“C’mon, Bri. I’m dying to know.” I peeled her fingers away from her face and crouched in front of her. “What did you mean? Scott thinks I want toplaywith you? Don’t tell him about the GI Joe and Barbie castle we made when we were kids. He’ll flip the fuck out.” Her cheeks flushed as she nudged my shoulder.
I caught her hand and held it in both of mine. As our gazes locked, laughter stopped. There was no way in hell what I was feeling was only one-sided. I doubted it ever was.
We didn’t talk about it, but I remembered every moment of that night at my apartment. Brianna rushing over to take care of me, the tortured look on her face when I asked her to get into bed with me. It wasn’t my finest hour, but I needed her. My soul cried out for her that night and she came, like she always did. She may have ignored my wimpy confession, but when she said she loved me, I knew she didn’t mean as only her best friend.
“Josh,” Brianna pleaded on a whisper. “Don’t, please.”
“Don’t please what, Bri?” Feeling brazen, I tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and cupped her cheek. I ran my thumb along the delicate curve of her jaw. Her eyes fluttered, urging me on. “Don’t touch you?” I let my finger drift over her full bottom lip. “Don’t kiss you?” I whispered with a husky rasp. Our faces were so close, our lips brushed. Brianna’s mouth parted, and I uttered a curse under my breath. We were so damn close. All we had to do was close that distance. Her hand drifted up my shoulder and clutched the back of my neck.
“Josh,” Brianna sighed as she rested her forehead against mine. “We . . . We can’t.” Her hand drifted down my jaw. Her hooded eyes and flushed cheeks disagreed with the words sputtering from her mouth. I caught her hand and pressed a soft kiss to her palm. It trembled as she took in a quick gasp.
“Yes, we can, Bri,” I whispered as I leaned in. “You’re so damn beautiful.”Shit, I almost tasted her. She stilled as I cupped her neck and inched closer.
“Hey, boss!”
Brianna jerked back and dropped her gaze to the floor.Fuck.One of my mechanics rushed in from the adjoining garage with greasy hands.
“That part finally came in. Whelan’s bike sings now. Come on back and take a look.”
I plastered on a smile and nodded. “Thanks, Lou. I’ll be there in five.”
“Oh, um, hey . . .” Lou stammered as he glanced between Brianna and me. “I didn’t mean to interrupt anyth—”
“You didn’t.” Brianna popped off the chair and grabbed her coat. Lou threw me an apologetic cringe before darting back into the garage.
“I better go. This is a great place. I’m happy for you, Josh.” She gave me a quick peck on my cheek and turned to leave. I grabbed her arm and pulled her back, but she wouldn’t turn around.
“We arenotpretending that didn’t happen.” I turned her around to face me. Her eyes darted from my gaze, but I pulled her body flush to mine to make her look at me.
“My timing is shitty and maybe it’s wrong—”
“Yeah.” She laughed. “Your timing is comical, actually. So, now that you’re ready, I should be, too, right? Doesn’t matter who we hurt along the way.”
“I can’t change the past, Bri. I wish every day that I could, but what’s important is now. We could have everything,please.” I gritted my teeth as I resorted to begging. Brianna was within my grasp; there wasn’t a lot Iwouldn’tdo to finally make her mine.
Her eyes swam with unshed tears as her hand feathered down my cheek. “Everything onyourtime. It didn’t matter if you told me to move on. I loved you so much that I waited for you anyway. Until I stopped.” Her hazel eyes locked with mine, and I wished like hell for a time machine. I thought being cruel was being kind, but all I did was hurt us both. A thousand apologies would never be enough to show how truly sorry I was. “You never understood what it was like for me to lose you. I’m not sure I could recover if I had to do it again.”
Her shoulders drooped as she moped away. My eyes stayed glued to her back until she swiveled to meet my gaze.
“The sad thing is, despite everything, I really would have waited forever. Too bad you never gave me the choice. In fact, weren’t your exact words to forget you?” A sad laugh tumbled from her lips as she walked through the door.
Maybe it was wrong to barge back into her life, but shewasmy life—and I would make damn sure we’d never lose each other again.
Josh
EVEN THOUGH I’Dbeen home for a while now, I couldn’t bring myself to see everyone. Granted, I’d led a pretty solitary life even before it all went to shit. There was my dad who, even with all his faults, did his best with a kid he was left to deal with on his own; Brianna, who stuck by my side for as long as I could remember, and Reid. He did all he could to stop me from getting into a bad crowd that would eventually lead to my downfall, and even though he hated the company I kept before I had to leave, he didn’t waver either—until the day I told him to stay away from me for good. Unlike Brianna, he was the best friend who listened.
The school he worked at was within walking distance of the shop, and I finally grew the balls to pay him a visit. Assistant Principal Reid O’Connor was in for quite a shock this afternoon.
The school secretary led me into his office, but he didn’t notice me walk in. His chair was swiveled around as he pounded on his keyboard.
“Just a minute, I’ll be right with you.” He held up his index finger without turning around when I knocked.
“No worries, Mr. O’Connor. I’ve got all day.” My mouth twitched as he froze in his seat. His chair inched around as he faced me with saucer-wide dark eyes.
“Ho-ly shit!” His chest jerked with a chuckle. “Do I know you?”
I crossed my arms and leaned against the doorjamb. “I’m your run-of-the-mill hoodlum. You probably deal with my type all day long.”
