Briar
When I wake up, I’m alone in Blake’s bed.
Slowly, I sit up and yawn. I pull the covers around me, feeling colder without him. I slept so well, cuddled against his big, warm body.
My sleepy brain thinks about all the filthy things we got up to last night. I’m still wet between my legs from Blake going down on me.
I run my tongue along my bottom lip and smile to myself when I think about how I sucked him off. How turned on he was. How hard he got in my mouth. How he growled when he came.
The look of awe in his eyes when I told him I swallowed.
My smile grows. It was my first time doing all of that, and I liked it. A lot. He liked it too.
I can’t wait to go down on him again. I can’t wait for Blake to teach me more things in bed.
I can’t wait to cuddle with him and fall asleep with him again.
I stretch up and yawn, wondering where he went. For a moment, I wonder if he didn’t like sleeping in bed with me. I think about how I fell asleep cuddled into his chest, just like the night I had that nightmare. Maybe he’s not into that? Maybe it’s too clingy?
A minute later, the door to his bedroom opens. He’s holding a paper bag of takeout.
He grins at me. “Morning.”
“Good morning.”
With his free hand, he gently cups my cheek and tilts my face up. He presses his mouth to mine, leading me in a slow, teasing kiss.
I moan into his mouth. A second later, I pull back.
“Wait, I have morning breath,” I say, embarrassed.
He just grins, gently grabs my chin, and kisses me again. “I don’t care.”
He kisses me harder, clearly unbothered by my unfresh breath.
When we break apart, he holds up the bag of food. “I got you your favorite tacos.”
A giddy feeling swoops through me. He was out getting my favorite food to surprise me.
My stomach rumbles. He chuckles. “Looks like I came back just in time.”
I giggle and hop off the bed. I grab his T-shirt from the floor and slide it over my head.
“Be back in a sec.” I slip out to use the restroom and brush my teeth.
When I walk back in, Blake is sitting on the bed with his laptop set up.
He looks up at me, and something in his gaze changes. Almost like he’s seeing me for the first time.
“What?” I ask, standing at the edge of his bed. He reaches out and grabs my hand, pulling me over to him.
“You look so damn cute wearing my clothes.”
I bite back a grin at just how much he likes seeing me in his shirt.
He gives me another kiss that leaves me dizzy, then helps me onto the bed. I sit next to him.
“You know, for a second, I thought you left before I woke up because you didn’t like sleeping in the same bed as me.” A hot flush creeps up my cheeks as I admit this to him.
When I look up, his eyebrow is quirked up, and his head is tilted. As if he’s silently saying, “Are you kidding me right now?”
He brushes my messy hair out of my face and drops a soft kiss on my mouth.
“I love sleeping in the same bed with you,” he murmurs. “We should do it again. Every night.”
I smile against his mouth. “Okay.”
He hands me the bag of food while he pulls up a streaming service on his laptop.
“I thought we could watch an episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” he says.
He pulls up my favorite episode. I stare at him. It feels like my heart is too big for my chest.
The episode starts playing, and he glances over at me. “You okay?”
Instead of answering him, I grab his face and kiss him. He makes a surprised noise against my mouth.
When I let him go, he’s chuckling. “What was that for?”
I stare at him. Tingles flash all over my body. “You’re the sweetest guy ever, Blake. And I can’t believe…”
My head spins as I think about all these years that we’ve been friends…how we had crushes on each other the entire time, but we had no idea.
“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” I say. “I can’t believe we’re sitting on your bed after doing some of the filthiest, hottest stuff I’ve ever done in my life. And now we’re having my favorite food and watching our favorite show. It just feels so easy and perfect.”
Warmth flashes in his crystal blue eyes as he smiles at me.
That doubt from earlier nags at me again. It’s different now. It’s not because I’m unsure about how Blake feels about me. I know he likes me. I know he’s attracted to me. I know he cares about me.
