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Fine. She’d be the grown-up, then.
Brooke took a breath and opened her mouth to start talking. But before she could get the words out, Dylan closed the distance between them.
He moved so fast it took her by surprise, his hands cupping her face as he tilted her head back. When his lips met hers, the shock hit her like an electric current, sending her pulse into overdrive.
It was like his little kissing experiment this morning had been the sound check, and now she was getting a front-row seat to the headlining act. Heat pooled in her stomach as his mouth covered hers, kissing her with a strong, firm, confidence that was still somehow tender.
She tried to savor every second of it, her lips parting as her tongue sought his with greedy strokes. Her hands knotted in his shirt as she kissed him like she’d always wanted to. The way she’d always fantasized about kissing him.
It was even better than her fantasy. He tasted slightly sweet, with a faint hint of mint, and his hands were warm on her face as he held her, his stubble rough as it scraped over her lips, sending a surge of sensation shivering over the surface of her skin. His fingers slid into her hair as he angled his head to deepen the kiss, and for a moment she lost herself in him, in the intoxicating scent of his skin, the velvet slide of his tongue against hers, and the empty ache in her core.
Fuck.
This was Dylan she was kissing.
She broke free with a gasp. “Wait. We should—” She couldn’t think. Her heart was pounding too loudly.
“What’s wrong?” Dylan’s fingers caressed her temple, which wasn’t doing anything for her focus.
Brooke squeezed her eyes shut. “What are we doing?”
“Pretty sure we were kissing. Until you stopped.”
“No, I mean—you and me—this is nuts.” She blinked up at him, breathing heavily.
He gazed at her levelly. “Is it?” The only hint of his discomposure was a slight rasp in the words.
“Yes!” She lifted a hand to smooth her hair and realized her fingers were shaking.
“Why?” He was still gazing at her through his surprisingly long lashes. Still betraying no emotion whatsoever.
His blankness made it easier to remember herself and what they were risking. It helped her make up her mind. “Because it’s us. And we’re—this isn’t who we are.” The words fell into the silence between them, shattering the mood like a sheet of glass.
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Tell me you haven’t thought about it.”
She swallowed and looked blindly at the wall beyond him. The hands that had been twisted in his shirt a moment ago curled into empty fists. “Of course I’ve thought about it. But as tempting as it is to drag you into my bedroom and do unspeakable things to you, I think it would be a bad idea. You’re too important to me. I can’t risk losing our friendship. It wouldn’t be worth it.”
He nodded and looked down at the floor. “I can understand that.”
“Can you?” She was so afraid she’d hurt him. So afraid they’d already crossed the point of no return and screwed everything up.
But when he looked up his expression was clear-eyed and earnest. “I can. You’re probably right.” The corner of his mouth curled. “I mean, it’d be fun—”
“Sofun.”
“So fun,” he agreed with a heart-stopping smile. “But our friendship is important to me too. I don’t want to do anything that might jeopardize it.”
“So…we’re okay?” Brooke held her breath as she waited for his answer.
Dylan nodded. “We’re okay.”
“Whew. That’s a relief.” She felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and knew she’d made the right decision.
They stared at each other for what felt like a long moment, neither of them knowing quite where to go from here. How to get back to normal.
“You know what we should do?” Dylan said finally. “Go out to dinner to celebrate you submitting your paper. You up for it?”
“Yeah. That sounds great.” Getting out of the apartment was probably a good idea. Brooke wouldn’t be so tempted to mash her face against Dylan’s in the middle of a restaurant.
