Claire couldn't truthfully say she wasn't in love with Alex because she was. She wished she hadn't realized that unfortunate fact because all it did was make her life more difficult but you can't control your feelings.
He had been the first person to care about her in six years. She had never trusted anyone else the way she trusted him. He was her best friend but he was also her safe place. Her harbor from the storms of life. The only one that could relax her without fail when in the most stressful of circumstances.
It had nearly destroyed her the first time she lost him and that was back when they could barely be considered friends. If she were to lose him now after everything they had been through and all the memories they had together, she wouldn't be able to recover. Ever.
Ethan frowned. "So you could marry him if he was in love with you then?"
