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Stella's face turned beet red.
"Do you not remember me?"
"I actually knew you before Zoe did. I've liked you ever since then, but all these years, it seems you only had eyes for Zoe…"
Hearing Stella say this, Zoe coughed twice. "Stella, what nonsense are you talking about?"
Stella then remembered Jayce was there and quickly explained, "Jayce, that's just me. Zoe and Cole have a purely platonic friendship."
Jayce laughed, affectionately ruffling Zoe's hair.
"I won't overthink it. I've known since college that my baby could never fall for anyone but me."
I didn't say a word, just stood there quietly.
At that moment, I realized what a failure I was.
I had lived with Zoe as her boyfriend for five years, but in the end, even her best friend was kept in the dark about our relationship.
Seeing me in a daze, Stella waved her hand in front of my face.
"Cole, don't be awkward. If you're not interested, it's fine. We can just be friends."
Zoe sat to the side, sipping the juice the waiter had brought.
I laughed. "I'm not being awkward. You're great."
After a moment, Stella seemed to make up her mind.
"I know it's a bit forward for a girl to say this, but if you think I'm okay, please give me a chance to be your girlfriend."
I noticed Zoe put down her glass, her fingers tapping restlessly on its side.
Stella's gaze was scorching, and I almost felt burned where it landed on my face.
I smiled, and after confirming I felt no resentment or desire for revenge, I said calmly, "Let's give it a try."
The tapping on the glass stopped.
Stella froze. "'Try'? How do we 'try'?"
Then she quickly caught on, her face flushing as she said, "Okay… okay."
I said, "I don't have any experience with dating, so let's start as friends."
Zoe took another sip of juice, her tone light and teasing.
"True. He has no experience."
With that one casual sentence, she dismissed the five years I had spent chasing after her.
After dinner, it was only natural that I would drive Stella home.
Zoe watched as Stella got into my passenger seat.
As soon as the door opened, both Jayce and Stella saw the sticker on the seat: "Cole's Sweetheart's Seat."
The last time, it had been dark, and Jayce had been in the back, so he hadn't noticed the sticker.
"Cole's Sweetheart's Seat. Nice, bro. You're a real romantic."
"But I think you should be more direct. Just put 'Stella's Seat' on it."
Hearing that, Stella's face turned an even deeper shade of red.
I remembered when I bought that sticker, I had wanted to impress Zoe.
I thought she would be pleasantly surprised when she saw it, but instead, she found it childish.
Later, I got angry, and to appease me, she even posted about it on her social media.
The post read: "Cole says this is my special seat."
I was so moved at the time.
It was only three months later that I accidentally discovered that the post Zoe had made was visible only to me.
So, I had been a complete joke since back then.
I reached out and tore off the sticker, explaining, "I lost a game of Truth or Dare with friends and had to put this on. I just kept forgetting to take it off."
I made up a random excuse.
It's not like Zoe cared now anyway.
I thoughtfully closed the door for Stella.
Zoe's lips twitched into a smirk, her tone like she was joking.
"Stella, Cole is the most insecure guy. Now that you've sat in his passenger seat, you can't ever sit in another man's, okay?"
I knew Zoe's personality well. I didn't think she was mocking me, but it was only at this moment that I realized.
She did feel some guilt towards me.
She wasn't completely oblivious to the pain and anxiety I had endured in our relationship over the past five years.
It's just that she had seen Jayce first. Before she even had a choice, her heart was already biased.
The car started. Zoe, holding Jayce's hand, took a few steps back. For some reason, she looked up at me.
As I drove away, I saw her in the rearview mirror, her gaze fixed on the direction my car was leaving.
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