AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I kissed her once before and had to walk away. That kiss was the best thing to ever happen to me, but it came at the worst possible time. If I kiss her again and she walks away, I know it will destroy me.
I roll off her and lift my hands to the sky like a college wrestler winning the championship. “Is she still as hot as I remember?” I deflect, needing to think of anything other than kissing my best friend.
Adrienne pulls her knees to her chest, a strange look on her face as she tracks my every movement. I know this look; I know all her looks. She’s aware of what I’ve just done—avoidance. She’s called me out on this a dozen times, daring me to not be like other guys who run away from difficult conversations. I brace for her to challenge me to be better.
She doesn’t. Chin to chest, she sidesteps, her fingers whipping to the mess I’ve made of her hair. “She’s all right.” The words lack humor or conviction.
I reach into the cooler and pull out two orange Capri Sun juice boxes—Adrienne’s favorite. I hold one in each hand and consider my next words. “You once told me to never settle for all right.”
A light giggle slips out her mouth, but she continues to avoid my gaze. “We were fifteen. How did you remember that?” She finally looks in my direction, a brightness in her eyes that was missing a second ago. I toss the juice box to her. “Thanks.”
“I remember every conversation we’ve ever had, GND.” I pray she hears the dangerous undertone of my words.
She rips off the attached plastic straw, tapping the end on her bare leg four times, always four times. It’s one of a thousand quirks she has. She pushes the straw through the tiny hole, closes her eyes, and takes a long pull. She lifts her chin to the sky, lips parting, and exhales a long, slow, ragged breath as the sugary goodness hits her system. It’s freaking sexy.
No one in the world drinks a juice box like she does. She’s only done it in front of someone who wasn’t me once before. Junior year of middle school, in the school playground after the last class in front of a kid I considered my friend—Darin Fletcher. He made a crude joke, and I gave him a bloody nose. I will burn down an entire city to protect Adrienne. That was the last day Darin and I were friends, and it was also the last day Adrienne ever sipped a juice box like this in front of anyone except me. Every time she does it now, I’m reminded of how special my place in her world is. A place reserved only for a best friend.
She opens her eyes, the corner of her eyes brightening with a smile as if she’s been waiting five years to take this sip. When she’s like this, quiet, quirky, unguarded, she is the most beautiful woman in the world. My stupid heart pounds in my chest, and my pulse races. I already know I’m about to do something stupid.
“I love you.” I float the dangerous words toward her. They are not foreign words to us. We’ve shared these words a hundred thousand times, but I’ve never said it like this. I’ve never meant it the way I do now.
She gives me a short-giggle, sneaking another sip of juice, her eyes staring at me up from the top of the straw. “Awww, love you too, BND.”
Adrienne rarely misses a sign from me. This time, she does. I don’t trust my words—I know if I speak, there’s no way she’ll miss hearing the disappointment in my voice. So, I nod.
If I were a braver man, I wouldn’t need words to get my message across. But all of this is happening too fast.
“So, I can tell Jasmine it’s a date?” She tosses dirt on my casket, and I merely nod, a willing participant in my demise. “Yes.” She pumps a fist to the sky, unaware of the damage it does. “She’s just scored a date with the hottest guy in all of Mesa. I’m so jealous—she’s going to owe me big-time.”
Maybe I’m the one missing the signs. Could the emotions of graduating, returning home for good, and this reunion have my radar on the fritz? Should I let the adrenaline of this day dissipate before reading too much into what is going on?
I can do this. Throughout high school, Adrienne and I alternated being wingperson for each other. It’s not the first time she’s set up a date for me. This time, it just caught me by surprise.
If we’re still in the business of looking out for one another, I need to step up. I’m not going down that rabbit hole alone. I ignore the fact that she’s called me the hottest guy in Mesa yet never thought to ask me out. “She’s not the only one you owe.”
She shrugs her shoulder. “Whatever you want. Say the word.”
I rip my straw from the juice box, my throat as dry as the desert outside. “Two words.” I lift two fingers in front of me. Two words I never thought I’d ever say to my best friend. “Double date.”
5
“Double date,” I whisper the words and pray my face doesn’t give away my true thoughts.
Jasmine leans over the counter at my job, Stephanie’s Flower Shop. She tilts her head as if she’s not heard me. Not believing my text, she raced over to hear the words in person.
“He said yes?” she asks and shouts for the thirteenth and hopefully last time. Each reply causes a pain in my side to flare up. Yes, I was the one too chicken to back out of Jasmine’s ask, but it was up to Lucas to save me like he always had. It would have been so easy for him to say no—or even a not right now because I just got in town, and I want to spend every waking moment with my best friend. The one who has compiled a list of ways to remain locked at the hip every waking moment. The list five years in the making, each item reminding him how awesome we are together and don’t need another soul to enter our world.
Ever.
Why did he have to be a nice guy and say yes?
“Oh my god. I never thought he’d say yes,” Jasmine prattles on, bouncing on excited toes.
“Me neither,” I mumble. My words don’t reach her happy ears as she races around the counter toward the large walk-in refrigerated cooler where we store flowers.
“Which flower does he like?” she asks, pointing to a lilac, which isn’t technically a flower.
“I think the guy is supposed to buy the flowers.” My lifeless words are the splash of reality she needs to hear. At least that’s what my heart screams.
