She frowned. “We’re adults in the real world now, Davis.”
“Yeah. I guess I’m afraid I’m gonna lose you to the real world.”
“Lose me?” She touched his hand. “You’re my best friend, Davis; you’re not going to lose me.”
He shook his head, and she felt his agitation. “Just wait, some guy will sweep you off your feet and you’ll forget about me.”
Her head swam. “There’s no guy.”
Davis finished off his glass and signaled to the waiter. “For now.”
He ordered two desserts without asking Luna if she wanted any. Instead of coffee, he ordered brandy.
“Don’t you understand, Luna? For four years I’ve loved you and waited for you.”
Her heart twisted the way it always did when he confessed his feelings for her, which was often. “I know,” she whispered. “You know I love you too.”
“It’s just not enough, is it?”
She shook her head miserably. They’d had the same conversation countless times over the years. She only wanted to be his friend.
He refrained from saying anything else and she figured he had more self-control than she did. “I love you, Davis. You know that.”
He didn’t meet her gaze, and she knew she hurt him by refusing him. Her feelings were twisted up inside her by the time dessert was delivered. She took a bite of the creamy tiramisu Davis had known she would love. She had never tasted brandy until the first time Davis took her to a fancy restaurant so long ago. She’d put on her best dress and still felt out of place when he ordered food she couldn’t pronounce. He wasn’t showing off; it was simply who he was. That was the biggest gap in their relationship; they were complete opposites. Davis treated her so well that she didn’t know how to reciprocate. She gave him homemade things because that was what she knew, and he always told her how much he appreciated her efforts. But she wondered if he was simply too polite to tell her that her gifts were crap.
Luna sipped her brandy, enjoying the warmth that flowed through her veins. Their conversation had chilled her, but now she felt happy again. “I think I’m done,” she said as she drained her glass and scraped her fork across her dish.
“I’d say so. Don’t lick the plate, sweetheart.” He snickered, and she grinned at him.
“Wasn’t going to.”
He raised his hand, and the waiter appeared with the leather folder that hid the check. Davis held out his black credit card without looking at the bill. He watched Luna’s face as she watched him in return.
“You’ll come up when we get back, won’t you?” she asked with a bit of a slur.
He nodded slowly, pulling cash from his wallet and dropping it on the table for the tip. Luna tried not to count the bills, but she couldn’t help herself. She realized it was enough to cover most complete meals. The waiter returned with the card and slip to sign and Davis stood, pocketing the card and his wallet. He signed and took her hand.
Sorensen waited at the curb for them. He opened the rear door, and the two climbed in side by side. Luna leaned on Davis as the car moved, and he gripped her hand tightly in his own. When they stopped at her building, they waited for Sorensen to come around and open the door.
They entered together, still holding hands. Luna had only lived there for two months, since she’d graduated and her parents had given her the money they’d been saving to help her with the deposit. They worried about her being so far away from them, but it was in a safe neighborhood and had decent security. Davis pushed the button for the elevator and kissed the side of Luna’s head. She’d worn her red hair up in a French twist for school and had simply smoothed it out before dinner.
When they reached her floor and headed down the hall, Davis stumbled into her. Luna just laughed. It was rare that they got tipsy at dinner, but he was right about one thing; they hadn’t seen each other in some time. She wanted to enjoy his company and forget about the real world for a little bit. Despite being glad to be on her way to a career she loved and being out of college, Luna had reservations about being a so-called adult now. She missed the simplicity of dorm life and seeing Davis in class every day. She missed Reagan being there every Monday for study sessions and every Thursday for dinner.
She fumbled the key but managed to get it in the slot. “Oops.”
Davis let her precede him into the front entrance of her place. She shrugged out of the light sweater she’d worn and let it drop to the floor with her purse. She watched Davis walk past her and turn as she locked the door behind them.
“Davis.”
Just that utterance was all it took. He closed the distance between them but stopped just in front of her. “Luna,” he said in response. He caressed her name with his tongue as a lover would.
She knew he would never cross the line, so she did it for him. She tilted up enough to touch his mouth with her own, a tentative tasting of his lips. He groaned and fisted his hair, and she worried she’d overstepped or misunderstood. He was her best friend, and she didn’t want to ruin that.
Luna put the barest breath of space between them and studied his eyes. They were blue fire as they gazed back at her. “We can’t be anything more than what we are. You know that, don’t you?” When he didn’t respond, she grabbed him. “I can’t lose you, Davis.”
His arm trembled under her palm. “So we’ll be friends with benefits. No commitment.”
Luna frowned. Did she want that? She was tired of fighting her feelings for him, but she knew the two of them together would spell disaster. Could she have the best of both worlds? “Are you offering no-strings sex?”
