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ˢʸⁿᵒᵖˢⁱˢ
𖧷LILLYANNE𖧷
I'm in a hole. A rut, if you will. My entire life has been based solely on order, rules, and balance. Now, I'm 26 years old with a perfect, thriving career, a respectful apartment in Willows Hill (a cozy town located in upstate New York), and a black cat named Evvey, which was courtesy of my 8-year best friend Everette.
I have everything I could have ever asked for...minus one thing. Zest. I have no zest for life. I wake up every day and do the same thing as the day before, and it is exhausting. The best part of every day is when I get to see Everette who always has something new going on. I guess you could say I vicariously live through him, but please don't.
So, one cold night, I tell my close friend I'd like to spice things up. I tell him how I'm bored and just want a couple of drinks at the bar. As always, he is happy to do whatever I want...4 shots and 6 drinks later I'm held in his arms and carried into my apartment complex at 2 A.M. with close to no consciousness.
I don't think I'd have any recollection of my arrival at home if it weren't photographed and posted all over the internet with almost every caption reading: Everette Monson, New York Blades's infamous bad boy turned soft for his best friend. Is he as bad as we thought?
The next morning, you can imagine my surprise when I woke up to my apartment filled with smoke and Everette holding my cat in one arm and grabbing me with the other. Suddenly, I'm moving in with my best friend and we're telling everyone about our new-found romantic love for one another.
It should be easy, right? We've had sleepovers before. It should be like that...just every night. I'll have my room and he'll have his. It's just roommates in private and a couple in public.
At least that was the plan.
Eventually, it becomes harder and harder to tell the difference between what's real and what's for the show, and I begin to wonder if any of it was ever fake for Everette.
But, despite my growing attraction for my best friend and his six-pack that I never thought about licking until recent events, I can't give in. I have to stay focused on my work and finding hobbies that will hopefully help with this nagging hopeless feeling that lingers in my chest.
But what if Everette and his drool-worthy abs and shockingly sexy romantic side are exactly what I need?
❄︎EVERETTE❄︎
I'm in love with my best friend. That's the exact thing I've repeated in my head over and over for the past 8 years.
The first time I met Lilly, I knew. It wasn't love at first sight or anything, because let's be honest, that shit's not real, it was just...a feeling, I guess?
I wanted to ask her out more than anything, but the more time we spent together, the more I realized she would most definitely say no.
The only thing she wanted was success, and every time she talked about her ideal life, she never mentioned any romance. Then, by the time she started dating, she'd already begun referring to me as her 'very best friend' and coming to me with all her guy problems.
That's a really deep grave to dig yourself out of.
So, I didn't. I kept sinking lower and lower, letting Lilly pile the dirt on top and suffocate me with every question about what to say to guys and what I'd like if I were the guy she was talking to.
Now, 8 years after meeting, we are still the very best of friends. She has her cozy apartment and event planning business, and I have my house 10 minutes away from her and a skyrocketing NHL career. We spend most nights together and I do whatever I can to show her affection in ways that don't involve her screaming my name like I've always imagined.
Everything's 'fine' until my professional reputation gets so fucked that I'm not sure anything can fix it.
That is until Lilly admits to me what I've already noticed, which is that she's in a major situational depression dumpster fire. When she suggests we go out and have a spontaneous night at a local bar, I agree only because she never does things like this, and I've always wanted her to learn to enjoy life a little bit more...and also because I can't tell her no.
But what I don't expect from the night is to be photographed carrying a blacked-out Lilly into her apartment at 2 A.M.
The photo goes viral, and all of a sudden everyone is forgetting about my recent fuck ups. Now, I'm becoming a wholesome family guy who loves his girl. (Not entirely untrue.)
So, when we wake up the next morning not only to the viral photo but also to Lilly's apartment building on fire, an idea strikes.
Lilly and I begin our fake dating ruse, only it's 100% real to me. I want this girl. I need my girl.
I'll do anything to ensure that Lilly realizes how good I can be to her, I just hope she can let go of her control long enough to fall for someone as reckless as me.
