“About Dilynne checking on me?”
His brows draw together. “No. What the fuck are you talking about?”
I let out a heavy sigh and spend the next few minutes recapping how Dilynne has shown up for me as a friend, despite our animosity toward each other.
Fletcher’s eyes are so wide by the time I’m done that I’m afraid they might fall out of his head. “First of all, I’m going to have a word with my wife when I get home because she’s been keeping this from me. But second…” He scratches his chin. “I honestly can’t say that I’m surprised.”
“Really?”
“Hell yeah, man. Dilynne is one of the best people to have as a friend.”
“But she’snotmy friend.”
His head falls to the side as he arches an eyebrow. “Really? You’re telling me that you two have known each other all these years, and you’ve never once considered her a friend?”
The funny thing is, when I watched the press junket she did earlier this week, I caught myself smiling with pride from the way she conducted herself. I was proud of how articulate she was, how she didn’t shy away from owning her talents and avoided using any obstacles that she’s faced in her life as an excuse.
It felt like watching a friend show the world why she’s a badass.
But then every flash of our interactions over the years reappeared, and suddenly I was irritated again.
I stab my desk with my finger. “Hey, she’s the one who decided she hated my guts, so I gave her the same treatment back. And it’s not like I was wise enough to try to mend it back then. Besides, Henley would have killed me if he knew I was secretly crushing on her.”
Fletcher nearly falls out of his chair. “What?”
Shit. I didn’t mean to say that thought out loud.
“You—you had a crush on her? When?”
I rub the back of my neck. “Fuck.”
“Dude. You need to explain, and now.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “This stays between us, okay?”
He draws an X across his chest. “Promise.”
Blowing out a breath, I lower my voice. “Our junior year, I sort of started crushing on her. She and Laney were freshmen, though, and we had made our stupid pact, right?”
Fletcher nods. “The pact wasn’t stupid, but I get what you’re saying.”
I roll my eyes, then continue. “So, I just played it cool, and then at the beginning of our senior year, she just started acting like she hated me, so I convinced myself that what I felt toward her was idiotic, so I shoved it down. And the meaner she was to me, the easier it was to forget that I liked her at one point.” Shrugging, I watch the irritation slide across his face.
He pinches the bridge of his nose. “Did it ever occur to you to ask her why she acts that way?”
My eyes drift to the side of my office as I contemplate his question. I already know the answer, but I don’t like it. “I did. Last year, when she kept showing up to check on me, I tried to get her to discuss it. But…she just brushed me off.”
Fletcher shakes his head before leaning forward in his chair, clasping his hands together between his legs, staring me dead in the eyes again. “Trust me, as someone who avoided Laney for the longest time, I wish I would havemadeher tell me why she hated me sooner. I lost so much fucking time that I could have been with her because we were both too stubborn to confront the truth.”
“That’s different, though. You two actually cared about each other…”
“And hasn’t Dilynne shown that she cares about you? Haven’t you helped her when she needed it?”
“Well, yeah, with legal paperwork and referring her customers and stuff, but…”
Hewaves a finger at me. “It’s still something. But remember what I said about time, Elliot. You can’t ever get it back. You two have four weeks left in your little ruse and my suggestion is, you make it count. Confront whatever the fuck makes you two behave toward each other the way you do, and you might be fucking shocked at what’s really lurking underneath the surface.” He sits up tall again and shrugs. “I mean, we already know that your dick likes her. Maybe there’s a lot more to it than that.”
“Gee, thank you for that enlightening advice.”