King of the Friend Zone (Power of the Matchmaker)

by Pratt, Sheralyn

  Luke:

  What about her?

  Esme:

  You know her?

  Luke:

  Yeah. Why?

  Hmm. He wasn’t going to make this easy for her. But she’d already got the conversational ball rolling. Might as well finish what she’d started.

  Esme:

  How long have she

  and Hunter been

  dating?

  Luke:

  Nope. Not going there

  with you. Talk to Hunter.

  Esme:

  He won’t answer

  my texts.

  Luke:

  Shocker. Can’t imagine

  why.

  Esme:

  I screwed up with how

  I handled things with

  him. I know it.

  Luke:

  …

  Esme, there’s screwing

  up, then there’s what

  you did.

  Esme:

  I know.

  Luke:

  Stalking Tanya is not

  the answer. Move on.

  Hunter has.

  Esme:

  I just want to make

  sure he’s really happy.

  Luke:

  Again, that’s a question

  for Hunter. Can’t help

  you. Sorry.

  Esme set her phone down. The pit in her stomach from seeing the pictures of Hunter was now joined by a healthy dose of annoyance. She’d clicked through the twenty-or-so pictures of Hunter and Tanya several times already, but on the next pass through she stopped on the selfie of Hunter and Tanya on the beach with Hunter leaning in to press a kiss to Tanya’s cheek while Tanya laughed.

  The picture was adorable. Outright adorable. So why did Esme feel like she was going to throw up?

  Abandoning her daily research, Esme looked up Tanya’s Instagram account and started familiarizing herself with Hunter’s new love interest. His perky, smiley, blonde girlfriend who had gone paragliding with him. Hunter had asked Esme to go more than once, but she’d been too scared.

  Not Tanya, though. Tanya looked like she was having the time of her life. And Esme hated her for it.

  Chapter 46

  If there was ever a picture of a perfectly content woman, it was the sight of Grace sitting in Esme’s hot tub eating a pint of port ice cream.

  “Next time you leave town for a month, you need to leave me a key so I can come over here and escape from time to time,” Grace said, looking over the view. “It’s been too long.”

  “It has,” Esme agreed, stepping into the heated water and sitting next to her. “I’m glad Ash was able to talk Jon into a guys’ night.”

  Grace grinned. “Well, he knows how badly I need a girls’ night, so he was motivated.”

  Esme looked over her friend, noting her shining eyes and relaxed smile. “You two seem to be doing really well.”

  There was no hesitation when Grace nodded. “I did myself the favor of marrying a guy I can communicate with. We’re totally different and definitely argue, but we’re always communicating.” She took a bite of ice cream. “I used to think that chemistry was this intangible thing that couldn’t be quantified, but I’m starting to think it’s the synergy of a lot of obvious things, like feeling understood or desired despite your differences.”

  Esme had never thought of it that way, but it made sense. “Well, whatever you two have going, keep it up. You’re so cute together it’s almost sick.”

  Grace grinned. “I know. We’re disgusting.”

  Esme laughed and took a bite of celery.

  “I can’t believe you’re not eating ice cream,” Grace said. “It’s tradition. Hot tub and ice cream. It’s our thing.”

  “And will be our thing again once I lose twelve more pounds,” Esme said. “I was very naughty in DC.”

  “Naughty?” Grace asked with an arched brow. “Or unhappy?”

  Esme shrugged.

  “We both know you’re a comfort eater, Ez. If you put on fifteen pounds in three weeks, that didn’t happen in a vacuum.”

  “Jon and I are figuring things out,” was all she said before taking another bite of celery.

  “That’s good, I guess,” Grace said, eyes locked on the view.

  Esme turned to face her. “You guess? What in the world is that supposed to mean?”

  Grace’s finger tapped against the handle of the spoon as she seemed to weigh her response. “I mean, I get it. Philip and I worked hard to figure things out, too.”

  Esme tensed at the comparison. Philip had been the man Grace had dated before Ash, and their relationship had always been DOA—at least from where Esme stood. It had taken about three years for Grace to come to the same conclusion.

  “Jon is not Philip,” Esme replied.

  “Okay,” she said, turning to look Esme in the eye. “But tell me, if I could invite one person to join us in this hot tub right now, who would you rather: Hunter or Jon?”

  “Not fair,” Esme grumbled.

  “Totally fair,” Grace said. “I’m one of your best friends, Ez. It’s my job to rub your face in stuff like this, especially after you played such a big part in me and Ash getting together. Without you, I’d probably still be with Philip. But you knew me better than I knew myself and forced me to consider a different option. That’s all I’m doing here.”

  “Well, it’s unnecessary,” Esme said, snapping off another bite of celery. “Jon is really working hard to make things work, and he doesn’t need me tearing him down when he’s not around.”

  “Think about what you just said,” Grace said. “Ask yourself if a healthy relationship should really be this hard—especially when you’re supposed to be in the giddy phase of being engaged.”

