Chapter 20 Friendzoned
Chapter 20
friendzoned
Summer was romantically challenged. She had taken it from a perfect meet-cute to the friend zone. And by her frenemy, of all people. She was cursed.
That was a lie—not the cursed part, that was as true as the day was long, but about them being frenemies. Because for a moment there yesterday, something had changed between them. Then he’d recoiled so fast he’d nearly fallen over.
Summer snuck out of bed early to avoid him because he’d been avoiding her. He hadn’t even come to bed last night, opting to sleep on the family room floor rather than be in her presence.
Well, she wasn’t going to let him ruin her day, because today was Twin Day and that meant laughter, fun, and freedom from all the bullshit that was going on in her life.
She put on her pink #TWINNING crop top, cutoff jean shorts, and pink cowgirl boots, just like she did every year. But today felt more imperative than years past. Today there would be no talk of Randy or borrowed money or brownstones in New York. Or cold-footed fiancées.
Today would be a day to recapture all the memories they’d created over the years. Today was the day they’d become twins again.
And Summer needed that. Needed to get back to being sisters and remind Autumn of their unbreakable bond.
Parting her hair down the middle and putting it into two French braids, part of their dress-alike tradition, Summer was practically bouncing on her toes as she applied her lip gloss. She even used a touch of mascara—because, why not?
Today was also important because she needed to get out of this house and away from Wes. Sneaking down the stairs, she tiptoed through the hallway and into the kitchen, and froze.
Because there he stood, the man she was trying to avoid, shirtless, sweaty, sipping a glass of water like he owned the place. His was such a large presence she could barely breathe. Especially when she caught a glimpse of his glistening abs. Suddenly, the kitchen felt too small and intimate.
He pushed off the counter to leave and she held out her hands. “Don’t leave on my account. I was just heading out.”
He took in her outfit and his lip curled up. “Where to? A hoedown?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but Autumn and I are going to the boardwalk for Twin Day. Are you auditioning for Thunder Down Under ?”
“I’m British, not Australian, and I just came back from my morning run. See anything you like?”
She remained mum on the topic.
“What is this Twin Day?” he asked, leaning back against the counter.
“It’s a yearly trip where we eat too much candy and pizza and funnel cake, then we ride the Gravitron. Whoever pukes first must wear the Cone of Shame. Which is a bright orange traffic cone with LOSER written across it. And before you ask, you aren’t invited. It’s a no-boys-allowed kind of affair.”
“Good thing I’m a man.”
That he was. A tall, dark, dangerously attractive man, who wasn’t her prince. Not that she wanted him to be, but a tiny piece of her had begun to believe that he could be. That in the right setting with the right timing they could build on that connection that had started to bloom. But he’d doused that in gasoline then put a blowtorch to it.
“Men are worse than boys. They know how to disappoint like it’s a god-given talent.”
His expression went soft and serious. He set his glass down and walked toward her until they were toe to toe. She could smell the sea air and clean sweat on his skin.
He cupped her face. “I never meant to disappoint you, love. That’s why I stopped things before they could even start. I thought that would be for the best.”
“But it already started. We were having a fun time until you made it weird. You didn’t have to friend-zone me—we were already there.” A flash of hurt sliced through her. “Unless you don’t want to be friends.”
She saw the look of regret on his face. “We are friends. I just didn’t want to cross a line we can’t uncross.”
“You’re the one who said I was giving mixed signals. You were forcing me to say I meant the kiss, then you wrote me off. Was this some kind of game?”
“God no. I would never do that. I would never hurt you.”
“But you have. You tried to have my car towed, you make fun of my shop, you didn’t tell me that concrete was going to be poured and would block the driveway. I should have seen this coming.”
“You’re right. I should have told you about the concrete and that was a shit move on my part.”
“That’s it? That’s your big apology? That it was a shit move? Be still my heart. God, you’re such a guy! It’s no wonder you moved up the grand opening and didn’t have the balls to tell me.”
“Wait. What are you talking about?”
“The big banner hanging across all of downtown announcing your new grand opening on July first.” He just stared at her as if she’d grown a third nostril. “Don’t pretend that you weren’t trying to mess with my head. We have fun here, become friends, then we get home and you’re like, ‘Oh, by the way, surprise! You’re going-out-of-business date is closer than you thought.’”
