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“Unless?” she breathed the word.

“Maybe you need some convincing?” It was almost like we were already kissing. The electricity zinging between us made me feel like I was touching her everywhere.

“Convince me.”

I dipped lower, nuzzling the skin behind her ear while I held her to me, one hand on each hip. She was so tiny they almost covered her from hips to breasts. When she let out a soft sigh I dropped kisses along her jaw, inching closer to her lips, where I hovered, waiting for her eyes to open.

Her hands slid over my shoulders to my neck and her eyes opened. “What are you waiting for?”

“Permission.”

“Permission to kiss me?”

Kiss her, love her, ruin my life for her. I was fairly certain once we kissed our old lives were over and I couldn’t be held responsible for what I would do to keep Willa forever. “No. Permission to make things very, very complicated.”

She stiffened again, like she was about to push me away and curl up into a ball, so I held her even tighter.

“I know complicated sounds scary but it’s not. Not with me. Complicated means we’re friends and we’re more. I love you, Willa. That’s not ever going to change. You can tell me that this was a massive mistake and I’ll never touch you like this again. But it won’t stop me from loving you or wanting the best for you. And I think I’m the fucking best. I want our lives all tangled up and messy. I want to kiss you and make love to you and blur all the lines of our friendship until there’s just Willa and Everett and everyone knows that’s unbreakable.”

“Well fuck,” she whispered, her fingers digging into the back of my neck a split second before she pushed up on her toes and kissed me. “Permission granted.”

10

WILLA

It was really hard to believe that once upon a time I thought this was a mistake. Did I really think kissing Everett would be anything less than spectacular?

Of course we were a stick of dynamite. All we needed was to light the damn fuse. And ohmyfuckinggod! did we light it.

There was no awkwardness. Mostly because this wasn’t new. I mean, the kissing was, but I knew Everett. He knew me. And sure the first few touches were tentative and questioning, but then the electricity zinged and our chemistry collided in a cascade of pheromones, and boom! Awkwardness gone. I needed. Need to touch him, needed to taste him. And based on the way he was holding me like he’d never let me go, I was pretty sure the feeling was mutual.

A noise rumbled his chest. Some kind of tortured half moan. I had the most insatiable urge to make him do it again.

I ran my hands down his back, found the hem of his shirt, and found his warm skin.

“Fuck, Willa,” he groaned into the kiss, his beard rough but pleasant against my skin. He pulled back, panting, and rested his forehead against mine. “Don’t stop.”

So I didn’t. Sure I’d touched Everett many times over the years. He was an athlete in Florida. He had his shirt off all the time. I’d had my arm around his waist or touched his shoulders or grabbed his face. But that was different. That was a friend touching a friend in a friendly way.

This was a woman touching a man. And nothing about the touches was the same. It was like my fingers were connected to my core and each swipe across his skin made it tighten. It connected us more than ever. I could hear the pounding of his heart and each strangled breath he took.

“Does this feel good?”

His eyes flew open. “Nothing has ever felt better.”

My chest swelled with pride. I made Everett feel good. Me.

But then everything reversed. Everett’s hand left my cheek and traveled down my throat. His touch burned in the best way possible. Every muscle in my body went tight with anticipation of where he’d touch me next and how it would feel.

He traced my collarbone all while his other hand still cupped my cheek, his thumb strumming my skin as he stared deep into my eyes watching every reaction. My breath faltered when he traced lower, over the very top swell of my breast. A place he’d never, ever touched before.

“Does this feel good?” His eyes darted back and forth between mine.

“Yes,” I whispered because there was no way I could find my full voice. Not when my head was spinning so fast that I couldn’t tell which way was up anymore.

His eyes crinkled with a smile just before he kissed me again, slanting his head to fit his lips with mine. He sucked gently on my lower lip and then slid his tongue along mine.

I swear I blacked out for a moment because he was kissing me deep one second and the next he was grinning again as he drank me in. “Well that answers that.”