  “Grace—”

  “No,” her friend interrupted. “You’re engaged, Esme. Engaged. Yet have you bought a single bridal magazine? Have you tried on dresses yet?”

  “I’ve been busy.”

  “Lamest. Excuse. Ever,” Grace drawled. “You should be swooning and planning and gushing, but you’re not. Instead, you and Jon are giving it everything you’ve got to avoid falling apart with neither of you bringing up wedding dates or plans.”

  “We’re just not there yet, Grace,” Esme argued, but she had to admit her friend had a point.

  “Uh-huh. You’re engaged and miserable. And as your friend, I’ve got to call you out on that and ask you if you’re fighting for something you really want, or fighting out of obligation.”

  “Obligation?” Esme laughed. “Where does that fit in here?”

  Grace studied her for a moment. “Tell me, would you be fighting this hard for Jon if he hadn’t proposed? If you two were only dating when you introduced him to Hunter, would you be fighting for Jon like this?”

  Probably not. Esme didn’t say as much out loud, but it was the truth.

  “But because you were engaged, you let him corner you into kicking Hunter to the curb—”

  “I did not do that,” Esme argued.

  “You totally did, Ez,” Grace said gently. “And I think you’re fighting so hard for Jon now to prove to yourself and everyone that hurting Hunter was necessary, not a giant mistake.”

  Esme leaned back against the hot tub jets and took another bite of celery. “Tonight was supposed to be fun, you know,” she grumbled.

  “Well, you’re the one who brought celery to a hot tub party.”

  Esme couldn’t help it. She smiled. “Love you, Grace. Sometimes I don’t like you, but I always love you.”

  “Right back at you,” Grace said, downing another spoonful of ice cream.

  They sat like that for what felt like several minutes.

  “Hunter’s seeing someone, you know,” Esme said at last.

  “I know. She looks nice.”

  “She does. Have you met her?”

  Grace shook her head. “Nope. Just seen pictures online.”

  “Me, too.”

  There was anothe
r beat of silence.

  “Do you think they’ll last?” Esme asked.

  “It’s only been a few weeks,” Grace said. “But they look like they’ve got a good start.”

  Yeah. They did. It made Esme want to throw her celery over the railing and go grab a pint of ice cream.

  “How about you?” Grace asked, sending her a cautious look. “How do you feel about Hunter and Tanya?”

  Esme pressed her lips together, debating how honest she should be. The truth felt like a betrayal, but she had never been less than honest with Grace. “Honestly?”

  “Honestly,” Grace replied.

  Esme took a deep breath. “I haven’t had a full night’s sleep in five days. Seeing them together makes me sick—even in pictures. I don’t know how I’d react in real life.”

  Grace nodded. “As your friend, all I’m going to do is say that’s not a reaction you should ignore. In fact, it might need to be a reaction you explore. You’re not married yet, you know.”

  “I know,” Esme said before she focused on eating her celery and pouting. She only had herself to blame for having such good friends, but man, sometimes it would be nice to gripe mindlessly for a while.

  “Can I ask you a question?” Grace said. “And I swear your answer will never leave this hot tub.”

  Uh-oh. With a preamble like that, Esme could be pretty certain she wasn’t going to like the question. Then again, that was probably a strong indicator that it should be asked.

  “Go for it,” Esme said.

  Grace put her ice cream to the side and turned to face Esme. “Okay, I want full disclosure. At what point in your life were you head-over-heels in love with Hunter, and when was the most recent time you were hit in the face by your love for him?”

  Wow. Grace really could pack a lot of danger into one question.

  Noting her hesitation, Grace gave Esme’s arm a quick squeeze of encouragement. “You can’t move past the truth until you’ve acknowledged it, babe. And I know for a fact that you were completely smitten by him during our freshman year of college.”

  “Yeah,” Esme confessed, surprised at how easily the admission came. “It was our first time apart. I was missing him hardcore.”

  “We all noticed,” Grace said. “But by sophomore year you seemed to have chilled out a bit.”

  “Yeah,” Esme repeated, remembering that time in her life all too well.

  From birth to age nineteen, she’d imagined Hunter and her as destined for each other. Then she’d gone to college, he’d become a fireman, and everything had changed. It had been a reality check when she’d come home after her first year of college and had to sift through a sea of women to get to the man who had never made a move on her, but had no problem at all making moves on other women. That’s when she’d realized that the fantasies she’d had all her life were just that: fantasies.

  So she’d moved on. Or tried to.

  Now here she was and everything was a big fat mess.

  When she blinked out of her thoughts of the past and back into the present, Grace was watching her.

  “Penny for your thoughts?”

  Esme sighed. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea to uncork that bottle.”

  “Which is to say that you’ve bottled stuff up when it comes to Hunter?” Grace said helpfully.

  “Yes,” Esme admitted. “Definitely.”

  Grace chewed her lip in thought. “Do you think maybe those feelings might need to be unbottled and dealt with before you can move forward?”

  Esme really wanted to plead the Fifth on that one, so she did the next best thing by staying silent. But her friend wasn’t going to let her off the hook that easily.

