Lose you to Love me...

SHAWN MATHEW RIVERS ♡♡

"Dude, what the hell, man? I thought we decided against you pursuing that chick! Then you bring her here to hang out? What's up with that?" Nate's voice sliced through the air like a pizza cutter through extra-cheesy pepperoni. I wanted to bolt after Jane, but I could already feel the impending doom; she'd probably left to catch up with that guy she had been staring at like he was the last slice of pizza.

"Who's that guy who was here earlier?" I asked, trying to mask my irritation. The thought of him and Jane together was like a bad pizza topping—unwanted and sticky.

"What guy?" Kaitlynn squinted at me, clearly confused. Of course, she hadn't seen him. She had her back turned, probably organizing her Pinterest board for the next party that no one would attend.

"If you're talking about the dude your girl was checking out, his name is Jayden. He's an economics major. They have classes together. I've seen him around. He's cool," Chris finally chimed in, pulling me out of my spiral of misery.

"Why are you asking, anyway? Are you jealous or something?" Wendy shot back with a grin that could only mean trouble. Even though she was dating my best friend, I didn't trust her as far as I could throw a fully-loaded pizza.

"Of course he's jealous! The girl he loves was making dreamy eyes and smiling at another guy when he's not even in the friend zone... I know I'd be jealous," Ryan added, cutting through the tension like a hot knife through butter. Sometimes, I wondered why I was friends with these idiots.

"You're in love with her, man! You've got it bad. Here I was thinking it was just a fling. I mean, aren't you with Ariana?" Nate's reminder of a name I'd rather not think about was like adding pineapple to a pizza—just wrong.

"Since when did you start liking her? Didn't you just meet her? Don't give me that 'love at first sight' crap. It's not realistic to fall in love with someone you hardly know," Nate continued, making me mentally groan. It was hard to hide anything from these guys; we'd been through too much together.

"He didn't just meet her. It's Ashy Gray—the girl he kept going on and on about during the second week of the semester. He finally grew a pair and spoke to her!" Chris exclaimed, his observation skills sharper than my pizza cutter.

"Seriously? Ashy Gray? Geez, man, you are screwed. You finally muster some courage, and she rejects you not once, but numerous times? Your luck sucks major balls!" Justin laughed, rubbing salt in my fresh wounds.

"Will you guys stop talking about me like I'm not here and help me out?" I said, my voice sounding more desperate than I wanted it to.

"Okay, sorry, Matt, but I've been listening to these idiots, and I think you should just give up while you can. She's not interested from what I saw. Just let her go, man," Kaitlynn advised. She was always the mom of the group, coming up with solutions like a therapist in a sitcom, but this was a matter of the heart. I couldn't just stop my heart from beating for her.

"That's like telling me to hold my breath for an hour. I'd die! I can't let her go, Kai. I always feel the need to be with her and talk to her. Even when she's insulting me and being stubborn, I find myself smiling. I'd rather have her any way I can get her than nothing at all," I confessed, and my friends stared at me, some with concern, others with that annoying happy grin that said, "Aww, look at Shawn, he's in love."

"You're so whipped, man! I didn't think I'd see the day. This is like some wolf-mate stuff—only real! It's happening, people! Our baby is growing up!" Nate declared dramatically, earning a roll of my eyes at his over-the-top antics.

"I don't think she's good enough for you, Matt. You need someone from your social circle, not some weird scholarship student," Wendy chimed in, and I could feel the devil horns sprouting on her head.