the people she cared about. She was protective of me when I let her be.

  “She seems to be doing fine.” I glanced in Carly’s general direction, but my view was blocked by a large group of guys. I tried to ignore my annoyance at that.

  “What? Why are you making that face?” Maddy watched me warily before placing a beer down in front of me. She was eerily good at knowing what I was in the mood for.

  “It’s just a group of losers by the hostess stand.”

  Two guys walked over to the bar.

  “Can you check on her?” Maddy was already turning toward the customers. “I would, but I can’t.”

  “Sure.” I was looking for an excuse anyway. I headed back to the front.

  “You sure you can’t sit with us?” One of the assholes with a Carolina Panthers t-shirt asked. They weren’t much older than me, but they shouldn’t have been harassing her. I hadn’t noticed them earlier, so I figured they must have been on their way in.

  “No. Sorry.” She seemed calm on the surface, but her face was tight. They were stressing her out.

  “Maybe later then,” the same guy suggested before winking at her and walking away. The rest of the guys laughed and headed straight out the back door.

  “Can I help you?” Carly crossed her arms, making the tight fabric of her t-shirt even tighter. My body reacted in a way I didn’t want it to.

  “Just saying hello.”

  “So you weren’t checking on me?”

  I feigned innocence. “Me? Check on you? Why would I do such a thing?”

  “Oh, you’re just bored?”

  “Maybe a little.” Technically I was bored.

  “Macon!” I turned as a blonde I’d met at a bar the other night called my name. She was with the same crowd as last time, all girls in their early twenties.

  “Hey.” My mind blanked on her name, I’d have to cover it well. I hadn’t taken the girl home or anything, I’m not a jackass.

  “We’re going outside to get drinks, you should come.” She tugged on my arm.

  “Go ahead. I mean you weren’t here for a reason anyway.” Carly’s voice had a slight edge to it, but I ignored it. What did she care if I hung out with a bunch of tourist girls?

  “Ok, see ya. We’ll catch up later.” I let the blonde tow me along.

  Maddy shot me a look as we passed the bar. She always gave me a hard time for the way I was with girls, but a little flirting never hurt anyone. Besides, I was already at the Grille and both she and Carly were working. What else was I going to do?

  “Who was that girl?” The blonde asked as soon as we were seated at a table.

  “My friend, Carly.”

  “Carly?” A brunette asked. “Isn’t that a ditsy name?”

  “What’s your name?” I hoped she’d say something good like Cookie, but I knew it was going be something typical.

  “Sally.”

  “Great.”

  “Do you remember my name?” The blonde ran a finger over my hand. I hate overly touchy feely girls.

  I inched my hand away. “I can’t say that I do, sorry.” When pushed against the wall, honesty is usually best. Besides, after her friend’s comment about Carly’s name, I wasn’t interested in hanging out with them for long.

  “It’s Emma.”

  “Okay, great.” I sipped my beer trying to come up with a good excuse to go back inside. If I’d been willin
g to leave it would have been easy, but I wanted to stay until closing. Carly needed to celebrate her first night of work, and those guys were still around. I wanted to make sure they didn’t bug her again.

  “Do you live around here?” Emma asked.

  “Not too far.” If she thought there was a chance in hell she was going to find out just how close it was, she was crazy.

  “Oh, cool. We’re staying at the Sanderling.”

  “Nice. I’ve been to the bar there.”

  “Yeah, we hung out there last night. We met some cool guys.”

  Was she trying to get me jealous or something. I smiled. This could be fun. “Oh yeah? Think I’d like any of them?”

  “What?” Emma and Sally said in unison. “You’re into guys?”

  “No, but I can’t figure out why else you’d be telling me about them.”

  By this point the rest of their group was listening in.

  Emma smiled and leaned in. “I’m just letting you know, I get a lot of interest from men.”

  “So I’m supposed to find the fact that you hook-up with a lot of guys appealing?”

