The Cheat Sheet

by Sarah Adams

I was so gone for him from day one.

But that’s where the story gets sad. I’m not. They all get to have Nathan in a way I never will.

That must mean Bree Cheese is here.”

This is his fresh from the shower look, and no matter how many times I’ve seen it, it never ceases to make me swallow my tongue.

“He’s not, believe me,” I say. Then I worry it came out sounding a little too bitter, so I add, “Really. Just friends. We’d be horrible together. We’re more like brother and sister.” Bleh, that tasted bad on my tongue.

A man who is head over heels for a woman doesn’t keep his hands to himself on movie night for six years straight.

And Nathan and I always keep our hands to ourselves.

Would I love to marry him and have his giant muscular babies? Yes. In a heartbeat.

“I’m sorry if she made you feel bad. I didn’t realize she was like that toward you or I would have broken up with her a long time ago.”

A corner of my heart aches. If he cares about me being in his life so much, why isn’t he attracted to me? No.

To my left is a floor-to-ceiling three-million-dollar view of the ocean, but to my right is the view I would give my soul to see every day for the rest of my life.

Omg omg omg 🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼

And I, in case you are wondering, am an overeager puppy, begging for Bree to play with me—to always play with me.

Oh my god! Im in love!

I probably shouldn’t have done it, but I couldn’t bear to watch her lose her dream like that. Not again.

And now…we’re both single. At the same time. And I’ve seen her naked.

Kelsey can talk shit about me all day, but if she even mentioned Bree’s name once, I’ll have my lawyers all over her faster than she can blink.

“Well, tough, friend. I have millions of dollars and I will spoil you with them if I want.

May this love find me

“Don’t you dare buy my apartment building and renovate it!” “I might. I’ve got money to blow, baby.” Who is this man?!

When she found out I’ve been paying her rent and then on top of that found out I’m celibate, I think I basically flipped her life upside down and shook all the change out.

Love it

The honest truth is I’m celibate by choice. I don’t know, one day I just woke up and realized I was done trying to trick myself into thinking I wanted anyone other than Bree. If it’s not with her, I don’t want it.

🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼

But Bree didn’t “sign up” for this and I know she doesn’t want anything to do with the spotlight, so I’m very protective of her in public situations. I’ll be her bodyguard any day.

But she is checking me out. There’s a spark in her eyes I haven’t noticed before. I mean, she’s seen me with my shirt off probably close to a hundred times, and I always thought she was indifferent to my body. Unimpressed. Now I’m wondering if she always looks at me like this when I’m not watching her…

“You two should date.”

He hands me the pen. “Oh, it’ll definitely be fun. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Alright, time to get serious. First of all, Nate doesn’t need sexual experience in this situation. He needs romantic experience. And he definitely needs more than one very obscure play to show Bree there could be something between them besides just friendship. He needs a whole…” His words trail off as he finishes his sentence by writing ROMANCE CHEAT SHEET on the board.

“This is romance, men. Not football. We can’t use play fakes and little Xs and Os to portray an entire relationship. And no vague metaphors. What we need are words.”

“Nathan, are you flirting with me?”

Oh yessssss 🔥

“You kill me, you know that?” “With my devastating good looks?”

“Wh-what’s happening right now?” “Just relax. Pretend you like me.” Oh the irony.

The only woman I want.

I wonder if these girls find her threatening. I just want to kiss her.

“My very real lips will be on your very real lips, Bree. That’s the very definition of real. It will not be in our heads.”

“Stay with me, please.” I grin. “Always.”

Yes. I’m always happy when I’m with you.”

“Yeah, but that was when it was just fake.”

“Bree, I would have sold my soul to be able to get your dreams back for you in that moment.”

“Your ability to shoulder everything, to give 200% of yourself all the time, to be perfect at everything you attempt…these are not the attributes that make you a valuable human being.” I pause. “And they are not why I fell in love with you.”

🥹🥹🥹🥹🤌🏼

“I fell in love with you because you’re goofy. You’re fun. Your heart is so big I don’t know how it fits in here,” I say, pressing my hand to his chest. “You’re a terrible singer. You make me soup when I’m sick. You bought me tampons that time I was laid out on the couch with cramps and couldn’t move. You didn’t even send someone else for them. You went yourself!”

“I love you too,” he whispers over and over again. “I love you, Bree. I love you. I always have.”

I’m so devastatingly in love with you, it hurts sometimes—and I have been since high school.”

“I’ve loved you since the day you tied my shoe on the track. You didn’t tell me it was untied, you just tied it.” The muscles in his jaw jump like he’s swallowing back tears. “Bree, that was the first day we met.”

🥺🥺

Bree is everything I aspire to be, everything I love, everything I desire. She holds my heart, and, with all that I am, I hope she never gives it back.

“Bree, my best friend, I love you. We haven’t been together very long, but we’ve also been together for years. Will you marry me? Will you let me love you every day from now on? Will you finally move out of your shitty apartment and into mine?”

💍💍