37. Lucy
Lucy
Itake a breath. “We kissed.”
Three sets of eyes go wide at exactly the same moment. They all let out happy squeals.
“I knew it! I knew he would go crazy when he saw you in that dress,” Anna says.
“I saw the way he was looking at you at the gala. He was totally smitten,” Poppy says.
“Don’t get too excited,” I say with a weak laugh. “Nothing else happened. And nothing else will ever happen.”
“What? Why?” Briar asks.
I pop a potato chip in my mouth. “Because Leo and I realized that it would be a bad idea to cross that line. I mean, he’s become a really good friend of mine.
And yeah, hooking up with him would be hot, but…
what if it makes things awkward between us?
What if our friendship changes? What if things are so weird that we can’t be around each other? I’ll have to move out.”
They all look at me, their hopeful expressions long gone.
“Yeah, I guess that’s true,” Poppy says.
We all quietly sip our wine.
“Can I offer a different perspective?” Briar asks, her tone soft.
“Yeah, of course.”
“That’s how Blake and I got together. I was living with him at the house—in his bedroom.
We both had feelings for each other, but we were scared to do anything about it because we didn’t want to ruin our friendship.
He was my best friend since high school.
Losing him would have wrecked me. But our feelings were really strong, and eventually it was impossible to deny the chemistry between us.
We started hooking up. And sure, it was a little awkward at first, but we pushed through it.
Now we’re a couple. And I think the fact that we had the foundation of our friendship really helped us get to this point. ”
A hopeful feeling sprouts up inside of me. Maybe she’s right.
But then that nagging doubt creeps in once again.
“That’s awesome you and Blake worked out,” I say with a small smile. “But you guys were best friends for years. Leo and I have only known each other for just over a month. Everything is still kind of new.”
“Yeah, but you two have gotten so close in that time,” Briar says. “You’ve shared a lot with each other. That makes things deeper and more meaningful, right?”
“Yeah, you’re right. I’m just really skittish when I think about what’s at stake,” I admit. “I was caught up in the moment at the gala, but now I’m kind of glad that we didn’t take it further than kissing. His friendship means a lot to me. It’s not worth ruining just for a hot hookup.”
They all quietly agree.
Poppy offers a sympathetic smile. “It’s good that you’re making the right choice for yourself. Sorry if it came off like we were pressuring you.”
“You weren’t at all. I’m so grateful to you guys. Thanks for being so supportive and cool about everything.”
We all go back to snacking and sipping our wine.
“Okay, but can you tell us if the kiss was good?” Anna asks.
I laugh, then let out a soft groan. “It was so good. The best kiss of my life. He pushed me up against the wall.”
They all look at me with big eyes.
“That guy kisses with his whole body. His entire soul.” Goosebumps flash across my skin, and I bite my lip. “And his hands? The way he grabbed me and held me? Oh my god.” I close my eyes and groan softly.
Briar smiles. “Leo comes off like he has this intensity inside of him. Like an undercurrent of passion.”
“Oh, he does.” I sip more wine, wishing more than anything I could see him unleash more of that passion on me…except this time, we’re naked and in bed together…
I push the thought out of my head. No more thinking about him like that.
When I look up, they’re all staring at me.
“What?” I ask.
“That look on your face. You really like Leo, don’t you?” Anna says.
I sigh. “Yeah. But it’s fine that we’re just friends. It’s for the best.”
Maybe if I say it enough times, I’ll actually believe it.
“We need to take you out for a girls’ night,” Anna says.
“But isn’t that what we’re doing now?” I ask.
Anna shakes her head. “No, a proper girls’ night. We get dressed up and go barhopping. It’ll help take your mind off of Leo.”
“Yeah, it’ll be fun for all of us to go out together,” Briar says.
I almost tell them that I’d rather stay in, but I stop myself. Maybe they’re right. Maybe a distraction is exactly what I need to forget about my crush on Leo.
“Okay, yeah. That sounds fun,” I say.
We make plans to go out on Halloween night. The guys are having a big Halloween party at the house, so we agree to dress up in costumes, go barhopping for a bit, then head to the party.
I smile, feeling excited. I haven’t dressed up for Halloween in years. It’ll be fun to do it again.
Once we finish the wine, I head back to the house. When I walk in the door, Leo is sitting on the couch, looking at his phone. Wally’s head is in his lap, and Leo is gently petting his tummy.
My heart flutters seeing the two of them cuddled up together.
Leo looks up and smiles at me. “Hey.”
I almost trip over my own feet while kicking off my sneakers. He’s wearing a gray Hollis U hockey T-shirt that shows off his biceps and the muscles in his shoulders.
His massive, muscled quads poke through the joggers he’s wearing. And he’s wearing a baseball cap backwards. He reaches up and takes it off for a moment while he runs his thick fingers through his dark hair.
I swallow. He looks so good. He’s got that deliciously messy, just-fucked look going on, and it’s driving me wild.
I clear my throat and tear my gaze away from him. I pretend to fuss with my sneaker lace. “Hi.”
“Did you have to work at the diner?” he asks.
“No, I was hanging out with Briar, Poppy, and Anna.”
The corner of his mouth hooks up in a sexy half-smile. “Girls’ night. Sounds fun.”
“Yeah, it was.”
Leo gently pats Wally’s tummy, who yawns and blinks sleepily. I walk over and kiss the top of his head. When he barely moves, I laugh.
“Wow. He’s really relaxed.”
“Wally and I had a guys’ night in, just the two of us,” Leo says, grinning down at him. “We had a blast, didn’t we, boy? We went for a walk, and he supervised me from the couch while I did push-ups.”
I chuckle and sit on the end of the couch.
“So. Did you ladies braid each other’s hair and tell ghost stories?” Leo jokes.
I laugh. “Is that what you think women do when we hang out?”
He shrugs and smiles. I laugh harder. It feels good to talk and joke with Leo like this. The aftermath of our post-kiss conversation was a little awkward, but now things feel normal again.
“They were helping me with some work stuff. Evan and Paula want me to practice stretching and sports massage techniques so I can assist them when they train the players. So I was practicing on them,” I say.
“Oh, cool.”
“Yeah, I’m excited to do more hands-on stuff at work. I just don’t want to mess it up.”
He smiles. “You’ll do great.”
Leo reaches his arm up over his head, wincing softly.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he says through a breath. “We were in the middle of a scrimmage at practice this morning, and Blake caught me in the ribs with the edge of his stick.”
“Ouch.”
“I’ll live.”
“Are you sure it’s not a bruised or broken rib?”
“One of the trainers looked at it, and he said it’s just muscle soreness. It’ll go away after a day.”
“You should have seen Evan or Paula. They would have massaged it for you.”
Blake waves a hand like it’s no big deal. “I had to get to class after practice. It’s fine.”
“I could massage you.”