“I don’t know; that sounds kind of sexy.” I could practically hear her eyebrows waggling at me suggestively on the other end. “Wait, heels? Girl, you’re gonna kill yourself. I love you, but you’ve got two left feet. Look at you, risking life and limb to impress.”
My gut tightened, and my gaze dropped to the backpack under my desk. It contained a cute pair of pumps that might as well be roller skates for how unwieldy I’d be in them. I’d also packed a new dress I bought especially for tonight, a slinky black number that hugged me in all the right places. It was shorter than anything I owned, showing more of my plump thighs than I usually cared to display. But hey, I planned to throw a little caution to the wind tonight and loosen up a bit.
“So…” Jess hedged. “Areyou going to tell him?”
Sucking in a breath, my stomach cartwheeled at the thought. Jeez. I felt like a school girl prepping to spill confessions of love to my crush. But it was so much more than a crush.
It was like we operated on this frequency unique to just us. Not like I was an expert in the chemistry department, but what we had couldn’t be normal.
Gabe just didn’t seem to think it was anything special. Because we never talked about it.
“I don’t know if tonight should be the night. It’s too soon.”
“‘Too soon?’Come on, Mel. You guys grew up together. Didn’t he literally save your life?”
Her statement was in the form of a question, but her snide, matter-of-fact tone highlighted the fact that she already knew the answer.
“Youknowthe story. But just because Gabe saved me from drowning when we were kids doesn’t mean he’s interested in pursuing a romantic relationship.”
Jessica clicked her tongue in irritation. “Mel. The guy basically appointed himself as your bodyguard. He purposefully went to the same college as you. You guysare shacking up together, for freak sake.”
“I’m subletting a room in his condo. We’re not ‘shacking up together.’”
She snorted. “Well, you should be.”
“Tellhimthat.”
“Do you want me to? I will.”
“No!”
I’d always been a klutz, always tripping, never looking where I’m going. When I was eight, I‘d tripped over a tangle of roots behind my grandparents’ house one summer, and I fell right into the river rapids that had swept me away. I would have drowned if it hadn’t been for that little boy, smiling down at me with the biggest, shit-eating grin, like saving my life was no big deal. The sky had been bright blue, and when he’d appeared, I looked up at that little boy with stars in my eyes.
For a second, I thought I had drowned and gone to Heaven. Where he stood with the sun at his back, his blond hair lit up like a halo as he pulled me from the riverbank.
That day was stamped into my brain. I would never forget the sensation that came over me when he’d wrapped me in the safety of his arms. It was a feeling that had yet to go away, eighteen years later.
Ever since, we’ve been the closest of friends.
But with the passing years, growing up, spending summers together, then going away to the same college, a little girl’s crush had grown into an arching, fervent desire ofneed.
I shook my head, trying to force the last traces of my dream to the periphery of my mind. Heat coiled low in my belly as the images of him, waiting for me in my bed with a burning hunger in his eyes, refused to fade.
Most men with this much devotion for a woman would have made a move by now. But not Gabe. His devotion was like a breath of fresh air, yet suffocating all at once. It felt so right being near him, yet so wrong for reasons I couldn’t name.
Maybe he felt that too, maybe it’s why he kept me at arm’s length.
From childhood to our college days to boring adulthood, we spent most of our time with each other. In a way, it’s almost felt like we’d always belonged to one another. It’s like we’re an old, married couple, albeit acelibatemarried couple.
Despite stolen glances, long talks into the night, and several near kisses, Gabriel refused to close that last little bit of distance between us.
And I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why.
I was absolutely terrified to tell him how I felt. Rejection was inevitable, right? After all, why would someone likehimbe interested in someone likeme? He’s so perfect that to say he’s out of my league would be a massive understatement. He’s the kind of high-caliber guy that would date a slinky, long-legged vixen, not a short, curvy klutz.
I knew this because his girlfriend in college was exactly that. A bronzed beauty that would turn Aphrodite into a salty, jealous bitch. I’d only seen her a few times, and Gabe’s relationship with her hadn’t seemed to last long, but that woman would always serve as a reminder of what his type of girl was.
It wasn’t me.