He was in the middle of pulling out his phone and punching in numbers when he said, “I don’t have a fucking clue what you’re talking about. But I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”
His tone was dialed somewhere between what the fuck and someone is going to fucking die . The shock was so genuine she believed him, and guilt about her delivery rushed through her like a tidal wave.
“I thought you knew.”
He held up a finger for silence and said to the other person on the line, “What the fuck, Harper? Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”
Before she could say another word, he was stalking out the back door and talking in a tone that made her think that if she were Mr. Harper she’d be peeing her pants. The funny, easy-going guy from yesterday who’d laughed and smiled at her had vanished, and back was the Boardroom Barracuda who was rock-hard, singularly focused, and intimidating.
Her heart told her to follow him, give him support, but her brain reminded her that he didn’t want help. Wes was a lone wolf and liked it that way. There was no way to change that in a matter of a week. To think so would be stupid.
Then again, she’d thought that before he’d opened up about his past. The Wes he’d shown her in the last several days would accept the support. Maybe even appreciate having someone to help him work through whatever was going on at his company. To stay or to go, that was the question.
One she didn’t get to answer, because Autumn came bouncing in with her pink boots and braids. “We look hot, sis.”
“That we do,” she said, trying to force a smile.
“Hot doesn’t even cover it,” Randy said, walking in behind Autumn and wrapping his arms around her from the back. “This is every guy’s dream, to go on a date with twins.”
Autumn playfully elbowed him in the gut and he gave a dramatic gasp. That’s when Summer noticed it. The T-shirts. Autumn’s said I’LL BE YOUR BONNIE to Randy’s I’LL BE YOUR CLYDE, with arrows pointing to the other.
“Where’s your TWINNING shirt?” Summer asked as her heart sank, because she knew that just like Autumn’s shirt, this day was about to end in a shootout. “It’s Twin Day.”
“I know. I know. But—”
“Don’t blame her,” Randy said. “The first night we met she told me about this day and I just wanted to be a part of it. Is that okay?”
“The whole point of Twin Day is for Autumn and I to have alone time. Our parents don’t even come.”
“Well, we’re a package deal now, right, baby?” Randy asked.
Autumn kissed his chin. “Right.”
Randy kissed her nose. “It’s not a big deal, right?”
How was she supposed to answer that honestly? It was a gigantic freaking deal. Being alone with the Swifties would be uncomfortable as hell. But she’d promised to give him a fair chance, and sharing the day with him might give her insight into who this man who had stolen her sister’s common sense was. So she let herself sit in the uncomfortableness for a moment and decided that it would be easier to endure the awkwardness than start another fight.
“You know what?” she said. “If you want him to come, then he can come. Far be it for me to stand in the way of true love.”
Autumn yanking Summer into a bear hug and Summer could feel their hearts beating out of sync. “This is going to be fun, I promise.”
Summer couldn’t think of a single circumstance where being a third wheel would be fun, but she’d promised to give Randy a chance. She was turning over a new leaf when it came to Wes and treating him like she treated everyone else—with respect, acceptance, and a genuine smile on her face.
“Bring on the fun.”
Summer was trying, she really was, but she was struggling to get into fun mode. Ice cream had been shared, pizza consumed, and candy had been inhaled, but she’d felt like an interloper the entire time.
Randy had made an effort to include her, but between the PDA and the sexy talk she felt like an outsider.
They were standing in line for the Gravitron, and instead of holding Autumn’s hand like always she was standing behind them trying to hold onto her cookies. They hadn’t even reached the top of the line, and already Summer was getting cold feet. Not that she’d let anyone notice. There was no way she was going to wear that LOSER cone for the rest of the day.
So far she’d smiled when she was supposed to smile, laughed when Randy made a dad joke, listened when he went on and on about how he was the new VP at the company and how much his car cost. Unfortunately, the only thing they had in common was their love for her sister. And by the time they made it to lunch it was even more clear that he was enamored with Autumn. So Summer decided to play on that.
