Chapter 13
Is this a love triangle?
Iknocked on Grey’s door, and he opened it, only wearing unbuttoned jeans. I’d seen his chest before, but something about the state of his undress in light of his behavior toward me earlier hit different.
“Hey, about to jump in the shower. You need a ride to campus?”
“I’m riding in with Chelsea later.” I forced my eyes to remain on his face. “What was that about downstairs?”
His hazel eyes darted past me in the direction of our bedroom. “Is Chelsea still sleeping?”
“Probably, it’s still morning.” Chelsea was notoriously not into waking up before noon unless she had no other choice. She’d even failed a few classes because she couldn’t get up in time.
He opened his door wider and moved to his closet. “Close the door behind you.”
I did as he asked and perched on the edge of his crisply made bed. He was a neat freak like me. If I hadn’t promised to keep our condo clean, even if Chelsea didn’t, he never would have agreed to live with us. “You went too far downstairs.”
“Did you have more words after I left?”
“No, he said he’ll text me later.”
“Then why are you here?” he asked from his closet.
“Because I don’t know why you would kiss me like that. It’s confusing,” I finally admitted.
“I had to do something. Obviously, you and Carter were having a personal conversation. Looked like an argument, to be honest. He noticed me, and if I didn’t act like a jealous boyfriend or a boyfriend who’s in trouble for spending the night out, he would’ve suspected something.
” Grey peeked his head out of the closet.
“I was trying to help you out.” From the glimpse of his body, as he spoke to me, he was now naked, and my stomach clenched painfully.
“Just think we can be that couple who doesn’t do PDA.”
He disappeared into the closet. “You know we’re not really a couple, right?”
“Do you know that because two kisses and a smack on the ass makes me question it?”
Grey walked out with a towel wrapped around his waist. Geez, why did I forget he has abs for days with the running he does? “It was just a peck, Darren. How did that confuse you? Unless you liked it.” He moved closer to me, and his voice lowered, “Did you like when I kissed you?”
I stared up at him and said defiantly. “Nope. Just because you have a body now doesn’t mean I see you any differently than the boy down the street from me in Beaumont.”
“Oh?” He raised one eyebrow.
“Seriously, I don’t want to scare Carter off. We have to at least look like we’re not that close. That we could be on the verge of breaking up.”
Grey took a step and loomed over me. “I don’t affect you at all?” His hand drifted to the fine hairs on his abs, and desire flamed my sex. Then, his other hand curved to my cheek. “What if I want to really kiss you right now? Would you stop me?”
I nodded, though I found myself utterly mesmerized by his seductiveness.
He drew a long breath before he bent his head until his full lips hovered over mine. “Tell me again how you’re not affected by me.”
When I opened my mouth to protest, he kissed me.
Like hand cupping the back of my head to press my face to his, deep kissing.
Like head-spinning, heart-pounding, fiercely kissing.
His tongue dipped and swirled with mine before he abruptly broke the kiss and stood back up, his erection making a serious tentpole of his towel.
I panted, “Why are you playing with me? Kissing me like that to make a point that you get me hot."
“That wasn’t my point.” Grey stepped back and pulled me up and off his bed to stand before him.
His lips were within kissable reach. Damn. Damn. I wanted more of him.
“Then what was the fucking point?” I said, frustrated that my body warred viciously with my mind.
Too much sexual buildup in the last two days between two sexy ass men took a toll on my body.
I needed to release it like yesterday. A long, hot shower and my fingers would have to suffice.
No way would I sleep with Grey and mess up our friendship because I was horny as fuck.
Truth be told, he was no better than Carter regarding commitment to anything other than running.
“So, you’ll remember that at least one man will always be checking for you.”
He strolled to the bathroom and dropped his towel, his lean muscled back and taut ass teasing me, before leaving the door partially open.
Okay. He didn’t drop the towel in front of me.
My horny imagination got the best of me for a moment.
But Grey was inviting me to join him in the shower if I chose.
A choice that would have consequences I wasn’t prepared for, so I decided to stay put until he was done.
Thoughts of Carter and Grey swirled in my mind.
How anyone could be with more than one person at a time was certifiable and exhausting.
I was in a pretend relationship, yet suddenly, I was slowly becoming the center of a love triangle between my best friend and my crush.
I pondered what to say while he showered, and then I questioned my reaction to him.
