Friend Zone (A New Adult College Romance)

by Camilla Isley

  Spotting her, Jack sprang to his feet. “Hey,” he said, jogging toward her. “Whose truck was that?” He frowned at the leaving car.

  “Ethan’s,” Alice replied, not offering any further explanation.

  Jack’s face darkened. “Are you dating him again?”

  Alice’s shoulders slumped forward. “No.” She was tired of playing games. “He and his girlfriend gave me a lift back from Georgiana’s wedding. Madison and I went together in her car this morning, but she had some kind of crisis and left mid-party.” Alice searched her clutch for her keys and headed toward the door. “I should probably check on her.”

  Jack trailed her. “Yeah, I saw her go inside.”

  Alice narrowed her eyes at him. “How long have you been waiting here?”

  “Pretty much all day.”

  The admission jolted Alice’s heart, but she decided to ignore it. “Did Madison look all right?”

  “She wouldn’t speak to me. But she had puffy eyes.”

  Alice made to insert the keys in the lock. “Then I should definitely go see if she’s okay.”

  “Wait.” Jack grabbed her elbow gently. “Can we talk, please?”

  “It’s been a long day,” Alice protested. “And I can’t stand on these heels any longer.”

  “Let’s sit down then.”

  Jack pulled her away from the door and toward a nearby bench.

  Alice let him at first but then chickened out. Jack ambushing her like this was too much. One ex in a day had been enough, and even if Jack wasn’t officially an ex, it still felt that way. “I think I really should go check on Madison.” She resisted his pull.

  “Look,” Jack said, peeking over her shoulder. “There goes another bridesmaid to take care of Madison.”

  Alice turned around. Victoria, Georgiana’s sister, was ringing the bell to her apartment.

  “How did you know she’s a bridesmaid?” Alice asked.

  “Same long, lavender dress as Madison.” Jack shrugged. “It can’t be that popular.”

  Alice’s resolve not to talk to him softened. “I don’t know if I should be scared you just used the word ‘lavender’ or not.”

  Jack shot her a grin—an interiors-melting one.

  “Come on, Ice. We need to talk. And Haley’s here, too.” Jack jerked his chin at the building entrance. “Madison is taken care of.”

  Alice turned her head. Haley and Victoria were standing in front of the door, having some kind of argument. Alice finally gave in. With Haley there, Madison would be fine. She let Jack drag her the rest of the way to the bench.

  Jack looked nervous and wasn’t talking, so Alice prompted him. “What are you doing here?”

  “You wouldn’t take my calls.”

  Because the next time we talked, I’d have to say goodbye to you, Alice thought. Better get it over with quickly. “Okay, so what is it?”

  “I came to apologize,” Jack stated simply.

  “For what?” Alice snapped. “For sleeping with my friend, for not telling me, or for something else?”

  “All of it, and more.”

  Alice panicked. “I can’t do this, Jack. I can’t.”

  “Do what?”

  “Have this conversation with you.” He frowned. So Alice explained, “The ‘we can’t be friends anymore’ conversation.”

  “Sorry, but we’ll talk about how we’re not going to be friends.” Jack tapped a finger on his thigh. “Right now.”

  A crack spread through Alice’s heart. “So you agree.” She stared at the floor. “We can no longer be friends?”

  “Is that what you want?” Jack asked. “To be my friend?”

  She looked up at him. “No.”

  “Good, neither do I.”

  “And what do you want?”

  Jack pinned her with his stare. “You, Ice. I want you.”

  Air escaped her lungs as she spiraled down a vortex of possibilities. Then fear kicked in. “Yeah, right,” she said.

  “Is it really that hard to believe?”

  “The only time I tried to kiss you, you did everything you could to push me back. So, yeah, it is.”

  “You caught me off guard. I didn’t expect it. I didn’t know how to react.” Jack gathered his thoughts. “I didn’t even know how I felt, and by the time I had a good idea, you were already dating Peter.”

