Page 110 of That Friendzone Feeling

Thecheers get louder.

Iwrap my hand overEmily’son the microphone and pull it toward me. “Sincethat’s the biggest reaction of the night,Iguess you’re here for the beer, not the singing.”

Thewarmth that accompanies the laughter in the room envelops us.

IgiveEmilycontrol of the mic again.She’sobviously got some sort of plan here thatIshouldn't interrupt.

“Singingisn’t the only thingI’mshitty at,” she tells the crowd. “I’malso a complete disaster at relationships.”

Sheturns back to me and runs her fingers along my jawline. “Sosmooth.”Shelooks atConnor,Elliot, andOwen. “Muchbetter, right?”

Thethree of them say a combination of “Yes,” “ThankGod,” and “Fuck, yeah,” all at the same time.

Emilyrefocuses her attention on me.

“I’vebeen thinking about things.Andyou know what, you’re right.Ofcourse you’re right.”Sheshoots a glance at the mass of faces behind her. “Heis annoyingly right an annoyingly large amount of the time.”

Youcan feel the crowd rooting for her in their laughter.Theylove her.Whatevershe’s up to, they want her to succeed.

Sherests an arm on my shoulder. “Idid just find the joy in singing loudly and very, very badly to a room full of people.”Shejiggles her head, sending the sparkly hearts into a frenzy. “AndI’dreally like to find the joy in being shitty at a relationship with you.Ifyou’ll still have me.”

Theroom erupts with cheers, whistles, whoops, and applause—the loudest cheers and most piercing whistles coming from the three guys right next to us.

Shejust made a total fool of herself for me, for us.She’sset aside her fear of the enormous risk that she knows this is and put everything on the line to make it happen.Ididn’t think it was possible for me to love her more, but my pounding heart is fit to explode.

Ijump off my stool, scoop my arms under her beautiful, round backside, and lift her off the ground.

“Iwould definitely like to find the joy at being incredibly shitty at everything with you for an incredibly long time.”

Shegoes to bury her face in my neck but smacks me in the face with a sparkly heart bopper.

“Ow.”Thosethings are heavier than they look.

“Oh,God.Sorry,” she says, rubbing the point of impact above my right eye. “SeewhatImean?I’mbeing shitty at it already.”Shepresses her sweet, sweet lips against mine. “ButIdo absolutely fucking love you.”

31

EMILY

Walker’stongue lazily leaves my mouth, his lips peel from mine, and he rolls off my sweaty, breathless body.

“Anda very good morning to you,” he says, his voice full of sexy morning huskiness.

Imiss him inside me already.ButknowingI’llbe in bed with him every night from now on is consolation.

“Istill can’t believe you did that wholeDreamtownBoysthing last night.”Heflops onto his back, one arm curled over his head on the pillow. “Pleasedon’t ever do anything to fuck this up.Ican’t bear the thought of you having to sing again to fix it.”

Ireach for the nearest thing on the nightstand, a paperback titledTheFascinatingHistoryofBrewing, and throw it at him.Itmisses and lands with a thud on the floor on the other side of the bed.

“Seriously?”Hesmirks. “You’relike twelve inches away from me.”

Iroll onto my side, prop myself up on my elbow, and run a finger down the damp dip between his pecs. “Ihave no intentions of fucking it up.Butwe can’t make ourselves late for work every morning doing this.”

“Whynot?”Hewraps his big, strong hand around my neck and pulls me in for a kiss. “There’sno one to fire us.”

Igiggle against his lips.Icannot get enough of this man.Iwant to taste him, touch him, feel him, sink into him forever.Andright now,Icould totally go another round for a quickie before we head to the office.

Hisskin is slick under my fingers asIslide them down over the ridges of his abs and head south. “ButIhave a call scheduled withHarry.Andthe paperworkIneed for it is at the office.”