He’d never charmed me. Grey was usually a grump around me.
A loveable grump, but one nonetheless. We’d spent every day together, sometimes hours at a time, this past summer and even more in the last week as roommates.
In some ways, we were like a couple. Finishing each other’s sentences, knowing each other’s likes and dislikes, and knowing when to give each other space.
And having arguments that we both knew would never be enough to stop being friends.
I had an older brother who I adored, but Grey was my brother.
Would fight anyone for me. Agree to do anything for me, like being my pretend boyfriend against his better wishes.
When the shower turned off, I yelled, “I’m still out here. Come out here dressed.”
“I don’t have any clothes in here.”
I jumped up and went to his closet, quickly grabbing cargo pants and a black T-shirt. I held them through the barely opened door.
“Guess I’m going commando.”
“Like it’s the first time,” I replied.
I patted the bed beside me when he exited the bathroom, fully dressed and with wet curls. He flopped down and immediately laid back with his arm over his face.
“Grey, do you want to be with me?”
Grey sighed, “It was just a kiss.”
“We have never kissed in the seven years I’ve known you.” I laid back on the bed with him and shifted to my side to face him. “Game recognize game, right?”
His arm remained over his face.
“The same way, Carter is more interested in me because of you. You’re doing the same thing. Suddenly, I’m more interesting because another man wants me.”
“That’s not true. You’ve always been interesting.”
I pointed out, “Yeah, but not sexy, and men want sexy and interesting.”
He grumbled. “You’ve been both to me.”
“Then let’s be together,” I suggested, knowing my friend enough to recognize that his feelings for me are temporary at best.
Grey removed his arm and stared up at the ceiling. “It’s not you. I don’t want a relationship with anyone.”
“And I do want one. If I’d joined you in that shower and we had sex because of who you are to me, it would have meant something. I would’ve thought you wanted more from me, and then I would’ve been hurt when you didn’t.”
He shifted on his side to face me. “I suck at relationships because of my fucked-up parents, and I never want to hurt you.”
“I know that. As much as your kiss got me all hot and bothered and tempted me to get in that shower with you, we would be a mistake.”
“And so is Carter,” he added.
“Maybe," I conceded. "I can live with making a mistake with Carter...but not you.” I gestured between us. “This is sacred to me.”
He captured my hand in his and gazed into my eyes. “And if I said I want us to be together or that I wanted to try...would you drop Carter?”
“If I believed you were sincere and ready to be in a committed relationship with me, I would give us a shot,” I answered honestly. We were already friends, and we had chemistry. A recipe for a healthy relationship. “You already know my crazy peeps, and I know your crazy mama. Why not?”
Three lines appeared on his forehead. “You’re serious?”
“Contrary to your belief, I’m not scared of something real.
It’s why I’m more and more attracted to Carter.
I’m seeing a side of him I didn’t expect.
He’s not just some football jock I’m crushing on.
He’s a man with doubts and insecurities.
A man who is taking his time with me.” I smiled.
“Ironically, what I like the most about him is that I can be myself around him like I am with you. Grey, you’re real to me, and he’s starting to be real.
So yeah, if you wanted to try, I would let go of Carter. ”
His gaze dropped to our entwined hands and his jaw unclenched and clenched several times before he attempted to speak.
“It’s okay, Grey. I already know your answer. Nothing will change between us. You’re still my best friend.”
He chuckled softly. “Don’t let Chelsea hear you.”
“By the way, she wants to sleep with you.” I had to prepare him before he hurt her feelings.
His nose wrinkled. “Why?”
I tapped his nose. “This is why I’m telling you, so you don’t look like that whenever Chelsea makes her move.”
Grey protested, “She got a man.”
“Not anymore. He cheated. It’s over, and she won’t tell me anything other than that. She wants to use you, which is right up your alley.” I released his hand and pushed up from the bed. “If you do decide to mess around, please...please, hide it from me. I don’t want to see, hear, or know anything.”
“Well, that’s not happening. She’s too much even for a fuck situation.”
I closed my ears. “Just told you I don’t want to hear anything.”
Grey sat up and held out his fist for me to bump. “We good?”
“Always.” I left his bedroom happy and relieved that we could talk it out. That we would remain the friends we’d been for years. I wasn’t in the middle of a love triangle, after all.
Man, oh man, was I dead wrong.