  “And now you know?” Alice asked, still skeptical.

  He locked eyes with her and closed the space between them. “Yes.”

  “And how is that?”

  Jack brushed the hair away from her face. “We’re not just friends,” he whispered, never lowering his gaze. “We never were.”

  Alice wasn’t ready to accept these words. She’d waited too long to hear them. “And you realized this when?”

  Jack looked at the sky in a way that said, “You’re not going to make this easy for me.”

  No, she wasn’t.

  He trained his eyes back on hers. “I think I first realized it—subconsciously, at least—on umbrella night. When that dude grabbed you. When he pulled you away, and you struggled to get free but couldn’t, I wanted to beat him into a pulp.”

  “That was a year ago,” Alice noted.

  “I know, but again from the first moment I saw you with Peter…” Jack made a strangled noise with his throat. “All I’ve wanted to do is smash his face. I’ve been rotting with jealousy ever since.”

  Could this be true? Was Jack really saying… What was he saying?

  “Was the umbrella at Christmas…” Alice paused, appalled. Not sure what to ask. “Was it some sort of encrypted message I should’ve deciphered to… to what?”

  “I didn’t put that much thought into it. I saw a bunny-shaped umbrella, it reminded me of you, of that night, and I wanted to give it to you.”

  Alice narrowed her eyes at him. “Were you pretending to sleep on the plane the next day?” she asked, her voice daring him to deny it.

  Jack frowned, a red flush creeping up his neck. “I had been waiting for a break ever since you started dating Peter. I couldn’t wait to leave for Hawaii because I knew you and him wouldn’t be together. That I wouldn’t have to guard my shoulder in case I bumped into you two on campus, or change libraries because you were already there, with him.”

  Alice stared at him, her mouth gaping open. That was exactly how she’d behaved around Jack’s girlfriends all along. Avoid. At. All. Costs. Hope bloomed inside her chest.

  “So, yeah,” Jack continued. “When you told me you were coming along, I freaked out. I didn’t want to deal with you and him on my trip. So I pretended I was sleeping.”

  “You said you were tired because you’d spent the night with someone,” she accused.

  Jack shook his head. “Peter said it, and I let everyone believe it.” His shoulders sagged forward. “Because it was better than the alternative, than you learning the truth.”

  Alice raised her eyebrows in a silent interrogation.

  “That I’d spent the night awake, dreading seeing you and Peter together every single day of the trip.”

  Alice tried to imagine what being on a trip with Jack and one of his girlfriends would do to her. A slow death. But, still, she couldn’t let herself believe him. If she did, then… no, it would hurt too much.

  “The night I met Peter,” she said, ice in her voice, “you went home with Becky.”

  Jack didn’t lower his gaze. “Ice, you want a list of all the stupid things I did?”

  Alice nodded.

  “If you promise to listen to everything else I have to say, I’ll give it to you. Deal?”

  “Deal.”

  Jack smiled, relieved, and took her hands in his. “From the moment I saw your lips stained blue, I hated Peter. Hated him. I wanted to be the one kissing you. But did I say so? No. I did what I do best and got drunk out of my mind and slept with the first girl I saw.”

  Jack talking about sex with other
girls was like having an invisible hand wrap around her heart and have it suddenly squeeze. Alice bit back the bitter retort already forming on her lips and forced herself to remain silent. To listen.

  “Then the next morning I woke up in her apartment,” Jack said. The only emotion in his eyes was regret. “And she threw me out, and it felt… pointless. I was tired of being with people I didn’t care about—”

  Alice interrupted him by wrenching her hands free. They immediately felt too cold, and she wanted to put them back where they’d been. But Jack talking about the girls he’d slept with was making it hard for her to sit still and listen to him. She pinned him with a stare, asking, “So you haven’t slept with anyone since—what, October?”

  “No,” he replied, unflinching.

  Alice’s eyes widened. “Don’t mock me, Jack. You expect me to believe you’ve gone”—she counted on her fingers—“seven months without sleeping with anyone?”

