I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. What he described I wanted very much. But I wasn’t sure I was ready for it. That kind of connection and vulnerability. Then there was the girl: Britt. It had been just a few hours ago that I had heard her screaming his name. No. I wasn’t ready. As wonderful as that sounded, he had been with someone else today. I couldn’t be that girl for him. One that was okay with sharing him. I wasn’t sure I could handle seeing him with other girls now that he had touched my boobs.
I moved off of him, covered my chest with my arms, and headed to my bedroom. My sundress hung forgotten on my hips.
KRIT
She was asleep. Her breathing had changed over the past few minutes, and while she watched the movie, I had watched her. I’d known the moment she recalled Britt’s words about me f**king her. It had been all over her face. When she retreated to her room, I had sat here with the fear she might not come back out. All I needed was to hold her.
Like with everything else, Blythe hadn’t acted like any other girl. I would have been made to pay for it had Blythe been like the others. But she’d changed into a pair of little pink boxers that really didn’t do much to cover her, and a large T-shirt that almost covered the shorts up. The idea that the shirt could have belonged to a guy was driving me nuts.
Without a word she had walked over to the sofa and curled up beside me. Then she handed me the remote and told me to find something to watch. It was impossible not to touch her. Luckily, she was okay with me constantly feeling her skin and playing with her hair. We hadn’t talked much, but her body had told me all I needed to know. She trusted me, and she forgave me.
That was enough for now.
I sat there with her asleep in my lap for an hour and watched her as she turned and wrapped her arm around my waist and buried her face into my stomach. It was a good thing she was sleeping because other parts of me were not dealing well with the fact that her head was in my lap. My cock, for example, had other ideas.
Finally, when I knew I needed a very cold shower or things were going to get painful, I picked her up and carried her back to her room. The bed was a mess, which made me grin. Blythe didn’t seem like the type who left her bed unmade, but she had, and it looked like she did this a lot.
Laying her down, I straightened the covers and then tucked her in. Placing a kiss to her nose and forehead, I forced myself to turn and leave. I didn’t have the willpower to crawl into bed and just hold her. The image of her coming in my lap was burned into my brain and on repeat. She’d been beautiful.
I took her keys and locked her in as I left. I would have to set my alarm to get back down there early enough in the morning to give her the keys so she could go to school. I wanted to see her again anyway. I really wanted to wake up in bed with, her but that wasn’t safe. I couldn’t take more.
Going up to my apartment, I knew Green had come in an hour ago. I had heard him and the silence that had followed. He hadn’t brought the party home, and I owed him one. For covering for me tonight and understanding that I didn’t want everyone there messing things up.
The door was unlocked when I walked inside, and Green was sitting in the recliner with a beer, watching late-night television. His gaze swung to meet mine as I closed the door behind me. I owed him more of an explanation. He had taken that one small explanation on the phone and handled things.
“Thanks,” I said as I sank down onto the sofa.
“Yeah. That ain’t gonna do it. I need more than that,” he said, and cocked an eyebrow at me.
I nodded. He was right. He deserved more.
“Trisha invited Blythe to Daisy May’s birthday party. Trisha had lunch with her today and, well, you know what Blythe’s like. You spend five minutes with her, and you’re sucked in. You want to get closer,” I let out a chuckle and shook my head. Damn, I was sunk. “Anyway, then I showed up with Britt, which was a stupid move. I was surprised to see Blythe, and I handled it wrong. She assumed I didn’t want her there because for some goddamn reason she thinks the worst of herself. And Amanda and Trisha were about ready to murder me from the looks on their faces.” I turned and looked at Green as the emotion in my throat started clogging me up again. Fuck, if this didn’t get to me every time I thought about it. “She stood in a kitchen full of people she didn’t know and informed them all they were being unfair to me. That I was innocent and that she didn’t want anyone upset with me.” I stopped and swallowed hard. “She f**king said it was her fault.”
“She defended you,” he said, and I could see he understood. I didn’t have to get mushy and act anymore like a pu**y than I was already. He got it.
“Yeah, she did.”
Green took a long drink of his beer, then leaned forward and sat it down on the table before looking over at me again. “She sees you. Not the guy the others see. She sees you. The guy I’ve known all my life. The one you don’t share. That guy. She saw him when she first looked at you.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked directly at me. “Thing is, I know for a fact people can only see what you allow them to see. You let her see you. I watched you let her see you. Before you even knew her, you’d let your guard, and all those f**king walls you have built around you, down.” He stood up and stretched. I let his words sink in, and I realized he was right. “She’s seen the ass**le the rest of the world sees. Problem is, you let her see the real you first.” He shrugged. “Maybe that isn’t a problem. But I guess you’ll determine that. Just don’t f**k this up. Because, dude, most every man alive would kill to be in your shoes.”
I watched as my best friend walked down the hall to his room. His door clicked closed behind him.
Chapter Thirteen
BLYTHE
The smell of coffee woke me up. Confused, I stared at the ceiling and tried to figure out when I went to bed last night. A cabinet closed in the kitchen, and I shot up out of bed. Just before I went into full-blown panic, last night came back to me as my sleepy mind began to catch up with the rest of me.
Krit. He had been there. I’d fallen asleep in his arms. Spinning around, I looked down at my bed, but the other side didn’t look like it had been slept on. The covers were much neater than they normally were, but the other pillow was still unused.
I slipped into the bathroom to brush my teeth and my hair before walking out to the kitchen to face him. Not that it mattered much. He had been quiet last night when I had come back into the living room after changing. I didn’t have to ask him to know he had been rethinking things.
I had to reassure him that this changed nothing and that we could still be friends. I wouldn’t act weird and get upset over him dating his slew of women. But for my sanity, I could not allow what we did last night to happen again. It had been . . . It had been the most . . . There were no words for what that had been.
Quietly, I made my way into the kitchen and stopped and watched him as he poured a cup and started fixing it the way I liked it. At least he didn’t look like a man who was about to stop being my friend. Had he stayed there all night? On the sofa maybe?
“Good morning,” I said, hating the sleepy sound still clinging to my voice.
Krit jerked his head around then slowly let his gaze drift down my body and back up again. He had seen me in my oversize T-shirt and boxers last night. He picked up the cup in front of him and brought it to me.