The Pretend Girlfriend (A Billionaire Love Story #1)(37)

Gwen tried to put herself in her friend's place. I'd be just as confused, she knew. This was positively maddening! How was she supposed to get through this if she couldn't use her normal channels for getting things off her chest?

She ran her hands along the edge of the counter. The coolness of it against her skin felt nice.

"I... take it that you are, then? Shocked about liking him, that is?" Beatrice said.

"I know it's weird. Trust me, if this were in a movie or a show I'd be laughing. But it's my life, you know?"

Maybe the sound of her fingers running over the counter annoyed B, or maybe B just got frustrated with Gwen's vague statements. In either case, she pulled Gwen's hand off the counter and held it tightly. "Just tell me what's up. I know there's something. So stop dancing around the point and just get right to it. You know I'll help you if I can."

"I know," Gwen said. She took a deep breath through her nose and let it out slowly through her mouth. It calmed her down a little. Enough to continue, anyway. "It's true, I do think I like him. Maybe even a lot. And no, there's nothing wrong with that. It's just that I don't think it likes me back."

"Like... at all?" Beatrice said, giving Gwen's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"No... I don't know. I don't think so."

"So why are you with him, then? Do you think you can make him like you or something? Because let me tell you, I've tried that before, and..." Beatrice started, readying another colorful story of some past relationship.

"It's complicated," was all Gwen could say on the matter. That took her aback. Is that what my life is, now, a Facebook relationship status?

"Then I think I have some good news for you," B said, pausing for effect, "I saw you guys down at Starbucks, and Aiden definitely likes you, too."

Gwen smiled at her friend's attempt to make her feel better. Though she also got the contradictory urge to flinch. All Beatrice saw at Starbucks was an act. It was good that the act was apparently good enough to fool her closest friend, but that didn't change the facts. Of course, she couldn't let Beatrice in on any of that.

"Thanks, but I still don't think so."

Beatrice squeezed her hand in annoyance, digging a long nail into Gwen's palm. "Don't try to tell me what I did or didn't see. Let me tell you. Every time you looked away - Every. Time. - I caught him looking at you. It made me jealous, the way he looked at you."

A lump formed in Gwen's throat. Her first reaction was disbelief. B just made that up to make me feel better, she thought. Her second reaction was hope, delicate and tenuous, but real. "You're kidding!"

"Most of the time, yeah. But not now. Trust me on this, that boy likes you."

A sudden rush of emotion ran through Gwen's body. It overwhelmed her. She pulled her hand back and leaned against the counter while rubbing at her face.

It took her a moment to figure out how she felt. Relief. It was relief. And happiness. Followed by just a touch of apprehension. Enough to give her a slight cold sensation, deep in the pit of her stomach. If Aiden really did like her, why was he acting so distant?

And her reaction clearly confused Beatrice, her friend probably wondering how being told that the guy Gwen dated liked her could make her act like she'd just been told that some deadly disease she'd contracted was in remission.

"Is there something else going on here?" B asked, "I've gotta tell you, you're acting weird."

Gwen wiped at her eyes with the heels of her hands and took a few deep breaths, trying to center herself. "No, nothing," she lied. That act instantly washed away most of the happiness and relief she'd been experiencing.

"So what's with all this?" Beatrice said, waving her hand to indicate Gwen.

"Just stress. I have so many things going on at once. There was Janice and the rent thing, a billion things I keep putting off for school, getting involved with Aiden..."

"Okay, okay. I don't need you to write me a book about it."

Gwen considered her friend closely, then. She could tell that B suspected something was up. And frankly, Gwen would be a little upset if Beatrice didn't show some sign that she knew something was off. She liked to think they were good enough friends to be able to sense that sort of thing in the other.

And maybe there was just the tiniest bit of desire (or more) that B might just figure this whole thing out herself spontaneously, so that at least Gwen would have one less person to lie to.

Beatrice interrupted that train of thought. "Can we please just get drunk now? The vodka's getting warm!"

"Only if you give me a chance to catch up; you downed that first glass already," Gwen said.

"Hey, not my fault there are no handicaps in this race," B said, unscrewing the bottle and pouring herself another round. Gwen just shook her head in amusement, then opened up the cupboard to grab another glass. She intended to make this a good, Aiden-free night.

Then the intercom started buzzing. She nearly dropped the glass in her hand in surprise.

Beatrice was already here. Her dad had come and left. Aiden had also come and gone. It couldn't be him, could it?

"Just a sec," she told Beatrice.

As she went to the door, she found herself hoping it wasn't Aiden. It couldn't be, she kept telling herself. It's probably mom, come to try and one-up dad.