The Dating Experiment (The Experiment, #2)(44)

I grimaced, nodding. “Fuck.”

“I don’t know, because you showed up before I could talk to her more, but that’s my guess.” Peyton shrugged a shoulder. “She was drunk and confused and, more than a little upset that you’d kissed her—”

“She was upset?”

Elliott did a double-take. “Upset? Why the hell was she upset?”

Peyton looked at him. “She accepted they’d never be together, then fucking Romeo over here goes and messes that up.”

“Wait,” I said.

She froze. “Fuck a fox.”

Elliott patted her knee.

Sheepishly, Peyton turned to me and scratched the side of her neck. “Yes?”

I sat forward, shuffling on the cushion. “What do you mean by that? That she accepted we’d never be together?”

“Um. I don’t know if I’m the best person to explain that.”

“You’re not getting out of this. What the hell do you mean by that?”

She shifted. “I don’t want to play twenty questions. Can we try shots instead? Yep. Let’s do shots.” She got up, but Elliott grabbed hold of her arm and dragged her back down.

“No. You slipped up, so now you’ve got to finish what you and your big mouth started,” he said, wrapping both arms around her chest and holding her down.

She licked his arm.

“Not gonna work. I’m not letting go until you tell him. And if you don’t, I will.”

“Oh, that’s dirty!” Peyton sputtered.

“Can someone just tell me what the fuck you’re talking about?” I threw my arms out. “I’m so fucking confused.”

She sighed, then sat up, still held down by Elliott. “All right. Fine. I’ll tell you. Remember a few weeks ago when y’all had a fight here? About you losing your keys and the tax forms?”

I nodded. “She told me she couldn’t believe she once had a crush on me while you two shamelessly watched.”

Elliott gave me a thumb up. “That’s the one.”

“Well.” Peyton shifted when he loosened his grip on her. “She wasn’t entirely truthful when she said she’d had a crush on you. It’s more like she’s been in love with you for a really long time.”

I stared at her.

“And by a really long time, I think since we were kids.”

What the fuck?

“And you never told me?” I wasn’t even angry. I was numb. “You knew how I felt about her. How could you not tell me?”

“It wasn’t my business, Dom. It wasn’t my place to tell either of you how the other felt, and the only reason I’m doing it now is because you’re so damn close, and I don’t think she’ll tell you herself.” She crossed her arms and sat right back. “And, you know. I put my foot in my mouth.”

I dropped back against the chair. “I don’t believe this.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I wanted to tell you. Believe me, I’ve wanted to tell both of you everything, so you’d get on with it, but I promised myself I wouldn’t unless it looked like you were doing it yourselves.”

I ran my hand through my hair. I had no idea what to think about that. I couldn’t believe what she’d told me. Hell, when Chloe had admitted that she’d had a crush on me, I thought she meant a crush.

As in, I was attractive, she wanted to kiss me, and she had minor feelings for me.

Not that she’d been in love with me since we were fucking children.

In love.

She was in love with me.

“Does she still feel like that now?” I asked, looking at Elliott. I knew he’d give me a straight answer. He had no loyalty to Chloe the way Peyton did.

He hesitated, and that momentary silence gave me the answer before he opened his mouth. “Yes. She does. That’s why this is such a mess.”

“Why does that make it a mess? She loves me. I’m in love with her. What is there messy about that?”

“Everything.” Peyton got up and stalked into the kitchen. The fridge opened, and there was a clink, and she returned with a bottle of half-empty wine in her hand.

“Explain,” I demanded.

She sat and unscrewed the cap of the wine. “You have to understand that she hoped for ages that something would happen between you two. We’re not talking six months—we’re talking teens and her entire adult life so far. She couldn’t get over you because you’re together so much and it was impossible.”

“So, about how long you’ve been waiting for a Hogwarts letter,” I said.

“It could still happen, thank you very much.” She recapped the wine and put it on a slate coaster. “About a month ago, she realized it would never happen. Neither of you had ever shown any signs of making a move on the other, and I think she finally made peace with that. She was ready to move on, Dom. She wanted to. As far as she was concerned, you hated her, second only to how you tolerated her.”

“Shit.” I rubbed my hand down my face.

“Then…you kissed her, and you literally fucked up everything she’d come to terms with. Now, she’s all kinds of confused, because everything she thought would never happen has potential to happen.”