Friend Zone (Friend Zone Series Book 1)

by Nicole Blanchard

  I giggled and slurped down the rest of my third sangria. “Look who can dish it, but can’t take it.”

  Layla was giggling, too, her cheeks flushed. “I think we’ve opened enough wounds for one Girl’s Night.”

  “Yeah, but I always feel so much better after,” Ember lifted her glass in a toast.

  Layla and I touched ours to hers. “I’d say we should do it more often, but you two ladies drink too much,” Layla said, then polished off her wine.

  I did the same with my own. “Way too much,” I said with faux graveness.

  We were still laughing as we stepped out into the chilly night air. Their Uber was waiting by the entrance and I gave them a hug and helped them into the back seat.

  “Text me when you get home, okay?” I said as I waited for them to buckle up.

  “Yes, mom,” they both said.

  “You too,” Ember added sternly, ever the mother hen.

  “I will,” I promised. I waved at their smiling faces in the back window as the Uber pulled away.

  I may have had to concentrate extra hard on my way to the bench at the front of the restaurant. Remembering I promised to text Liam when I was done, I pulled out my phone and fumbled with the lock screen.

  Me: I’m reaaaadddyy.

  It only took a few seconds for Liam to respond.

  Liam: Omw

  I wanted to think it was the sangria, but the delicious anxiety I felt had nothing to do with having too much to drink. It was Liam. All Liam. The cool breeze laden with the scent of grease from a burger joint nearby did little to combat the flush in my cheeks. I had to get a grip on myself before I did something stupid.

  Like kiss him this time.

  Talking myself out of my nerves wasn’t helping, so I decided I needed to walk it off. As soon as I stood up, the blood seemed to drain from my head and I swooned, reaching out a hand to grip the back of the bench before I stumbled and fall face-first into the concrete.

  But I didn’t.

  A hand gripped my arm, and I looked up to find Liam standing in front of me. I blinked a couple times to clear the blurriness from my vision. “Careful there, Charlotte,” he said with a mile-wide grin. “Wouldn’t want you to hurt your pretty face.”

  My belly flipped and I barely resisted the urge to lean into his grip. I managed to roll my eyes instead, which was a bad idea as it caused me to wobble in my heels. Then I narrowed them, because even with the three-inch assist, Liam was still ridiculously tall. “Don’t call me Charlotte,” I told the two of him. “You got here fast. You better not have been speeding.”

  “And you’ve been spending too much time with Ember, clearly. I didn’t speed. I’d just gotten your text as I was leaving the library.”

  Because I wanted to step into his arms, I took one back. I controlled my wobbling by sheer will. “Let’s just get out of here,” I said, but it sounded a little desperate to my ringing ears.

  “Done,” he replied, and wrapped an arm around me to help me to his truck. When I stumbled, he pressed me more securely to his side. “Have a little too much to drink there, shortstack?”

  “Just a couple glasses of wine. Don’t judge.”

  He opened the door for me and kept me steady with one wide palm as I clambered up. “No judgement,” he said, but I could clearly hear the smile in his voice. Instead of pissing me off, though, it made me want to laugh.

  “You’re such a good friend, Liam,” I said as he buckled himself in. My eyelids were heavy and now that the rush of adrenaline was gone, I could feel myself starting to crash. Surrounded by the comforting scent of him, knowing I had nothing to worry about as long as he was there, I turned sideways in the seat and leaned over so I could lay my forehead against his shoulder.

  He reached over and rested his palm on my thigh like I knew he would. “Any time.”

  I only meant to close my eyes for a second, but I must have dozed off, because when I opened them again, I found myself in Liam’s arms. Blinking rapidly, I looked around and discovered we were in my apartment complex’s elevator. Too emotionally and physically exhausted to move, I let my head drop back against his chest.

  “Y’know, Charlie, after more than a decade of knowing you, I should have known that a couple glasses of wine knocks you out.”