Autumn was a beautiful soul, even when she was acting a little self-centered. Not many people saw that deep into her twin’s soul and got the gift of Autumn’s immense capacity for love. But Randy had seemed to uncover that in her, and that was something to celebrate.
Summer had opened her mouth to say something along those lines, but instead she blurted out, “Are you going to fuck over my sister?”
“Summer!” Autumn scolded. “Take that back.”
“It’s a fair question,” Randy said, slinging his arm around Autumn’s shoulders. “And no, I would never hurt Autumn.”
“What happened to ‘love can conquer all’?” Autumn said. “You’re supposed to be my ally here. You’re always my ally.”
“And I am being that now. Do you know about his past two fiancées, who he left after they’d uprooted their lives for him?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact I do. I know the whole story. I’ve even DMed with one of them and they spoke highly of Randy—told me how he’d helped them transition back into single life after the breakup.” Autumn crossed her arms. “The question is, how do you know?”
Summer’s face went beet red. “I may have looked him up on Insta.”
“You promised me that after the Stanly fiasco you’d never do that again. You promised!”
The betrayal in Autumn’s expression made Summer feel guilty and embarrassed, and like she’d broken sis-code. How would Summer handle it if someone had done the same to her? Not well. Stalking someone’s socials was wrong, which meant Wes had been right. And that irked her.
“I know, and I’m sorry. I was just worried that you hadn’t talked about the important stuff”—she gave Autumn a scolding look—“before you jumped into things. I mean, this seems like a whirlwind.”
“We’ve talked about what matters,” Randy said, as they took a step closer to the entrance of the ride. “There isn’t anything that would change the way I feel.”
Summer glared at Autumn, and Autumn glared back in defiance. So she still hadn’t told Randy about her financial woes. This was bad. Very bad. He might say things like that now, but thinking you know how you’d react and actually reacting were two separate things.
Summer had been so engrossed in the conversation that she didn’t notice they were next to go until the employee asked them how many. Autumn said, “Two,” and that was the end of that. Decision made: Summer was left to go by herself. And that was how Summer ended up on the waiting dock for the Gravitron next to the employee with more piercings than fingers to tell her she could board the ride.
A wave of nerves washed over her, causing an obnoxious souring of the belly. She was going to have to go it alone. A place in life she’d need to start getting used to. When her sister moved to New York, Summer would be left all alone. Sure, she’d have Cleo and her loyal customers, but no family.
Summer watched as her sister and Randy held hands as the bottom of the ride dropped out, leaving only the velocity to keep them upright and plastered to the wall. Autumn looked as put together as ever, but Randy was a chartreuse shade of green, gripping onto Autumn’s hand as if he were in labor.
To her dismay, neither threw up on the ride, but that didn’t mean they were in the clear. Twin Day 2021 had taken two hours, but Autumn had blown chunks on the Tilt-A-Whirl in a spectacular way and been sentenced to a full twenty-four hours in the Cone of Shame. It had been amazing. But now Summer felt like she was the one at the disadvantage.
She’d had the confusing run-in with Wes this morning, drunk three cups of coffee, then eaten her weight in saltwater taffy and funnel cake. Then there was the fun fact that Autumn clearly didn’t want her to go with them on the ride, officially making Summer the third wheel. If that wasn’t bad enough, she was going to have to hold her own hand on the ride, since she was watching Autumn and Randy go around by themselves.
The ride slowly came to a stop, and Randy gave her a big wave as they exited through the back gate. Mr. Piercings opened the entrance and asked her, “How many in your party?”
Summer had just opened her mouth to tell him “one,” when her RoChance app chimed, letting her know a potential soulmate was within range, and someone said, “A party of two, please.”
She turned to find Wes resting his palms on either rail, leaning on them enough that his biceps bulged to the point of stretching out his T-shirt. A shirt that had #WINNING WITH HER and an arrow pointing to the left in glittery pink puffy paint across the chest. It was clearly homemade and the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her.
“What are you doing here?”
“I heard you were in need of someone to fill out your party of two.” He tapped the bill of her hat. “Plus, I couldn’t pass up seeing you in the Cone of Shame.”
“Oh, you’re going to be the one wearing the cone. Mark my words. I have a stomach of steel.”