Not Just Friends (Brookfield)

by Wolfe, Lacey

  She’d had a crazy day at work with the author. Her ideal evening tonight would have been a movie with take-out or one of those frozen meals, her cat on her lap, and if he were lucky, having him join her. Dancing and bars was not her scene.

  Taking a deep breath, he hoped Alyssa would forgive him. He couldn’t blame letting the girl press her body against him on his friends. He liked the attention he was getting. Being in a relationship was new to him. Only one girl and that was it. It was an adjustment. He was certain, though, that he could be with Alyssa for the rest of his life. And that having random women in his bed wasn’t what he wanted.

  Playing video games all day on a Saturday and getting beat by Alyssa, that’s what he wanted. Alyssa got him. She knew him and accepted him for who he was. More than he could say for Jay and Stan, who would most likely laugh and make jokes about the fact he liked to read. Why did he have people like that in his life?

  Here he’d spent the last few weeks with Alyssa, trying to help her through her problems with her sister. And yet, he had yet to deal with his own problems corrupting his life.

  A yellow taxi pulled up and Connor waved it down before anyone else standing outside could. He climbed in. The cab driver asked him where to. He’d love to tell him The Reading Corner, but knew not to push Alyssa too much tonight. He gave the driver his address, laid his head back on the headrest, and closed his eyes.

  * * * *

  The Reading Corner was only open a few hours on Sundays. Business only picked up for about an hour around two. By four, the place was dead and snow fell. Snowfall the weather man had predicted would miss them took a sudden turn. Three to four inches was expected overnight. While it wasn’t much, it was enough for the town of Brookfield to head home and Alyssa’s excuse to close early.

  She decided to do her Sunday night inventory and leave the shop open just in case. But she didn’t expect anyone to come in.

  Twenty minutes later, she had a list of books to order. She placed the paper by the register and pulled the keys from the drawer. As she locked the front door, she saw someone running down the sidewalk. Alyssa opened the door to see if the person needed help and was surprised to see her sister.

  “Diane, what are you doing out here? It’s cold.”

  Her sister came into the shop and pulled her cap from her head.

  “Why were you out in the snow?”

  Diane collapsed into a chair. “My stupid car slid on some ice on the bridge and I skidded off the road.”

  “Oh my God. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. But the car is stuck.”

  “I’m glad you got here safely.” Alyssa finished locking up the door. “Let’s go up to my place and get something warm to drink.”

  “You still live above your shop?”

  Alyssa shrugged. “It’s just me, why not?”

  “I guess you’ve got a point.”

  As they entered her apartment, Zoe came to greet them. Diane squealed and bent down to pet the cat. Alyssa forgot about how much her sister had loved the cat when she’d been around. It was the one thing they had in common—cats.

  “Wow, Zoe, you’re one gorgeous kitty.” She scratched the cat behind her ears.

  Alyssa busied herself making hot tea for them. Once she had it done, she joined her sister in the living room, handing her a mug. “Have you seen Matt?”

  “Yes, but didn’t go as I had hoped.”

  “How so?”

  “He’s being stubborn.” She sighed. “He wants me to end things with Tom. He never wanted Tom to begin with.”

  “How did Tom get involved with you two anyway?” The million-dollar question.

  “I met him and liked him. Matt wanted me to be happy, so he agreed. But in return, Matt wasn’t happy. And I guess I pushed him back to you.”

  “I don’t want him.”

  Diane laughed. “Yes, I know. Cody told me all about the new man in your life. Connor Phillips. Go, you.”

  Alyssa debated telling her about the recent trouble, but decided to bite her tongue. “Do you love Matt enough to get rid of Tom?”

  “Yes, but what if this baby is Tom’s? Then what?”

  “I don’t know.” She reached out and laid a hand on her sister’s knee. “Just know Cody and I will always be here for you.”

  A tear trickled down Diane’s cheek. “I’ve been so awful to you.”

