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CHAPTER ONE
gemma martinez
“Fuck.”Aiden’s deep voice made me shiver.
He’d been doing that for a while. Something about the depth of his voice and big, tall, muscular body had been making me dizzy and slightly weak-kneed for the last three years, but more so the last couple of months, and the outfit I’d chosen didn’t let me hide the goose bumps coming to life on my arms.
“Gem, babe, you look…” My eyes rose, and I watched him in the reflection of the mirror I stood in front of. I could almost feel his deep brown eyes like a touch as they skimmed my body. Up and down. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from moaning out loud. I wanted to be so much more than friends it was ridiculous.
“Is it okay?” I asked, feeling slightly shy. I had no idea why. Aiden and I had known one another since elementary school when my mom was able to buy our home and moved us to a new school district in a better area. Aiden was in my class and asked if I wanted to be his best friend on my third day there.
We had been inseparable since.
But something happened our junior year in high school. For the last three years, I’d been keeping a secret from my bestfriend. A huge one. I was in love with him but terrified he didn’t feel the same way.
“Okay?” His voice sounded like it almost went an octave deeper. “Babe, you need to change,” he said like his words were law.
“Change?” My eyes widened and then narrowed. This whole ‘go change things’ wasn’t something new either.
Especially during the last six months of us backpacking through Europe.
Aiden had always been overprotective. From when Jenny Ochoa told everyone I peed my pants in second grade, to when someone started a rumor that I had gone on a date with the pitcher of our varsity baseball team when we were sophomores and said pitcher was a senior. Aiden always had my back to clear up any kind of rumors or help me solve any issues.
But since we’d started this adventure of backpacking our way through different countries, it had felt like that protectiveness had kicked up a notch. From telling me what to wear or what not to drink. Not in an ugly way, but in a way I knew he said it because he wanted to keep me safe.
“Babe, you go out like that, I’m going to end up getting kicked out of a club.” I rolled my eyes at his comment. This was something he’d been doing for a while. Mentioning the possibility of guys being attracted to me. As if. I didn’t have a line of suitors waiting for me at home across an ocean.
“Oh, please! Look at you.” I pointed at him. My fingers itched to skim the buttons of his freshly ironed black dress shirt.
“What?” A manly brow rose on his handsome masculine face.
“Girls are going to be throwing themselves at you all night,” I pointed out, hiding the pout that wanted to form. I wasn’t blind. I saw the way girls turned and looked at him, and why shouldn’t they? He was handsome and masculine. And when he smiled? Wow. Just the thought caused a swarm of butterflies to flapinside my belly. I cleared my throat, trying to change the subject. “It’s seriously unfair how quickly guys can get ready compared to girls.”
His lips twitched, and I knew my distraction was going to change the subject. “You could have tossed that on after we came back from the beach today, and you would have looked just as beautiful,” he complimented me, and my stupid, naïve heart fluttered.
He’d been doing that more often, too.
Not that he wasn’t sweet before, but he was more open with it since just before we graduated. The compliments were always easy and sincere.Because he’s your best friend!I reminded myself, trying to keep my feet on the ground. Just because he thought I was pretty didn’t mean he wanted me.
I always wondered if maybe, just maybe, he felt the same about me as I felt toward him, but I wasn’t sure. Since I was completely inexperienced, I was clueless. The risk of messing things up between us, of telling him how I felt and being rejected and ruining our friendship, terrified me.
“You’re sweet but such a liar. You saw how wavy my hair got from air drying after swimming.”
“I think it looked great.” He moved in closer. Aiden’s strong body was solidly behind mine. His heat radiated and pounded my back almost like a caress, and his scent? God, his masculine smell made its way into my lungs, surrounding me like a cozy cloak. I wanted to stay there forever.
Our eyes locked in the mirror, and my lungs froze when his hand rose and touched my shoulder.
“You got a tan,” he noted quietly. I licked my lips. They tasted like the cherry lip gloss I’d just put on.Would Aiden like cherry lips?
“A little bit,” I whispered. My breath hitched as his body bent so his lips brushed against the shell of my ear.
Watching him in the mirror, seeing how we looked together, I loved it. Our size difference made my nipples tighten against the material of my top. For a moment, I wondered if he could tell. If he could feel how much I wanted him and the way my pussy pulsed for something. I just wasn’t sure.
“I got you something,” he whispered against my ear, and there was no holding back the full-body tremble it caused.
“You did?” He nodded, and his hand moved to his pocket. I watched as he pulled out a silver chain and dangled it in front of the mirror. My eyes dropped from his reflection to the necklace.
“Aiden.” I gasped softly. “It’s beautiful.” It was a delicate butterfly made from green and teal bits of sea glass and silver holding it together with gold wiring.