  She turned bright red. “I don’t hook up with them, they just flirt with me.”

  “So what you’re saying is you’re a tease and you’re wasting my time?” I struggled to hold in a laugh. The expression on the girl’s face was too much. I had to stop while I was ahead. “Listen, that was rude. I’ve got to go. Nice seeing you again.”

  “What? You’re leaving?”

  “Yeah, I have some friends to talk to.”

  “You mean Carly?” She said the name with distaste.

  “She’s one of them.” I smiled at the rest of the girls. “Have a good evening, ladies.”

  I laughed on my way back inside knowing they’d find some other guys to occupy their time. Maybe they could talk to that group of idiots that were bothering Carly earlier.

  All the stools at the bar were taken, so I decided to check on Carly again. She was busy seating a group.

  “She’s a pretty girl, huh?” Max surprised me.

  I turned to look at him. I was in the Grille so much that sometimes he felt like my boss too. “Yeah, she’s pretty.”

  “But, she’s your friend’s sister. Remember that.”

  “Why does everyone think I need the reminder? Besides, Colin’s not my friend.”

  “He’s dating your best friend. You might as well consider him a friend too.” He patted my shoulder. “And we’re reminding you because of that look on your face. I haven’t seen you with it before.”

  “I just like her. Colin’s taking up more of Maddy’s time now, and I think a guy needs female friends.”

  “But she isn’t Maddy. She’s not like your sister, and if you kiss her it’s not going to feel that way.”

  “How’d you know about Maddy and I kissing?” Had she told him about our drunken kiss from years earlier?

  He laughed. “I didn’t know you two actually had. I was just assuming it would be the case. There’s no chemistry between you and Maddy, but I saw you and Carly earlier. There’s something there.”

  “What?” I forced myself to keep looking at Max instead of back at Carly. “You’re a relationship expert now?”

  “I run a bar, and I bartended for years. I know people.” He turned to leave. “Just be smart about this, Macon. A man doesn’t meet a girl he connects with that way every day.”

  I shrugged off his words and went to talk to Carly. So what if I found her attractive? I’d already promised Brody I wouldn’t mess around, and Colin would go through the roof. I’d just have to keep things platonic. It couldn’t be that hard.

  Carly

  I slept in until ten o’clock the morning after my first day of work. My feet hurt, and I was so tired I didn’t think I’d ever want to get out of bed. I’d worked until closing, and then ended up hanging out with everyone afterward. Colin was already sleeping by the time we got home, he’d never made it by the Grille, so I didn’t get a chance to ask him about the visit to see Maddy’s parents. I really hoped it went well.

  I knew he was already long gone when I made it downstairs, and I wasn’t sure when Maddy would get up, so I changed into a bikini and headed out to the deck to lay out. Colin’s house had a gorgeous view of the ocean. I settled down on a lounge chair and got ready to soak up some sun.

  I must have fallen asleep, because when I woke up Maddy was sitting in the chair next to me.

  I rubbed my eyes, trying to get used to the bright sun. “Hey, I didn’t know you were up.”

  “I didn’t know you were asleep.” She laughed before leaning back in the chair. “I was thinking about getting the rest of my stuff from my old room today. That way I can surprise Colin and you can get ready to move in whenever you want.”

  “That’s a great idea. Want me to come help?” I needed something to do anyway. I couldn’t just laze around the house all day.

  “I don’t have much more to get, but I’d appreciate the company.” She stood up. “Do you want to get changed first?”

  “Oh, I might just keep this on.” I slipped a beach cover up on over my bikini. “I was thinking about heading down to the ocean later.”

  “You know what, I might change too. That sounds like fun.” She headed toward the door. “Oh, and do you want to bring over anything with you? It might save you a trip.”

  “Good idea.” I collected my towel and followed her in through the French doors.

  I grabbed one of my large suitcases that I still hadn’t opened. I wasn’t exactly sure when I was going to officially move in, but it couldn’t hurt to start moving something over.