  I smiled against the material of his shirt and marveled how that it was even possible after the past few days. “I just want to take a shower, change into a pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt and eat a gallon of ice cream.” I yawned and then tapped him on the shoulder. “You can put me down now.”

  He set me gingerly on my feet, his hands on my arms to steady me.

  “I’m fine, I promise.”

  “You sure?” he asked as the elevator dinged.

  “I promise. I don’t think it can get any worse,” I said with a laugh.

  And then we stepped out into the hall and found nearly a dozen men in uniforms going in and out of the yawning door to my apartment.

  Chapter Nine

  Liam

  The easy, relaxed mood Charlie had been in since I’d picked her up from the restaurant disintegrated at the sight before us. Her shoulders tensed and her breathing grew shallow and sharp. My own gaze narrowed and I kept myself in check so I didn’t go charging over demanding to know what the hell was going on. There’d been a ton of trucks in the parking lot and a whole mess of people congregated on the first floor, but I’d been too focused on Charlie to give any thought to why they were there.

  Big mistake.

  “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” she asked and I kept my hand on her arm in case her knees gave out from under her again. Mostly it was for my own benefit. I needed to know she was okay.

  “Yeah, what the fuck?” was all I could manage through gritted teeth.

  Charlie inhaled and exhaled slowly, then she straightened her spine and marched across the hall to the disaster zone that was her apartment. She only wobbled a little on her heels until she came to a stop beside two middle-aged men in coveralls. After tapping one of them on the arm, she squared her shoulders.

  “Excuse me. This is my apartment. What’s going on?” she asked.

  The two men turned to her and immediately their eyes went to the slight V of her neckline. I gritted my teeth and stepped up behind her. Catching my eye, they straightened their gazes, both turning red.

  “Ma’am, your apartment flooded. We didn’t find out until this evening because the space below yours is empty. The building manager had an emergency at another complex, so he’ll be by in the morning to talk about your options. Until then, your apartment will be inaccessible.”

  She swayed in front of me, so I placed my hands on her shoulders. “F-flooded you said? But that’s impossible. I haven’t been here since Friday and there wasn’t anything leaking at the time.”

  I thought back to Friday when Andrew had asked for her key to get his stuff from her place. Had he done this? Was he that spiteful? Then it hit me. If I hadn’t given Andrew the key, she wouldn’t be essentially homeless right now. This was entirely my fault.

  “How long will it take to repair the damage?” I asked. I had to fix my mistake.

  One of the guys, whose name tag read Mac, lifted a shoulder. “Four to six weeks depending on the severity. Once we clear it up a little bit, you can go in and assess your damages and gather any items you’d like.” He pulled a business card from his breast pocket. “If you’ll call the landlord’s office tomorrow, they’ll be available to go over your options.”

  “Options,” she repeated.

  “Hey, Mac!” came a shout from inside her apartment.

  “Excuse me,” Mac said, and disappeared inside.

  Charlie turned, her eyes unfocused and her face devoid of expression. “Well, shit,” she said after a minute of silence.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out. But we should talk about this somewhere else.”

  “Somewhere else. I have nowhere to go.” She barked out a laugh. “Have you looked in
side there? It’s a disaster zone, Liam.”

  “It’s just stuff. It can be replaced.” I guided her by the shoulders out of the melee while I figured out how to tell her what had happened. I’d tried to protect her and I’d wound up causing her even more damage.

  For a few minutes we just watched the parade of repairmen go in and out. Each time they stomped over the sodden carpet, Charlie winced. As the minutes passed, her shoulders grew tighter and tighter until they were somewhere up around her ears.

  “Why don’t you stay at my place?” I said. I didn’t know I was going to offer until the words spilled from my mouth. The more I thought about it, the more the idea made sense. It wasn’t going to be forever. We were best friends, for fuck’s sake. Of course she could bunk with me. It was my fault she was without a place. It was my responsibility to make it right.