  “I won’t disagree with that. And I’m not innocent either, but it’s time to put that behind us and move forward.”

  “Think we can?”

  “I’m sure we’ll still have fights, but we can’t do things to the other purposely to hurt them.”

  “Something I need to learn.” Diane chuckled.

  Alyssa pointed at her sister’s flat belly. “I think for at least nine months, your belly will remind you of what happens when you get spiteful.”

  Diane placed her hand over her stomach. “Yeah, but this baby isn’t a mistake. This baby is a gift to show me the ways.”

  “I can’t wait to meet the little bundle of joy. Oh, and to see you get fat.”

  They laughed. This was nice, actually getting along. Alyssa couldn’t remember the last time they’d sat together and laughed. Maybe the baby really was a good thing. Matt might not be leaving her life anytime soon, but she’d take this new growing relationship with Diane. Christmas might actually be fun this year.

  Alyssa’s cell phone rang. She picked it up and saw it was Cody. “Maybe Cody’s calling about Matt.”

  “I hope so.”

  “Hey, Cody,” Alyssa answered.

  “Hey. You sitting down?”

  “Yeah. I’m here with Diane and we’re chatting over tea.”

  “That’s a shocker.” He cleared his throat. “Listen, the roads are nasty. And I just got a call that there was a wreck on the bridge.”

  “Yeah, Diane is okay,” she told him.

  “She was in an accident?”

  “She said she skidded off the road. It’s her car left sitting on the side of the road.”

  “Glad she is okay. But it’s not Diane I’m calling about.” She could hear the concern in his voice.

  “Oh.” Her heart sped up as she wondered who he was calling about.

  “It’s Connor. He’s been taken to the hospital.”

  “What! Oh my gosh. I need to get to him.” She stood, looking for her car keys.

  “No, he wouldn’t want you risking your life on the roads. The temperature has dropped fast. Roads are sheets of ice. The salt trucks should be going out soon.”

  “Yeah, but I have to get to him. Did they say how bad?”

  “No, but I’ll find out. You stay there. Do you hear me?” he warned.

  She heard him all right. She felt paralyzed that she couldn’t go to Connor. Could she really just sit here and wait for him to call and tell her how Connor was? “I hear you.”

  “I’ll call you as soon as I know more.”

  Alyssa pressed the end button and looked at Diane. “Connor was in an accident.”

  “Is he okay?”

  “I don’t know. But I feel helpless sitting here.”

  “Let’s go.”

  Alyssa raised an eyebrow. “Cody said—”

  “Cody has never been in love. Let’s go.” Diane stood and held her hand out to Alyssa.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Damn, that hurt. Connor never knew stretching could be so painful. He looked around the hospital room. This was the last place he wanted to be. Right about now, he should’ve been at Alyssa’s, but when he crossed the bridge into the main part of town, the bridge had been slicker than expected. And he drove a little too fast for conditions.

  Now he was in this hospital bed. He remembered a little. He’d hit his head on the steering wheel and had been in-and-out of consciousness. That, he remembered. His left arm was bandaged and he imagined when the doctor returned, Connor would be informed it was broken or fractured.

  The hospital room door opened and Connor expected
to see a nurse or doctor, but instead, saw Cody. He hoped he wasn’t getting a ticket. Or worse, that Alyssa had told him about the night before.

  “How are you feeling?” Cody asked.

  “I’ve had better days.”

  “I imagine so. Why were you speeding in these conditions?”

  “I needed to see Alyssa.”

  “Why?”

  Connor didn’t want to tell him he’d been a jackass and was going to grovel to the woman he loved. But he supposed there wasn’t really any way around it. “We had a bit of a misunderstanding and I was going to her to apologize.”

  “I see. Slow and steady wins the race.”

  Connor laughed. “Yeah, I know that now. I didn’t realize the weather was as bad as it was.”

  “I need to report back to my sister before she has a panic attack. Doctor been by yet?”

