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I let out a sigh, knowing she wouldn’t believe me. We’d been friends for far too long. I swiveled around in my chair to face her.

“Richard invited me over for dinner tonight,” I said, sounding just as depressed as I felt.

“That’s a good thing, Annie. Why are you so down? I thought you liked him.”

I nodded. “I do. That’s the problem. I could tell that something was off with Richard, and it’s probably my fault.”

Crystal placed her phone down on her desk. “Why would that be your fault?”

I explained everything to her, going into detail about our day trip to the coast. How I had fallen asleep at his house, he carried me to his guest bed, we got lost in each other. And then I told her how I had made a fool out of myself by saying I wanted to be in a committed relationship with him.

“How did he react when you said that? Was he standoffish? Or was he happy?”

I thought back to that day and remembered the joy on his face. He even said that he wanted to make things more serious, too. “He was happy and said he wanted the same thing, but you know guys, Crystal. They never reveal their true feelings to you. Of course, he wouldn’t say, 'Sorry, I don’t want to be that serious.' I ruined it, Crystal. I know I did.”

I placed my head in my hands and started to cry. She came over and hugged me, trying her best to make me feel better. “You need to give yourself a break, Annie. Any guy would be lucky to have you, and I’m not just saying that to make you feel better. I guarantee he’s just having a bad day at work. He’s probably cold because you two have been friends for a while. Now that you’re dating, there’s no need to be in an 8x10 picture anymore.”

I looked up at her and tilted my head. “An 8x10 picture? What are you talking about?”

“Whenever people start dating, they stay in a virtual 8x10 picture. In other words, they’re only showing you their best traits. Think about it. Would you want to date a guy who came off as, for lack of a better word, an asshole with no emotions?”

I shook my head, no.

“That makes sense. If Richard and I had just started dating, he’d probably be a bit nicer. But we’ve been friends for so long, so what’s the point? Well, I feel a little better. Thank you.”

Even though what she said had made perfect sense to me, I still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong between Richard and me.

14

Richard

Iwas sitting at my desk, scrolling through work emails, and wondering what my next move would be. Annie had texted me several hours before, and the fact that I hadn’t yet replied, probably made her nervous. I didn’t know how I wanted to proceed with her, and I wanted to wait until I knew for sure what my decision would be.

Then I realized that no matter how much I wanted to put our relationship on the back burner, I couldn’t be away from Annie for too long. She had become like a drug to me. As stressed out as I was the day we went to the coast, she took my mind off of the Heather situation. Just being around her made me feel at ease, which I needed since I’d always been a worrywart.

When Annie had immediately replied to my text, I took it as proof that she’d been waiting for me. It made me feel a bit guilty.

“Hey, how’s your day going?” I looked up from my phone and saw Gavin’s head, just poking into my office.

He was a bit more laid back than I was, so I was more than happy to chat with him for a while. I motioned for him to come in.

Gavin sat down in a chair across from my desk, and I contemplated telling him everything. Danielle had suggested that I keep things with Heather to myself, but I desperately needed someone to give me some advice. Gavin had been my oldest friend, and he was kind of like a male version of Annie. He was down to earth and laid back and able to come to a decision fairly quickly.

“Well, I’ve had better ones. You’ll never guess who’s back in town.” Gavin just stared at me, waiting for me to tell him. “Heather!”

“Oh God,” he said, rolling his eyes. “You didn’t hook up with her, did you?”

I leaned back in my chair and ran my hands through my hair, wondering how Gavin was about to respond to my next bombshell. “You were here in town when we broke up, man. So, of course not. But she brought a little surprise back with her to River Valley.”

“What? What kind of surprise?”

I pulled out my phone and showed him Addison’s picture. Gavin’s mouth fell open, and he gasped, seeing the resemblance between us.

“Is she yours? Well, that’s a dumb question.”

I nodded.

“What the, I mean you didn’t know? She has to be what, five-years-old?”