“We’ll figure it out.” Sighing, I opened my eyes, which had drifted closed. I realized our lips were mere millimeters apart. I looked up to see Joshua’s eyes were still closed. I berated myself even before I made a move.
This was wrong.
These feelings.
But common sense, loyalty to my dead best friend, and just plain ol’ decency be damned. Half a second later, I found myself moving in just a hair closer, connecting our lips.Oh my!They were soft, so soft and comforting. A feeling I’d never felt before shot up from my mid-section and I pressed my lips into his even more. It had to have been my imagination when his mouth fell open and my tongue met his. That was the moment that sobered me up.
“Oh God!” I squealed, pulling back and covering my mouth with my hands.What the hell was I thinking?
Josh stared at me, mouth agape, confusion rolling around in those emeralds.
“Shit!” I cursed. “Josh, I-I’m so sorry,” I repeated over and over in between sobs and tears. I hurriedly reached for the door handle to free myself from the car. Even once I got the door open, the fresh air hitting my body didn’t provide any comfort. I needed to get in the house, behind closed doors.
“I’m so sorry, Josh!” I stated again before slamming his car door and rushing off to the single story, ranch-style home my parents had built right on the outskirts of the city of Williamsport.
I didn’t look back as I removed the keys from the small backpack I’d brought with me. I fumbled and dropped the keys. Quickly yanking them from the ground, I inserted the key into the front door at the same time I heard Joshua’s car pull off. My heart sank deeper and I felt lower than dirt.
“What did I do?” I wailed in my hands, covering my face as I pressed my back against the door.
“Mija?”
My mother’s consoling voice only made me slide to the floor. But she was there, wrapping her arms around me. I leaned into her and didn’t even try to stop the tears.
“I know, mija. I know,” she consoled. “You loved her very much.” My mother referred to Chelsea. She knew I’d gone with Josh to release her ashes. I didn’t answer her, only cried harder against her chest. I couldn’t find the words to tell her my tears weren’t only for my late best friend but because I’d betrayed her in death by falling in love with her boyfriend.
****
Kayla
I groaned inwardly, at the memories of the past. I’d hated myself for so long for what’d happened between Josh and I in that car. I’d betrayed two friendships that day. And as I stared across the ballroom, eyes locked with Josh’s, I realized how different they were. Harder. Less disarming than the twenty-one year old I’d left in that car.
Questions swirled in my head on what’d changed that, but I clamped my jaw shut. Instead, I decided it was time for me to go.
Thankfully, I’d driven myself to the event. As soon as I made it to the valet booth, I handed them my ticket and impatiently waited for the valet to pull up with my car. The sooner I was away from that place the better.
I sighed in relief when my car pulled up. After tossing the valet a tip, I hopped in my SUV and quickly pulled off. If I’d had my own place I would’ve gone home to soak in a warm bubble bath.
“I really need my own place,” I mumbled to myself as I drove.
Chapter Four
Joshua
She’d run off again.
I watched as she lowered her eyes and turned, making a beeline for the door. My instinct was to ditch Denise and stop Kayla from walking out of that damn door. But fuck that. I didn’t chase women. Not even ones I’d had a ten year friendship with.
“Anytime I have the look in my eye that you’ve got, there are only three options: fight, fuck, or build. Which is it for you?” Damon’s deep voice sounded from behind me.
My eyes narrowed. “Someone did tell me I needed to work on my right hook,” I commented, staring straight ahead at the entrance as if it would make Kayla reappear.
“Fighting it is,” Damon retorted. “I’ve been in the ring with lightweights for weeks anyway.”
I grunted in response, feeling the blood rush through my veins at just the mere thought of releasing this pent-up tension through fighting.
“I’ll see you in an hour.”
****