  “No one since Becky.”

  There wasn’t a trace of hesitation in his voice or features. A little smile spread on Alice’s lips, and she couldn’t stop it. “Go on,” she said. “With the list of stupid things you did.”

  Jack reclaimed her hands. “Umbrella night, I wanted to kiss you.” A black hole opened where her stomach should’ve been. “And that day at the library,” Jack continued, “the same. But I was scared of history repeating itself, like what happened with Felicity, and I couldn’t bear to lose you the same way I lost her. Not you. So I pushed you away and spent an hour taking a freezing shower; not that it did me any good. Then at the party you acted as if nothing had happened, you pushed your friend on me, and you kissed Peter.”

  Alice felt the need to admit some of her own stupid actions. “I was trying to make you jealous.”

  “It worked.” Jack flashed her a mischievous grin. “After your first date with Peter, I lost my mind. I was even more stupid.”

  “How?”

  “I told you not to date him because he was bad for you. And when that didn’t work, I tried to have him hook up with some random girl to prove my point and make you ditch him.”

  Alice couldn’t stop the foolish smile tugging at the corners of her mouth from spreading, or the small fire that was now burning in her chest. “You’re really bad,” she said.

  “I am, was.” Jack squeezed her hands. “My next tactic was to ignore you, and him. To pretend you didn’t exist, or that the two of you weren’t together.”

  Alice knew that particular tactic all too well; she’d used it many times on him.

  “Then there was Hawaii, and I couldn’t fool myself anymore,” Jack said. “So I pretended to sleep to avoid you. That night, when I saw Peter come into your room—”

  “You saw that?” Alice asked, shocked. A furious blush invaded her face. “How?”

  “My room was directly opposite to yours. David and Scott Williams fighting was the best thing that happened in Hawaii. When I saw you head back to your room with Haley, I was happy. I was glad two of my teammates had almost beaten each other to death if it meant you got to spend one less night with Peter.”

  Alice’s mind was exploding. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  Jack scoffed. “Coming from you, that’s rich.”

  Alice pulled her hands away from his grip again and stood up. “Excuse me?”

  Jack sprang up from the bench and was in her face in a blink, crowding her. “You say you’ve known for years, so why didn’t you say something sooner?”

  “I tried.” She glared at him. “You rejected me.”

  “And you claimed to have been on the rebound.”

  “Are you saying you believed me?”

  “No,” Jack admitted. “I never said anything after that day because you were with Peter. It didn’t seem right.”

  “And trying to have him sleep with other girls was right?”

  “That was a week into your relationship. You hadn’t slept with him yet. When you became steady, it seemed wrong to try to break you two apart. I didn’t want to hurt you.” Jack paused. “And when you broke up, I messed up again.”

  “Madison,” Alice whispered. That invisible hand was back at her heart and squeezing. “Was that another one of the stupid things you did?”

  “Not telling you was stupid. And, yes, it was deliberate.” For once, Jack was owning it. “Have you ever wondered why I never as much as looked at someone in our concentration, or at one of your close friends—”

  “You slept with Becky.”

  “You pushed her on me,” Jack protested. “And she’s not a close friend.”

  “And why were close friends and people in our concentration off-limits?”

  “Ice, you know why. It felt like crossing a line,” Jack explained. “One I crossed with Madison, but only because I didn’t know you’d meet her in the future and become best friends.”

  “And why didn’t you cross that line, knowingly?”

  “To leave the door open.”

  “The door to what?”

  “You and me.”

  “Jack, you’re contradicting yourself every five seconds. First, you didn’t know. Then, you’ve always known… None of this makes sense.” Alice took a step back. “I’m too tired for this. I’m going inside.”

  Jack grabbed her by the shoulders gently, keeping her in place. “No, you’re not,” he said. His tone was final. “I know I’m not making much sense, but I’ve come to tell you something, and you need to hear me say it.”

  Alice’s heart was beating too fast. She couldn’t speak.