  “What?” She blinked owlishly up at me, like she was waking from a dream. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

  “Why don’t you stay at my place until they’ve got yours sorted?”

  She blinked again, her mouth hanging slightly open. Then she shook her head and said, “No, I couldn’t do that to you. You love your house. We just talked about how you didn’t’ want to settle down and all that.”

  I shrugged, feeling awkward as hell. “It’s not that big of a deal, and it’s not like I’m asking you to marry me. It would just be for a couple weeks.”

  “I can’t move in with you!” I wasn’t sure her eyes could get any bigger.

  I shot a pointed glance at the ruins of her apartment. “Well you sure as hell can’t live here.”

  A variety of emotions crossed her face, starting with irritation and ending with resignation. “Just for tonight,” she said after a while. “Just until I can talk to the super and figure out what my options are.”

  Our building manager had never been what you’d call responsible, so I didn’t have any high hopes about her “options”, but she’d already had enough shit dumped on her in the past couple of days, so I agreed. I waited outside her front door while they let her run in and grab a few things that weren’t completely soaked. I would have offered to help her, but she had the wrinkle between her brows that meant she was looking to fight with someone.

  As soon as she came out with a couple garbage bags full of her stuff, I took them from her hands and said, “C’mon, I know you’re hungry. Let’s heat up a pizza and I’ll get you some medicine for the headache you’ve got.”

  She squinted at me. “How did you know I have a headache?”

  After reaching the elevator, I turned to her and pressed the crease between her brow. “This right here.”

  She only sighed, and I figured I wouldn’t push her for the rest of the night. She had enough to deal with. We loaded her things into my truck and she was silent for the short drive over to my squat little duplex. The paint on the clapboard siding needed refinishing. The door was a little cock-eyed and the landscaping was practically non-existent, but it was dry and it was as clean as a bachelor pad could get, which was a hell of a lot better than her place. And it’d save her more money than if she got a hotel.

  I set her bags down underneath the kitchen bar as she kicked out of her shoes. While she threw herself on the couch with a grown, I grabbed a frozen pizza from the freezer, unwrapped it and set it on a cookie sheet while the oven preheated. I shook a couple Tylenol into my hand and brought them over to her, along with a glass of water.

  “Take these.”

  She did as I’d instructed and gulped down the whole glass of water. “Thank you,” she said on a heavy exhale. “I guess I’ll know better than to think things couldn’t get worse in the future.”

  I chugged my own glass of water, hoping the knot in my throat would dissolve. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but we’ll get it taken care of.”

  “I know. I just I hate it when things are out of my control.” She frowned, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “What?” she asked indignantly.

  “You’re gonna go through your whole life frustrated if you think you can control everything. If my family had taught me anything, it’s that you have to learn to roll with the punches. Cliché, but it hasn’t done me wrong yet.”

  She shook her head, then winced and slumped down against the couch. “I’d rather know what’s happening. Have a plan. That way if something does go wrong, I’ll know what to do.”

  “So, you’re saying you should have planned to lose your apartment?” Maybe I was wrong about understanding this woman in particular. I scratched my head.

  Tears thickened her voice and it froze me to the spot. Those tears were because of me. I’d done this to her as surely as fuck-stain. How I’d ever though I had a right to ask her for more was beyond me. “I should have had renter’s insurance at least so that would have covered any possessions that are damaged so I could replace them. I should have had someone come over to check on the apartment while I was gone. If I hadn’t been so distracted by what happened with Andrew, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”

  Guilt drew my eyes to the countertops. I could barely look at her. “Clearly you’re still intoxicated because that’s the biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard, and sometimes you can really be full of it.”

  “I don’t want to argue with you tonight, Liam,” she said with a sigh.

  “I’m not arguing.” I glanced over as the oven chimed and got up to put the pizza inside. “All I’m saying is you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. You can’t control everything.”

  “I can try.”