  I wheeled my suitcase out the front door and down the stairs before resting it on the ground next to Maddy’s car. Her car was blocking mine in, so taking hers was the easiest option. When Maddy didn’t come out right away, I leaned back against her trunk.

  “Hey, sorry.” Maddy met me at the car a few minutes later. She looked slightly pale.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m just still a little under the weather I guess.” She popped the trunk and I tossed my suitcase in.

  “Okay.” I decided not to press further. It wasn’t exactly my place.

  She unlocked the doors, and we got in. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

  I tried to read between the lines of her words. “Moving in with Colin officially?”

  “Yeah. We lived together in Paris, and I’ve spent practically every night at his house, but this feels different.” She pulled out of the driveway.

  “A good different?” Please be a good different, I said over and over to myself. I glanced at my phone. The first chance I had I was texting Colin. I needed to know how the visit went.

  “A very good different. I just never pictured myself as the girl who moved in with a guy like this before marriage.”

  “Really?” Maddy didn’t strike me as the most traditional girl.

  “Yeah. I don’t know. It just wasn’t the way I envisioned things.”

  “Life’s full of surprises like that.” I tried to keep my cool, but I was dying to talk to Colin. If she was talking that way, it meant she’d want the proposal. She wanted to get married. I was practically bursting at the seam.

  She glanced over at me as she slowed to let some pedestrians J-walk. Maddy was too nice that way. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” I wasn’t very good at hiding things from people. Colin just needed to propose so everything was out in the open.

  “I’m glad you’re here.” Her words seemed like they came out of nowhere, but I appreciated them. It was nice to be wanted somewhere. Before long we pulled into the lot of the condo.

  I moved to pull my bag out of the trunk, but Maddy stopped me. “Macon or Brody can get it. Those stairs are steeper when you’re lugging something up with you.”

  “Oh. I can handle it.” I was okay making my brother do the lifting for me, but otherwise I wasn’t into guys helping me with everything.
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  “If you’re sure.” She locked her car and headed toward the stairs. I followed behind. Half a flight up I regretted the decision to lug my suitcase myself. The sweltering heat and the way the wheels managed to get wedged in the gap of each stair made the process feel endless.

  “Here, let me help.” Maddy reached for it.

  “Nope. It’s my bag.” I stubbornly refused her assistance.

  She shrugged and took off up the rest of the stairs. Before I made it three steps more the bag was pulled from my hand.

  “Next time just ask me to get it from downstairs.”

  “I can handle my own bag, Brody.” I didn’t know Brody well yet, but he seemed like such a nice guy. I couldn’t understand how a guy like that was single. Tall, attractive, sweet, and he could cook? He’d be lots of girls’ dream. He wasn’t the star of my dreams though. That position belonged to Macon as of late. Having those thoughts about your new roommate probably wasn’t a good thing.

  “If you don’t mind, I’ll take it from here.” He easily carried the bag up the final flight. I let out a silent sigh of relief. Hopefully I’d regain the feeling in my arm eventually.

  Maddy was already in her room, or I guess it was my room now, when we walked in. I didn’t hear Macon, so I assumed he was at work or something.

  She emptied out the last drawer and picked up a few odds and ends from around the room. “I think that’s it. I’ve moved the rest over already.”

  “This whole trip was for that?” I could have brought her the bag anytime.

  “Yeah, I needed to just do it. I feel like I’ve been dragging my feet this whole time.” She sat down on the bed. She’d striped off the sheets already, and both clean sets sat in a neat pile on the dresser. I guess she didn’t need extra twin sheets.

  “Can I be nosy for a second?” I sat down next to her. The mattress felt firm which boded well for some good nights of sleep.

  “Sure, I already know what you’re going to ask.”

  “You do?”

  “You want to know why I’ve been so reluctant to move in fully with Colin.”

  I folded my hands in my lap. “That pretty much sums it up.”