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I shrugged. “We’re getting along. It’s kind of weird. You’re taking me seriously and not making jokes at my expense.”
He gazed down at his hands in this lap as he rubbed them together. “Yeah, well, I heard you when you told me I’ve been a jerk to you. You’re usually combative, and I struggle with how to respond.” He looked me in the eyes. “I’ve always liked teasing you, but I’ve never meant to hurt or make you feel mocked.”
“Thanks.” I pulled the sleeves of my cardigan over my hands for comfort. “We used to be close, and sometimes I miss that.” Vulnerability bubbled out of me, and the words were out before I could overthink them. “I’m embarrassed about what happened before. And being around you is a constant reminder of my mistake.”
“I miss how close we were, too,” he said.
My eyebrows rose. He leaned forward, putting an arm around me to get closer. We were a breath’s width away now. Millimeters separated us.
“You don’t have to be embarrassed. Sure, it was awkward, and I wished it hadn’t stopped our friendship. I tried used humor to bridge that gap, but I didn’t know it made you feel worse. I’m sorry for that.”
My heart was beating so hard that I could hear it in my ears. Butterflies erupted in my stomach. I glanced down at his mouth, and he licked his lips. I thought about him kissing me that night years ago. And I thought about his arm around me when I tripped on the stairs, how he held me tight against him.
I swore I could see in his eyes that he wanted me.
It felt like he was giving me the okay to surge forward and claim his lips again, but the fear of rejection held me still. Nothing had really changed from then to now. We were the same people. One confession and apology hadn’t changed the years of distance between us.
Chris leaned in. I shut my eyes and turned my face away.
His nose brushed my cheek, and he pulled back. Air rushed into my lungs as the separation seemed to have given me the space to breathe again.
“I need to go,” he said, closing his laptop and shoving it into his backpack. He looked at his watch. “I forgot I have a meeting that starts in thirty minutes. It’s across town, so I need to get going.”
Disappointment washed over me.
Was he feeling rejected bymenow? I’d imagined the tables turned a million times since that night, wishing I could be the one on the other side, handing out the rejection, but it didn’t feel good. It sucked.
“Okay, thanks for lunch and the caffeine kick.”
He nodded, still not looking at me. “No problem. I’ll email you the plans I come up with, and we’ll set another meeting before moving forward.”
“Sounds good.”
He stood and pulled his backpack over his shoulders. He leaned down to grab his to-go container and drink. He finally met my eyes and smiled. “Thanks for the talk. I’ll see you soon.”
My smile in return was faint. “Yeah, sure. See you.”
I stayed sitting as he left the store.
I watched his ass again like the horny idiot I was.
Should I have let him kiss me?
My head said no, but my heart and a few other body parts were screaming yes.
7
CHRIS
Rain coatedthe streets as I parked outside Sean’s house. He and Nicole lived in a two-bedroom starter home I’d saved and flipped over a year ago in the historical district of Carswell. One. The district was small, but our town was hellbent on protecting the houses in the area.
My company had developed a few of the houses in the neighborhood. Being a part of the town’s initiative to preserve the historic district had earned us a good reputation. Many of our customers wanted restorations on property that had been in their family for generations. We provided end results as close as possible to the original design while implementing a few modern twists.
Sean and Nicole were looking for a house as soon as they’d gotten together, and he’d visited me when I’d been working on the house. He loved the layout and the design so much that he wanted to buy it, so I helped him negotiate a reasonable price.
It’d been a few months since I’d visited, so I was excited to see how they’d filled the rest of the space. I also couldn’t ignore the buzz of energy I had at seeing Sav again outside the bookstore. Our moment the other day had replayed in my head repeatedly over the last thirty hours.
Her want had shined in her eyes as I drew close, and I wanted to feel her lips against mine again, just once. She practically shook with anticipation, and I knew she wanted the same thing. When her eyes closed, I thought she was giving in to the kiss, but she turned away, saving us both from the damage that kiss would have caused.
