says, “I am in love with you, Ally T.”
I don’t move the can. “Ash B, you better not be saying that to keep me around.”
He slowly shakes his head. “I’m not. I love you. I always have, I always will, and I’m pretty sure since you unleashed all these feelings, I’m never going to stop saying it.”
My eyes slowly fall shut as I drop the can and cover my face, emotion taking over. A sob racks my body as I look through my fingers at him. “You promise?’
“I promise.”
As my tears cloud my vision, I whisper, “I have to tell you something.”
“What?”
My body trembles as I drop my hands, gazing into his beautiful eyes. The eyes I will love for the rest of my existence. “You look ridiculous in that shirt.”
His face breaks, and he starts for me just as I start for him. We embrace, falling onto my bed, our lips pressing together with such need. He holds me so tightly as our kiss turns desperate. I’d say it’s the six days apart that make our kiss feel like that, but I know that’s not true.
It’s him.
Asher Brooks.
My best friend.
I hold him close to me, wrapping my whole body around him and never letting go. His lips move with mine, and I feel him going hard beneath me. He pulls back, his lips still touching mine but not kissing me, as our eyes lock. “I’m glad this plan worked.”
I smile against his lips. “Did you have a Plan C?”
He nods, sliding his nose along mine. “I did.”
“What was it?”
“Take you back to the gym and play you a song on the jumbotron.”
I eye him. “Was that the song the girls wanted you to give me?”
“They told you?”
“I don’t know the name, but they told me to ask.”
He takes in a deep breath and lets me go to get his phone. “Now, brace yourself. I’m all about some new shit tonight, but will you dance with me?”
“You’re serious?”
“I know. Shut up,” Asher laughs as he untangles us and helps me up. I want to laugh at how far his shirt is riding up his body, but I refrain as a song I know very well starts to play. He gives me a small smile as he wraps his arms around me, and Keith Urban sings about a “Parallel Line.” As I rest my face on his chest, I mouth the words. The girls were right; this song is us. I hold him close, squeezing his body, and he hugs me back.
“Don’t ever stop hugging me first.”
I nod. “I won’t, as long as you never stop loving me.”
“Deal,” he whispers against my lips. “Not even if I wanted to.”
I grin against his lips. “No?”
“Nope, you let me go and those elevator doors shut, and it was like all those years trying to resist you slammed me in the face and opened this gate to love. I knew right then and there—I was completely in love with you.”
“Why didn’t you come after me?”
“I couldn’t accept it yet. I needed time, and I know that annoys you.”
I shrug. “Maybe I was asking too much.”
He scoffs. “According to your mom, you aren’t some chick off the street. I know you. I love you.”
I roll my eyes. “My mom…”
“…is amazing, just as you are. She was right, and I can promise you, after all this, you aren’t going anywhere without me.”
“I’m not?”
“No, and I’ll never go anywhere without you.”
“I love the sound of that,” I whisper as my heart soars.
His lips move along mine as he whispers, “Me too. But most of all, I love you.”
“You didn’t even need the can.”
“Nope,” he says, pressing his nose to mine. “I just need you.”
My eyes drift shut as our lips meet. Our kiss is soft, sweet, and as we part, his lips move against mine as he whispers, “I love you, Ally.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to those words. But then again, I don’t think I’m supposed to.”
“You’re not,” he says simply.
“I’m pretty sure they’re supposed to give me the butterflies every time too.”
His lips curve. “They will, just as our truth will rattle me whole, but they’ll also give me a full-on chub.”
We break into wide grins as our noses press together, and something he said before is still shaking me to my core.
He can’t be in love without me.
And I now know I can’t either.
I need my best friend.
Completely.
Epilogue
Asher
Three months later…
“Are you sure you don’t want to get two lightsabers bent into a