The Friend Zone by Delaney Diamond

Author:Delaney Diamond [Diamond, Delaney]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Garden Avenue Press

14

Dana lifted onto her elbows. “That’s my brother.”

She used unique ring tones for family members, a practice she started to avoid speaking to her parents. Each individual sound allowed her to avoid running for the phone but also let her know when she needed to.

Wrestling with the rearrangement of her clothes, she scrambled to her feet. She could barely walk because her feet felt springy and detached from the rest of her, while her body sang from Omar’s touch and ached for his full possession.

She rushed into the kitchen and pulled the phone from her purse on the kitchen bar.

“Hey, Tommy.”

Her relationship with Tommy, whose real name was Thomas, had remained strong over the years. To this day, he and his twin sister, Theresa, called Dana whenever they needed help—personal or financial.

“Hello, my beautiful sister. How are you doing?”

He wanted something. “It’s after one o’clock in the morning here,” she said, running a hand over her face. “Why are you calling me so late?” Tommy attended school in California and was generally uncaring about the time difference.

“Reaching out to say I love you.”

“You must need a lot of money,” she muttered, keeping her voice low from Omar’s listening ears.

Her brother let out an embarrassed laugh, and she envisioned the distress in his round face.

“What’s going on?” she whispered.

She watched Omar pick up the empty containers and plastic bags from the living room and take them to the trash can.

“I’m in a bind,” Tommy started slowly. “Since I wasn’t going home for the summer, I found a job and been working for the past few weeks, but a few days ago my car died. The mechanic said it’s the engine, and replacing it is gonna cost me… a lot.”

“How much?” Dana asked, taking a seat on a bar stool to prepare for the bad news.

Tommy mumbled an unintelligible answer.

“What did you say?”

“Fifteen hundred bucks.”

Her stomach plummeted, and she closed her eyes, resting her head against her hand. “How much do you need?”

“Fifteen hundred. All of it,” he answered weakly.

“Tommy…”

“I have rent and utilities and groceries to buy,” he said, sounding defensive. “I have a roommate, but it’s expensive out here. I swear I’ve been really good with my money, but the car dying messed up all my plans. I asked mom and dad for help, but they said they don’t have any extra money.”

“Did you talk to Ray and Evan?” she asked, referring to their older brothers.

“Yeah. Ray said Leela got braces not too long ago, so he can’t afford to help, and Evan said Ginnie’s due soon. Work’s been too sporadic at the shop so he can’t give me the money and risk not having anything when the baby comes.”

Which meant Dana was his last resource, and her trip to Colorado started slipping away.

Omar had returned to the sofa and was playing with his phone. His fingers moved quickly across the screen, and her body quietly throbbed from the memory of those fingers sliding in and out of her.

“I’ll send

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