  With the pizza in the oven, there was nothing else I could do to distract myself from telling her the truth. I braced my hands on the island and forced my gaze to her. God, she was gorgeous. Even sprawled across my couch, her face splotchy with the remnants of tears and her makeup faded, she was gorgeous. “Look, this wasn’t your fault. If it was anyone’s, it was mine.”

  She threw a hand over her eyes. “No, it wasn’t. If anything, you’re the only thing holding me together.”

  I flinched. “He flooded your apartment because of me.”

  “What?” she asked as she straightened, her red-rimmed eyes coming to me. “What are you talking about?”

  “Friday after you broke up with him he came over to the bar asking for your spare key so he could get his stuff. I didn’t even think about it because I was so pissed off from the things he said.” I didn’t even want to touch how scrambled my brain had been after kissing her. “I should have asked you if it was okay. I should have known he’d try something after the shit he pulled. I’m sorry, Char. Just tell me how I can make it up to you.”

  She wiped her face and took a shaky breath. “You gave him a k-key?”

  I wished she’d yell. It would be so much easier than the heartbreak on her face. “Yes. I’m so sorry. If I could take it back I would.”

  Her shoulders slumped and she blew out a long breath. I braced my hands on the island, preparing for a thorough tongue-lashing. Bare feet appeared in my field of vision where they paused opposite the island. She was so close, but she’d never felt so far away.

  “I don’t know what to think about this right now,” she began, then her voice cut off. I stared at her bare feet and realized she hadn’t been able to get another pair of shoes. Because of me. “I don’t want to be angry with you, I can’t even remember the last time I truly didn’t want to look at you. But that’s how I feel. I’m tired. I’m overwhelmed. I’m homeless. It’s too much. I’m going to go get a shower and get some sleep and maybe tomorrow I’ll know how to handle everything, but right now, I think I need some space.”

  “I understand.” My voice sounded like shit. I cleared my throat. “Do you need anything? Towels or—”

  She shuffled her feet. “I can find them.” Silence descended and I didn’t dare break it. “Goodnight, Liam.”

  “’Night,” I called to her retreating back. I wanted to say more, but I bit my tongue. She was right, she needed space. I’d done more than enough. I just h
oped she could forgive me.

  Chapter Ten

  Charlie

  My confusion haunted my dreams. Not only was I in an unfamiliar place, but the sense of losing all my things, of being displaced again brought back all the insecurities I felt after my mom left. I dreamt of her for the first time in nearly a decade that night. Every time I woke up in a cold sweat and tried to talk myself down until I passed out again, only for the cycle to continue on relentlessly. By the time the sun rose, I didn’t feel any more rested than I had when I’d first put my head to a Liam-scented pillow.

  I’d set several alarms the night before in five-minute increments and it took every single one of them to get me fully awake and out of bed in time for my clinical rounds at the crack of dawn. Luckily, I kept a couple changes of scrubs in my car so they weren’t damaged and had grabbed them before coming to Liam’s. I tossed them in his dryer as I padded around his place, trying not to make any noise.

  I spent quite a bit of time in it since we’d left Nassau for Tallahassee to go to FSU, but I saw it with new eyes now that I’d be staying for God only knew how long. Unlike me, he hadn’t moved around each year trying out new complexes and trying to find one that fit. He’d found this dinky little duplex our freshman year and had stubbornly stuck to it.

  It was in a prime location just off of Lake Ella where we’d often jog together when our schedules matched. I’d point out the cute puppies and he’d patiently let me pet them or coo at the geese and ducks. But there’d be no jogging this morning. I wasn’t sure I could look at Liam. He didn’t have class until ten-thirty or work until five. Part of me wanted to see him peek out his door, but another was grateful he was still asleep. I didn’t want to look at him and still be mad.

  I pushed thoughts of jogging out of my mind and focused on getting ready. I didn’t have any food here—I’d have to go shopping after clinicals and classes, another expense I couldn’t really afford. Then I spotted the note on the counter. It was written on a flashcard in Liam’s precise handwriting and propped against the coffeemaker.