her gaze. “The only thing I’m missing is a birthday hug from my friend.”
“Oh.” And the relief that washed over her face made all the hopes I’d had a moment before shrivel up and die. Because she was relieved that I hadn’t just put her through the awkwardness of telling me that my feelings were just one-sided. “Just a hug?”
“Yes.” I cleared my throat and nodded. “Just a hug from the best friend a guy could ask for is all I want.”
“Well, I guess I can do that.” She tossed the toothbrush to the queen-sized bed behind her, stood on her toes, and wrapped her arms around my neck.
Even though it wasn’t exactly what I wanted, I wrapped my arms around her tiny waist and pulled her close to me. We stood like that for a few seconds before she whispered, “Your heart is beating so fast right now.”
“I know.” I sighed. Because she was the reason for it.
I dipped my face down to nuzzle her neck. She smelled so good.
Why did she have to feel so perfect in my arms?
Why did I have to fall for the girl who could never see me as more than just a good friend?
It was torture.
Torture and pure ecstasy to be so close to the girl of my dreams and yet so far away.
I breathed her in. The smell of her perfume still clung to her skin, but there was something else there. Something that was entirely Arianna’s natural scent and it awoke something carnal inside of me.
When I breathed her in again, my lips accidentally grazed across the bare skin of her neck. And I couldn’t help but wonder how she would taste if I kissed her neck? Or the delicate spot behind her ear?
How would it feel to trace my fingers along her collarbone and shoulders? Would goosebumps raise on her skin from the pleasure of my touch, or would she recoil as if my touch burned her?
And before I knew it, I was imagining what it would be like to tangle my fingers in her hair, pull her lips to mine and finally taste her.
Would her lips taste like that strawberry-kiwi lip gloss she always wore? Would they be as soft as I’d imagined?
She pressed her body closer, her soft curves feeling amazing against my body. And that was when all my usual safely-guarded restraint disappeared.
I wanted her so bad.
Needed her.
Then suddenly, my brain no longer cared about the consequences. There was only her. Only me. Only this moment right here in the room she’d be staying in tonight.
And I couldn’t merely wonder what it would be like to taste her any longer. I needed to know.
So I pressed my lips against her neck, testing the waters.
She sucked in a surprised breath and her arms tightened reflexively over my shoulders. I waited for her to push me away, to tell me I shouldn’t do this. But when she was still there a few heart-pounding seconds later, I lifted my head slightly higher so my lips were close to her ear and whispered, “You’re so beautiful.”
She leaned her forehead against my chest and breathed in deeply, like she was trying to decide how she should react to whatever was happening between us.
I rubbed my hands along her back, the heat of her body warm through the thin fabric of my shirt.
“Cole, I…” She slowly shook her head against my chest, her voice rough and almost pleading.
I had to know what she was thinking right now.
Did she sound like that because she wanted me to stop?
Or was she only saying it because she knew she should?
“What?” I asked in a low voice, my hands running across her lower back. “What is it?”
“We’re best friends,” she said.
But even as she reminded me that best friends shouldn’t be holding each other like this, it sounded more like she was trying to remind herself.
She lifted her forehead from my chest and tilted her head back. And when our gazes met, my whole body burned because she did not look like she only saw me as a platonic best friend.
Instead, her eyes told me what her words never had.
She wanted me to do something.
She was just waiting for me to make the first move.
My chest tightened, making it hard to draw in a decent breath.
It was now or never.
One more second and I might miss my chance.
We might come down from this foggy-headed state where best friends had to follow certain rules, and I might remember