  Jack’s right hand traveled from her shoulder to her neck, ending up buried deep in her hair. “I love you, Ice. And I’m not afraid. I won’t be stupid again and not kiss you. Even if it is just this once.” His other hand moved down to her lower back, and he pulled her close to him. The hand at the back of her nape tilted her head upward, and Jack’s lips brushed against hers.

  Alice’s knees buckled. She wrapped her arms around his neck for support, her fingers slipping through his dark hair. A million times she’d imagined kissing Jack, but none of her fantasies could have prepared her for the real thing. Everything inside her melted. All her fears, all her insecurities, all the pain and jealousy. It was all gone, obliterated by this kiss.

  Jack broke the kiss. “I love you,” he whispered.

  “I lo—” Before Alice could say it back, he was kissing her again, and this time her knees really did give way.

  Jack scooped her up into his arms and began to carry her away from her building.

  “Where are you taking me?” Alice asked, losing herself in his eyes.

  “Home. With me. And I’m never letting you go ever again. Deal?” Jack flashed her that mischievous grin she loved so much.

  Alice beamed back at him. “Deal.”

  To Be Continued…

  Note from the Author

  Dear Reader,

  I hope you enjoyed Friend Zone. If you loved or hated my story please leave a review on Goodreads, your favorite retailer's website, or wherever you like to post reviews (your blog, your Facebook wall, your bedroom wall, in a text to your best friend...). Reviews are the biggest gift you can give to an author, and word of mouth is the most powerful means of book discovery. It helps readers find new authors they love and it helps the authors you love stand out.

  Book three in the series, My Best Friend's Boyfriend, will focus on Madison, Haley and, yes, those Williams brother. Alice and Jack will be there, too, as will most of the characters from the first book. I hope you’ll want to keep following them on their journey. More info available on my website.

  Turn the page for a very short teaser from My Best Friend's Boyfriend.

  Thank you for your support!

  Camilla, x

  Excerpt from My Best Friend's Boyfriend

  One

  Haley

  Now

  “I don’t have an umbrella,” Haley called, having to shou
t to be heard over the rumbling summer storm. “Do you?”

  “No,” David yelled back. “And I don’t care.”

  He hurried past her out of the cover of the library porch and ran down the steps. When he reached the bottom, he tilted his face up and closed his eyes. In a matter of seconds, he was soaked.

  “What are you doing?”

  David looked at her from across the street, he was walking backward toward the center of Harvard Yard. “Come here. It’s only water.”

  Haley didn’t know what possessed her, but she did as he asked. She ran off the porch and joined him in the middle of the park. The sensation of the rain on her skin was electrifying as she spun on her toes, arms opened wide. Haley looked upward and laughed and laughed, unable to stop—until she pirouetted right into David’s arms. The smile died on her lips as he caught her wrists and held her hands close to his chest, leaning his head down…

  She tried to pull back, a ragged breath catching in her throat. “David, don’t.”

  David’s lips brushed her forehead in a soft, wet kiss. “I wasn’t going to,” he whispered. “The next time we kiss, you’ll want to just as much as I do now…”

  ###

  Grab your copy of My Best Friend's Boyfriend now!

  Also by Camilla Isley

  Romantic Comedies

  Stand Alones

  I Wish for You

  A Sudden Crush

  First Comes Love Series

  Love Connection

  I Have Never

  New Adult College Romance

  Just Friends Series

  Let’s Be Just Friends

  Friend Zone

  My Best Friend's Boyfriend

  About the Author

  Camilla is an engineer turned writer after she quit her job to follow her husband in an adventure abroad.

  She’s a cat lover, coffee addict, and shoe hoarder. Besides writing, she loves reading—duh!—cooking, watching bad TV, and going to the movies—popcorn, please. She’s a bit of a foodie, nothing too serious. A keen traveler, Camilla knows mosquitoes play a role in the ecosystem, and she doesn’t want to starve all those frog princes out there, but she could really live without them.