No, it's too complicated. She's just a friend

She asked me if I wanted her to be my girlfriend now, and when I answered “No,” she was tremendously relieved, if not a little surprised.

“I love you, Ian, I really do. So much. But I don’t think of you as a boyfriend, either. Please don’t take that the wrong way.”

And I didn’t. Corrine was an important part of my life, and I an important part of hers, but there was no romance between us. Never had been. There had been passion, and plenty of lust (mostly on my end), but never romance. And this time, after being burned by Stephanie, preemptively dismissed by Amy and Talia, and confused by Elizabeth, I had finally, truly, learned my lesson.

“Corrine, you’re my friend. That’s all I want from you.” Then I chuckled, and added, “That, and the occasional tit-fuck.”

She actually blushed.

It was two thirty in the morning when we got back to Rachel’s cabin. The sound of the car pulling up drove a relieved Elizabeth out the front door and into my arms, before I even reached the porch.

“Oh my god! What happened to your car? Are you alright? You had me so worried! You drove off in the dark, in the rain, and never even called to tell us you were safe. What is wrong with you?!”

I gave her a kiss on the forehead and apologized. She threw a questioning look at Corrine, to which I simply explained: “She’s back.”

Everyone was in their pajamas when we walked inside, but they’d all waited up for me. Upon seeing Corrine, they had pretty much the same shocked, suspicious expression that Elizabeth had had out front. And I gave them the same explanation: “She’s back.”