It all feels too perfect, too soon. And I don’t want to ruin whatever it is that we’re building between us because we moved too fast.
That’s what happened with Logan. I took things slow with him physically, but emotionally, I was all in from the get-go. I fell for him so hard, which made me blind to his flaws. I ignored how pushy he was. How arrogant he was. How he only ever thought about himself and what he wanted.
I know Blake isn’t like Logan at all. He’s a million times better in every way.
But we have a friendship. A history. I hate to think of how I could lose it all if we move too fast and I follow my feelings more than my head again.
“I don’t want to ruin what we have,” I say softly.
Blake tucks a chunk of my messy hair out behind my ear. “What do you mean?”
“We’re best friends. We’ve had crushes on each other since high school. We like each other. A lot.”
He leans over and kisses my cheek and neck. “A lot, a lot, a lot,” he murmurs against my skin.
I giggle, but a second later, I try to be serious.
“Is it okay if we take things slow?” I look at him, my nerves sparking up inside of me.
I don’t want to hurt his feelings. But I want to be honest with him. For the past eight years, we hid our feelings from each other. I don’t want to do that anymore.
“I don’t want to rush into anything I’m not ready for.” I swallow hard. “After I broke up with Logan, I swore I wouldn’t rush into another relationship, like I did with him.”
I shake my head at how poorly I worded that.
“Not that I think you and Logan are similar. You’re not at all. And I know you would never treat me like he did.
“It’s okay. I know you didn’t mean it like that.” Blake’s smile is warm and soft as he looks at me. My nervous system instantly calms.
“You’re my best friend, Blake. If we rush into something we’re not ready for, it could ruin our friendship forever. And just the thought of losing you as my friend makes me…”
I trail off as my throat goes tight.
“Hey,” he says softly, pulling me onto his lap. “I don’t want that either. I’m good with taking things slow. As slow as you want,” he says. “I’ll go at whatever pace you’re comfortable with.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I understand where you’re coming from completely. I don’t want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. So however slow you wanna go, I’m in.”
That warm feeling courses through me, burrowing deeper at how incredible Blake is. Beyond incredible. He’s willing to go at my pace. He puts my comfort first above anything else.
My heart flutters in my chest.
I grab his face and kiss him. “You’re really okay with this? With being my teacher in bed and my best friend? Nothing more?”
“More than okay,” he murmurs against my mouth.
“You’re sure?”
He grins at me. “I get to hook up with my hot best friend. What’s there to complain about?”
I giggle against his mouth. We settle in front of his laptop and watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine while eating tacos. It’s an episode from season five, the one where the lineup of suspects starts singing “I Want It That Way.”
Blake and I burst out at the exact same moment.
“This will always be hilarious to me,” he says, clutching his stomach.
“Same,” I say through a laugh.
Blake’s phone buzzes right as we finish eating. He smiles at the screen and types a response.
“Want me to pause it?” I ask.
“No, it’s okay,” he says, putting his phone on the bedside table. “That was just my mom telling me how excited she and my dad are to see me during parents’ weekend.”
“Oh, right. I forgot that’s coming up.”
“They’re excited to see you too.”
I smile.
“Are your parents coming?” Blake asks.
I shake my head, my smile fading. “Nope. We haven’t spoken much since that night at the diner when my mom and I got into that argument. I didn’t even tell them about it.”
I’m quiet as I put my empty wrappers and napkins into the bag. I wish my parents and I were on better terms. I’d love to see them, but not if they’re just going to tell me off for leaving Chicago for the millionth time. We’ll just end up arguing the whole weekend.
Blake wraps his arm around me and pulls me into a hug. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. It’s for the best. We could use some space from each other.”
I cuddle into his chest while we watch the rest of the episode.
“Parents weekend will be fun. I’ll make sure of it,” Blake says, kissing my temple.
I melt into him. He is so amazing.
The episode ends, and he looks down at me. “Wanna watch another?”
I smile up at him. “Definitely.”