I Pursued Him for My Best Friend Chapter 01

I Pursued Him for My Best Friend Chapter 01

I fell for Landon Crews the first time I saw him at the swim meet.

My roommate Kendra told me to go for it. She even offered to be my full-on strategist and coach me through everything.

She taught me to act sweet and play coy, and use flirty, adoring names for him like “babe” or just his first name with a soft tone.

She even bought me a high-cut training suit and told me to wear it when I asked him for pointers.

Two months of chasing. Even his teammates were starting to feel bad for me and root for my efforts.

But Landon? Still ice cold.

Then today, Kendra finally fessed up with a little shrug and a tongue poke.

“Actually, that online thing I told you about? That was Landon.”

“I wanted to test him, so I let you chase him.”

“But I didn’t expect him to stay that loyal… Even turning down a girl like you. Sorry, babe. Guess I can’t give him up after all.”

…

The dorm fan hummed overhead, stirring the hot, still air.

I sat frozen in my chair, my mind went completely dumb as I tried to process what Kendra had just dropped on me.

What did she mean her online boyfriend was Landon?

“Girl, you’re not mad, are you?”

When I didn’t say anything for a long beat, she set down her makeup mirror and gave me that sheepish grin she always used when she wanted to get away with something.

“Come on, look at you! You’re gorgeous. So you were basically helping your ride-or-die bestie out, right?”

“You always said you were scared I’d get catfished. Now you know Landon’s actually a good, stand-up guy, right?”

My fists tightened under the desk.

I let my nails dig into my palms, letting the sharp sting spread and ground me.

Kendra had met him over the summer. She told me he was a senior in Crestwood’s athletics department.

Just two weeks into summer break, she wanted to fly back early to meet him in person.

I talked her out of it for days. I begged her not to go alone. What if he was some creep?

I told her to wait until the semester started so I could go with her.

Never once did I guess it was Landon.

“Why didn’t you tell me from the start?”

My voice came out hoarse. I barely recognized it.

Kendra waved it off like it was nothing.

“Because I was insecure, okay? He’s hot, his family’s loaded, and you’re this shining star. When you said you had a crush on him, I genuinely wanted to set you two up.”

“But I didn’t expect him to be that obsessed with me.”

I stared at her face. My nose burned. Humiliation washed over me, heavy and suffocating.

For two months, she coached every move I made. Every word I said to him, every time we ran into each other—she knew all of it.

She made me drop off breakfast at his dorm hall and “accidentally” run into him at the gym. She told me what he ate, what games he played, what type of girl he liked.

She had me deliver breakfast burritos to Westbrook Hall, crash his practices, wear that damn swimsuit.

All while she was dating him online behind my back.

What was I to her? Was I just some sideshow act to her? A total joke?

“Wait, Piper, are you actually upset?” She planted her hands on her hips, pouting like I was the unreasonable one.

I’d always backed down and let it go to keep the peace every time she pulled that face. I valued our friendship too much.

Not today.

“Ugh, fine! What else do you want? I’ll just let you have him, then!”

I looked up. “Okay.”

Now she froze. She blinked. “You’re joking, right?”

Before I could answer, she rushed on, “Come on, no way my bestie would actually want her bestie’s boyfriend.”

“Everyone knows it’s a total girl code violation. Once you see Landon again, you’ll probably hate him.”

I said nothing. Just watched her.

The silence stretched like a wire between us.

Suddenly, the dorm door was kicked open with a loud, sharp bang.