would let this shit fester into something irreparable, but they came clean faster than most would or could. These two are too good to me. Better than I am to them at times, and I’m starting to rethink whether I even deserve their wholesome friendship.
I really am a dick because I want it anyway. And I’d end anyone who crosses them.
They’re my wholesome, good-hearted friends who curse like sailors.
I’ll always protect her and him.
Him.
Where is his head at? Because this isn’t anything we’ve been through. Not apart and definitely not together.
“Akara?” Sulli says, and I realize I haven’t responded to her statement.
I turn back to her. “I’ve kept you in the dark for way longer when your ex told me to stop flirting with you. So how about we just call each other even?”
She tries to smile, but some type of sadness washes over her face, downturns her lips and lowers her gaze.
I want to crawl back there and just hug Sulli. Kiss her again. But I glance at Banks. He’s eyeing me in his peripheral.
Lovely.
Just lovely.
I can’t help but glare. Frustrated at this love-triangle situation. Couldn’t I be here with anyone but Banks? I’d have no problem slashing through them to get to her.
Which probably says more about me, I know. I can be cutthroat.
Banks catches my hot gaze. “I am sorry, too, Akara.”
I clench my jaw, turning my glare to the road. “For which part?”
He laughs lowly. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. But I’m not sorry that I kissed her.”
“Well, I’m not sorry I kissed her,” I snap back.
We side-eye each other for an entire minute.
Sulli scoots up to the edge of the seat. Closer to the middle console and us. Our eyes dart down to her, and the air tenses and heats all over again.
Fuck.
I turn A/C knobs.
She leans forward, even closer between our seats. “Please don’t ruin your friendship over a couple of kisses. It’s totally not fucking worth it.”
“You’re worth it,” Banks tells her, then to me, “No offense.”
“None taken. You just beat me to the phrase.” I lock eyes with Sulli. “I was going to say that first.”
“But he didn’t,” Banks adds.
I grind my back teeth, my jaw twitching. Fuck you, Banks. I want to flip him off. I want to fucking hate him, but there is no real hatred in my heart for Banks Moretti. Even taking shots at each other, they’re like water balloons, not bullets.
Sulli is having trouble containing a smile.
I give her a look.
She touches her heart. “My ego is sufficiently inflated, big thanks to you both.”
“But mainly big thanks to me,” I tease.
Sulli elbows my arm, but in seconds, her smile is gone. “I just want to be upfront. No secrets. No lies or untold shitty things. And you should know, Kits, that my kiss with Banks was longer and sort of an almost-naked kiss.”
What? I slip Banks a sharp look.
Sulli quickly adds, “We didn’t have sex.”
I frown. “You think that’s what I thought?” I shake my head. “Banks wouldn’t sleep with you in a motel.”
A wave of silence rolls through the Jeep.
Sulli takes in my words. Maybe she’s realizing that I’ve thought about her and Banks sleeping together before. Or the fact that I know Banks cares enough not to take her virginity in a one-star motel.
I look back to Banks. “A naked kiss?”
“Semi-naked.” The corner of his mouth hikes up. “It was innocent.”
“How is a semi-naked kiss innocent?”
“You want the details?”
I give up on the A/C. “We have over a thousand miles for you to explain it to me. It’ll be harder for you to share than for me to hear.”
Banks smiles. “You’re fooling yourself, man.”
Maybe I am, but I’m not conceding. I brush a hand through my hair. “You’re not taking back that kind of kiss either, are you?”
“Fuck no. Would you?”
“No.” I would’ve loved to have a semi-naked kiss with Sulli. Maybe I’ll have more than that one day.
We go silent for the umpteenth time.
I wipe a trickle of sweat off my temple and roll down the window. Gusts of air blow in, but I’m still burning up.
Sulli leans forward more. Her breasts rise with a deeper breath, “So what the fuck are we doing? What happens from here?”
Banks and I exchange a tense look.
I know what happens.
He knows too.
I rotate more to her. “It’s your choice, Sulli. We can’t tell you who you want to be with. But we both want to be with you.”