  “I’m sure I’m just bruised up. No I.Vs or anything, so it can’t be too serious.”

  Cody pulled his phone from his pocket and Connor watched as he placed it to his ear.

  Ring ring, Ring ring.

  Connor’s door opened again and Alyssa walked in, a woman he’d never seen behind her.

  Cody spun around. “What are you doing here? I told you not come down here.”

  “Shut up, bro, you’ve never been in love,” the woman he assumed must be Diane snapped.

  Cody shook his head. “Maybe it was better when you two weren’t getting along.”

  Alyssa hugged her brother. “I’m fine.” She let go of Cody and walked over to Connor. “You, however, aren’t. What happened?”

  “I’m so sorry, Alyssa,” he began.

  “We’ll talk about that later. For now, let’s find a doctor and see what’s going on.” Alyssa turned to Cody. “Head down to the nurses’ station. Would you mind?”

  “It doesn’t really matter what I want now, does it?”

  “Nope, get used to it.” Diane patted him on the back. “I’ll go with him. But I hope to get to know you better soon, Connor.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  Cody and Diane left in search of a doctor, leaving him alone with the woman he loved. He never wanted to be away from her again. And having her come to him, even when she was mad, was doing something to his insides he couldn’t quite explain.

  Connor grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “I’m sorry. I was a jackass. I didn’t cheat on you, but I wasn’t true to myself. And that might not make a whole lot of sense right now. But I want to make this up to you. Will you let me?”

  Alyssa smiled at him. “You don’t listen, do you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We’ll talk about this when I get you home.”

  Was she not forgiving him? He was about to protest, but the damn door opened again. Cody and Diane returned, this time with a man in a white coat whom Connor assumed was a doctor.

  Alyssa stepped away, leaving him feeling alone and cold. But she wasn’t far.

  “Mr. Phillips, I see you’re up now. You knocked your head pretty good. You’ve got a concussion as well as a broken arm.” He shined a flashlight in Connor’s eyes and stepped back. “We’ll have to keep you overnight.”

  “Why?”

  “We need to monitor you and wake you every hour. Unless…” The doctor turned to Alyssa. “Are you his girlfriend?”

  Connor watched. At first, her eyes went wide, but then she nodded. “Yes.”

  “If you’re up to not getting a good night’s rest yourself, you can take him home and wake him every hour.”

  Alyssa looked at him and smiled. “He’s lucky my store’s not open tomorrow and I don’t have to work.”

  “All right, Mr. Phillips. Looks like you’ve got a winner there. I’ll start the process so you can go home.”

  Connor was glad to know he was getting out of this place and even more relieved to know Alyssa was going to be taking care of him.

  “You sure about this?” Cody asked Alyssa. “The roads. I feel like I just keep repeating myself.”

  “I got here safely. I’ll get us back too. And besides, I stay up Sundays reading anyway. Where are you staying, Diane?”

  “With Cody,” Diane answered.

  “What? I already got your boyfriend there and apparently you two didn’t make up.”

  “Get used to it, bro, I think I might just stick around Brookfield for awhile.” Diane wrapped an arm around Cody’s waist.

  Cody groaned and said to Alyssa, “You sure you can get home okay?”

  She nodded. “Yup, I’ll be safe and text you when we get back to my place.”

  Connor watched as the siblings interacted. Finally Alyssa hugged each of them and closed the door behind them. She took a seat in the chair next to his bed. Neither of them spoke, but he knew how lucky he was. And tomorrow when he felt more like himself, he intended on letting Alyssa know how he truly felt.

  * * * *

  The next morning, Alyssa found herself exhausted. She’d done as the doctors requested, and every hour on the dot, woke Connor. And now that morning had come, she was ready to go to bed herself. She’d dozed some during the night, but hadn’t gotten any solid sleep. As soon as Connor was up, she planned to crawl into bed herself.

