Friends Don't

Chapter Thirty-Five

"Are you just never going to talk to me again?" Grayson asked as he stood in the doorway of the bathroom while I got ready.

I kept my attention on the mirror as I pulled my hair back into a high ponytail. "When I have something to say I'll talk to you."

"Oh, c'mon. Don't be like that."

"Be like what?" I asked before walking past him and into my room. I could feel his eyes on me as I changed from my flannel pajama bottoms to a pair of jeans. Usually, I would have acknowledged the fact that he was watching me change clothes, but this time I knew his focus wasn't on me standing in my underwear.

He sighed. "You haven't said anything to me in days."

Days were right. Three to be exact. Sure, maybe I was being a bit dramatic with how long it had been, but I was still annoyed, and I'm allowed to feel how I feel.

"I said I was sorry," he said as I walked past him.

I could hear his footsteps following behind me as I made it to the front door and swung it open. "Believe me, I know." I stepped out and shut the door.

He had said he was sorry, more times than I could count, and just by his behavior and the tone of his voice I knew he meant it.

Being at work was the last place I wanted to be. It was my first day back at work since the whole situation with Grayson, and still being irritated by that didn't make working with Susan any easier. She could tell something was bothering me and after spending a full thirty minutes trying to get me to talk to her about it, she stopped asking when she got it through her head that I wasn't going to tell her anything.

She wasn't someone I knew well enough to vent to, and I wasn't sure she ever would be. I had Lana for that, and believe me when I say that she has already had an earful from me about it. She never acted like she was tired of listening to me, but she probably was. The thing is, I've listened to her countless problems, venting sessions that had lasted hours, and I never told her to stop talking about it or to get over it, so she had to listen to me.

Lana had told me to just sit down with Grayson and talk to him about it, and I knew she was right. The only way him and I were going to be able to move on from what happened was to just talk, but every time I attempted to, I would look at him and the annoyance would start bubbling inside of me and I locked myself in my room.

On my break I met Tyler at the coffee shop across the street from work. My break was an hour long and since he had free time, we decided to get together so I could help tutor him some more. We didn't get much done the last time since I couldn't focus and I felt horrible about it. I didn't want my problems to be the reason he failed the upcoming exam.

"You know he likes you," Tyler told me.

I looked up from my book. "He does not."

"He does," he said with a nod, "and you like him, too."

My face scrunched up at those words. "What? I do not."

"You know, the sooner you two just admit it to not only each other, but to yourselves, the easier things will be between the both of you," he said and then looked down at his book and flipped the page.

I kept my gaze on him, and he probably felt my stare but he never acknowledged me.

What was he even going on about? Grayson and I are friends. He even had some woman in his bed the other night. If he has a thing for me then he sure has a horrible way of showing it.

After Tyler and I went our separate ways, him going who knows where and me back to work, all I could think about was what he said. I guess even Susan could tell because, yet again, she pestered me to tell her what was on my mind, but this time I had a change of heart.