Joel was waiting for me to respond. He wanted me to be open about this, but I couldn’t. I spent months thinking that this guy hated me when the truth was that he hated I was with his best friend or who I thought was his best friend. If Joel was willing to betray his friend so easily, what would he do with me? Not to mention that I had no love interest with Joel. Sure, he was attractive and had that dark-rooted side to him like Cole, but that was the only thing similar about them. I tried not to compare people to someone else, but it was hard not to when every guy I met was nothing like the man I had fallen in love with.
I opened my mouth, feeling as if honesty would be the best way to go. “I’m flattered, Joel, truly I am, but my heart hasn’t healed from my breakup with Cole. It wo
