AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What makes you think I want anyone?” I asked her, trying to temper down the anger I started to feel.
It wasn’t her fault.
She was clueless to the way I felt.
I had been dying to make a move for a while since before we graduated high school, but it had felt wrong. Telling her I loved her only to leave town to start my freshman year in college.
So, I’d kept my trap shut.
I hated that first year away from her. Even with FaceTiming and texting her daily, it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t touch her, smell her, look at her without a damn device I had to hold up to soak up the sight of her.
It wasn’t enough.
Then the trip we had been planning finally came to be, and life had been a damn dream.
“I don’t want to go home with a stranger.”
“Oh…” Her light brown eyes studied me for a moment, and I could see the questions in her gaze. I wondered for a moment if she felt the same as I did. Could it be possible that I’d be lucky enough for my best friend to love me back? “Did you leave someone back home? At school, I mean?” she asked. Her sun-kissed face paled.
“No.” My lips twitched as hope bloomed inside my chest.
“Okay.” I could almost see the relief wash over her, and courage started to swim through my veins.
“Four drinks,” I announced.
“What?” Her pretty head tilted, and my hands had a mind of their own as they reached up and touched the soft smooth ends of her hair.
I loved her hair. It was always so damn soft and silky. No matter if it was in its natural waves or straightened like she’d done tonight.
“We get four drinks tonight,” I suggested. “Drinks, dancing,” She always thought I did this for her, when it was selfish on my part. I’d do anything to have the ability to hold her close. “And really damn good food. Sound like a plan?” The smile that covered her face made me fall deeper in love.
We were young.
I was about to turn twenty at the start of the year, and she was nineteen. A lot of people would think we were too young for the kinds of feelings I had when it came to Gemma Martinez.
But I could give a shit what other people thought.
I wasn’t going to risk losing her. Fuck that. The last year almost drove me freaking crazy being away from Gem. I was done with excuses when it came to her. I’d be damned if we returned home not being a couple.
She was mine. I was almost certain she was as in love with me as I was with her. I just had to man up and make a move. And that would be tonight, if I had anything to say about it.
“Sounds like a plan.” She grinned. I stepped back, making sure her hand was clasped with mine.
“Ready?” I asked, my voice deeper than usual. Her eyes widened.
She hadn’t missed the tone or the heavy question. I wasn’t just asking if she was ready to drink and dance the night away. I was asking for so much more.
“With you? Always,” was her perfect answer. I ignored the way my cock pressed against my jeans and hurried us out of the room for the night of our lives. I always thought that people who said that time goes by fast when you’re having a good time were kind of full of it. Time was time.
But not in Santorini.
We had a delicious dinner, where the conversation flowed easily like always. The way her eyes seemed to sparkle over the candlelight that burned as hot as I did for her made me ache to touch her. We headed to a bar after dinner. Drinking and dancing and laughing with my best friend and the woman of my dreams felt like a blur. Neither of us was messy drunk, or even drunk for that matter. We had a great buzz and were riding off the high of enjoying one another’s company.
We’d each had two drinks—a glass of wine and a shot for Gem and two beers for me. Nothing crazy. But the night felt like a fever dream. Swaying and grinding against Gem’s sexy little body to the beat of the music that played in the club while the lights flickered and the colors changed around us felt incredible.
So damn good, I was tempted to ignore and put off what I needed to talk to her about. What I was almost sure she had been trying to ask me about back in our hotel room. When she turned and smiled up at me, my heart squeezed.Tell her. Ask her if she’s ever thought about being more than friends. If she would be willing to give your sorry ass a chance.
“Water?” she shouted so I could hear her over the music. I simply nodded and held her hand, leading the way for her. We approached the bar and found a spot with an empty barstool. I helped her up, and she looked at me like she thought I was cute.