  “Can you admit that you were in love with Hunter as a child?”

  Esme nodded and found her voice again. “Yes. I was.”

  “And as a teen?”

  “I was barely operational around him as a teen,” Esme laughed. “I did everything I could think of to get his attention. I even tried to make him jealous so he’d make a move, but he never did.”

  “Did you ask him to make a move?” Grace asked. “Did you tell him how you felt?”

  “No,” she admitted. “But I pushed all his buttons and tried to make him crazy. It never worked.”

  “Never worked? Or never worked how you imagined it would?”

  “I…guess I wouldn’t know.”

  Grace’s chocolate eyes studied Esme, making her feel like her friend saw way too much of what Esme tried to keep hidden away. “What about now? Are you in love with Hunter now?”

  Esme looked down at the ring on her hand in the water and fought the answer bubbling up in the bottled-up part of her. Answering the question meant taking the ring off, and she wasn’t sure she was ready to do that.

  Next to her, Grace gave her shoulder a little nudge and smiled. “Okay, I’ll rephrase the question. Want to print off pictures of Tanya from the internet and throw darts at them?”

  “Totally,” Esme said, and immediately climbed out of the hot tub.

  Chapter 47

  TANYA

  Tanya:

  So Brandon just came

  over.

  Hunter:

  And?

  Tanya:

  Operation: Jealous X seems

  to have been a success.

  He wants to get back together.

  Hunter:

  Are you going to make

  him work for it, or are

  you already back

  together?

  Tanya:

  We’re kind of already back

  together.

  Hunter:

  You should have made

  him work for it.

  Tanya:

  I know…I just love him so

  much. When he showed up,

  I caved.

  Hunter:

  I get it.

  I guess I need to change

  my FB profile pic then.

  Tanya:

  Would you? Brandon’s kind

  of freaking out about it.

  Hunter:

  As he should.

  What concessions is

  he making?

  You can’t take him

  back just because

  he’s jealous.

  He needs to change.

  Tanya:

  I know…We’re talking.

  Hunter:

  Uh-huh.

  Profile pic officially

  changed.

  Good luck.

  Tanya:

  Thanks.

  I’ll miss you, Hunter.

  It’s been fun.

  Hunter:

  Back at ya.

  Chapter 48

  A Twitter popup on the bottom of Esme’s screen alerted her to the fact that Hunter’s fire truck was being sent out onto a call. Her fingers stilled on the keyboard, habit urging her to turn on the scanner and listen to what the men said over the radio like she’d done for the past several years.

  The Twitter alerts on her screen had been one of the things the mess in DC had distracted her from. In DC, she could shut all things San Francisco out of her mind. Convincing rooms of men to listen to her had occupied her days, and finding the best food in the area had occupied her nights in between stressful phone calls with Jon.

  With all that going on and no popups appearing on her screen, she’d been able to forget that Hunter was cutting people out of cars that were on fire or venturing into the ocean to try to save people who had underestimated the rip tide.

  But now she was home, and all things San Francisco were front and center—including Hunter’s high-risk job.

  There was truly no one better suited to be a fireman than Hunter. Esme knew that. She only wished he hadn’t pushed so hard to be on the squad that did all the dangerous things.

  If someone had to be pulled from a compromised building, Hunter did that. If someone was threatening to jump off a bridge, Hunter was the person who would anchor himself and walk to t
he edge with them. If something was about to blow up or get crushed or leak something radioactive or plummet off the side of a building, Hunter and his men were the ones who showed up on the scene and handled it.

  She hated that. She’d hated it all the way back when he’d been eighteen and chosen firefighting as a career. He’d been so deadset that a physical career was the only thing he could do because of his dyslexia. An office job wasn’t for him and college definitely wasn’t for him, but he’d always been physical—a star on the high school football team and the first-string keeper on the soccer team. Plus, he’d boxed since he was around twelve. Anger management. He’d had a bit of a temper but learned to channel it early on. He was probably good enough to compete in the boxing world, but Esme was glad he didn’t.

  She liked his face the way it was.

  Hunter had always excelled at the physical and always would, just like she’d always worried about the dangerous situations he got himself into and always would.

  But as she watched the popup fade and fought the urge to turn on the scanner, Esme realized she should probably turn the alerts off all together. It was like Hunter always told her: if there was ever a problem, she’d get a call. There was no need to stalk him…because after her little chat with Grace the night before, she could admit that was basically what she’d been doing all these years.

  Stalking him.

  Hunter had a girlfriend now. Tanya was the one he’d want to show up at the hospital if something happened to him. That realization should not be devastating. It shouldn’t make Esme want to crawl back into bed, pick a random show on Netflix, and become a useless human being.

  But it did.

  The thing she needed to do instead—the functional thing—was to turn off her alerts, get rid of the radio that allowed her to lurk, and focus on the things that actually needed her attention. That would be the healthy thing to do. On top of that, it was what Jon would want her to do if he was with her right then.