  Though Connor had done his best to get her into bed with him, she’d resisted. Not that she didn’t want to curl up with him and be held in his arms. If she had, though, she never would’ve been able to play nurse. They both would’ve slept peacefully through the night.

  “Morning,” Connor said as he came into the living room.

  “Good, you’re up. I’m going to bed.”

  He laughed and smiled at her. “Go get some rest.”

  Alyssa started to stand, but as Connor stood before her in a pair of her sweatpants and a T-shirt, she found she didn’t want to be away from him. Didn’t want to be in another room without him any longer. She patted the seat next to her. “Think I could rest on your chest? I’ll be careful of your arm.”

  “I’d like nothing more.”

  Connor sat down and she placed her head on him. He pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around them. It didn’t take Alyssa long at all to cross the bridge to dreamland.

  A few hours later, Alyssa woke. She had expected to still be wrapped up with Connor, but found herself alone on the couch instead. She sat up and wiped her eyes.

  “Connor,” she called out.

  “In the kitchen. Don’t get up.”

  She yawned and still felt exhausted. But then Connor appeared from the kitchen, carrying a tray containing two plates with one hand. After he sat, he handed her a plate. On it she saw a toasted sandwich and chips. “I should be cooking for you.”

  “Just eat. I’m fine.”

  She took a bite of her sandwich. It was really good. That, or she was starving. Probably both.

  “Can we talk?” he asked.

  “I think so. We have our heads clearer now. I didn’t want either of us to say something just because of the accident.”

  “I can understand that. I have just one thing to tell you.”

  “All right.”

  “I love you.”

  Had she just heard that? Had he said he loved her?

  “As I’ve been trying to tell you, I was a fool. I can’t blame my friends about the girl. I can only blame myself. But I’ve known all along that you are who I want to be with for the rest of my life. I want to grow old with you. You get me and I think I get you in return. I have fun with you.”

  “Having fun and loving me are two different things, Connor. I don’t want you to change who you are for me.”

  “I’m not. I didn’t mean I was only having fun with you.” He set his plate down. “Let me start over. I’ve never loved someone before. I didn’t realize it was so hard to convey it.”

  Alyssa smiled and put her plate down as well. She cupped his face. “I love you too.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, I’ve always loved you. But I thought I was just th
e shy girl who was your friend. And then I thought I was just someone you wanted to have fun with.”

  “You’ve always been more than just some shy girl. I’m in love with you.” He gazed deeply into her eyes.

  “Really?” Her voice almost caught in her throat.

  “Yes, really. God, I’ve been trying to show you all this time. I know who I used to be, but I don’t want to be that person. I want to be your man.”

  She reached forward and hooked her thumb in his collar, bringing him close to her. “I want nothing more than for you to be mine as well. I don’t think I could’ve ever settled on being just your friend.”

  “Definitely not.”

  Alyssa pressed her lips to his and stared into his eyes. “Think you’re up to a little fun?”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  She flashed him a grin. “Good, I just got a new video game. Up for a round?”

  “Only after I make love to the woman I plan to spend the rest of my life with.”

  Hearing those words was all the foreplay Alyssa needed. She climbed into his lap and intended to show him how much she loved him…and then she’d beat him at the new video game.

  The End

  About Lacey Wolfe

  Lacey Wolfe has always had a passion for words, whether it’s getting lost in a book or writing her own. From the time she was a child she would slip away to write short stories about people she knew and fantasies she wished would happen. It has always been her dream to be a published author and with her two children now of school age, she finally has the time to work on making her dream come true.

  Lacey lives in Georgia with her husband, son and daughter, their six cats and one black lab who rules the house.

  www.laceywolfe.com

  www.facebook.com/AuthorLaceyWolfe

  www.twitter.com/LaceyWolfe

  Other Brookfield books

  Contemporary Romances

  Finding Home (Continue reading for a preview)

  Bare Necessities

  The Brookfield Series – Volume 1 (Includes Finding Home and Bare Necessities_