Page 79 of The Second Dance

I rear back. “Where is this coming from?”

She leans against the counter, looking deflated. “I don’t want to fight.”

“Me either. But you started this.”

“No. You started it.”

“When?”

“Twelve years ago.”

I laugh. “You’re kidding me.”

Laughing was possibly the wrong response.

Her expression hardens and I can almost feel her slipping away. I suck in a breath. “Okay. Let’s rewind. Can you please sit down and tell me what you are talking about?”

She reluctantly circles the bar, and we ease onto the stools. I pour us both glasses of wine. “Okay. Start at the beginning. Ninth grade?”

I sit next to my best friend—the one I’ve told every secret to, every hope, every fear.

And I listen while she lists, with vicious detail, all the boys I’ve stolen from her.

Some girlfriends, too.

Apparently, I’m an attention hog.

Flirty.

And never satisfied with just one person’s attention.

She swirls the last of her wine in the bottom of her glass. “So, now do you see what I’m talking about?”

I see, alright. But not what she intended to show me.

I’m seeing her with a fresh perspective.

And I’m starting to understand what other people have been hinting at.

Whit isn’t the friend I thought she was.

And that realization is crushing.

I drag a hand across my face. Suddenly, I’m feeling incredibly exhausted. “Please believe me when I tell you, I am not interested in Skyler Thomas. I never have been.”

She smiles, pityingly. “That’s the thing, it doesn’t matter if you’re interested in him or not. You’ll reel him in any way, just like you always do. And play with his feelings, just like you always do.”

“We’re talking about Skyler Thomas, right?”

“Yes.”

“The guy who caught the winning pass at the homecoming game junior year?”

She frowns. “Yes.”

“And you are under the delusion that he’s interested in someone like me?”

She sighs, shoulders sagging. “Again,yes.” She shakes her head. “When are you going to drop this whole gee whiz act? It’s really not a good look on you.”