“This is where you live,” he pointed out, his lips teasing at the corners.
I took a quick breath.“I know.”
Jude had been standing by the door, and he crossed over to where I stood by the kitchen counter.As we’ve already established, I lived in a small studio, so it wasn’t like he had to walk far.
The voltage between us ate up the distance as he approached.When he stopped in front of me, my entire body was humming from the force of it.Like the sound when you’re near a downed power line, snapping and crackling, that voltage is alive, charged, and hazardous.
“Kendall,” he said as he lifted a hand, catching the end of one of my damp curls and spinning it around his finger, “I don’t want to waste any more time.”
“Waste any more time?”I couldn’t even think straight.All I could do was parrot back his words.
“Yeah, I’ve had a crush on you since high school.I still have a crush on you.I think I’ll always have a crush on you.”He paused, his shoulders rising as he took a breath.“You’re my best friend, and I love you.”
My heart felt as if it might fly out of my chest from the power of those three words.It felt like a bracing gust of air, clearing fear, anxiety, pain, and longing away, and blowing the windows to my heart wide open.I felt as if I were standing with my arms stretched out in joy, looking at a bright blue sky, breathing in the air, basking in the sun, and feeling like all of it was mine.Feeling as if I fell, Jude would catch me.
Overcome, I had to blink away tears.
Jude’s eyes narrowed in concern.“Hey, what is it?”He stepped closer, his manner shifting to comforting as his fingers released that curl and slid down over my shoulder, wrapping around to bring me close against him.
I was embarrassed.I didn’t know why I was suddenly crying.They weren’t sad tears.It was more that there was too much emotion to contain, so much that I’d kept bottled up for so long.
“I don’t know,” I sniffled into his chest.
My palm had landed beside where I buried my cheek, and I could feel the steady beat of his heart against it.This was Jude.This was my best friend.I took a shaky breath and lifted my head, forcing myself to be brave as I lifted my gaze to his.
“This is just a lot.I love you.I’ve loved you for years.As a friend, but it’s more than that,” I explained.
When he spoke, his voice was gruff, his eyes glittering with a hint of tears.“Itisa lot.But do you see why I don’t want to waste time?We’ve missed a lot of time already.”
“I know,” I whispered.“I don’t want to waste time either.”
“So about tonight,” he began, when I felt the vibration of his phone against my hip because it was tucked in his pocket.
“You have to go, don’t you?”I asked, my lips curling in a small smile.
“I do, and I know you do too.If you don’t get there on time, you’ll be dealing with some impatient animals.”He chuckled and pressed a kiss to my forehead, his lips lingering there for a moment.
“So about tonight—” he began again.
I cut him off, “I like your plan, but how are we going to explain this if you’re spending every night away from the resort?”
“I don’t want this to be a secret,” he said flatly.“I’m gathering that most people have noticed what we were ignoring for a long time.”
“You mean that we both had a thing for each other?”I prompted with a little laugh.
He nodded before glancing at his phone screen.“Haven just texted.I have to go in a few minutes.”
“I’m ready.”I just had to put my shoes on and my jacket.“Let’s roll.”
A few minutes later, he was driving.Travis was ecstatic in the back of the truck, his head on Jude’s shoulder as he occasionally flicked his eyes to me and licked my cheek, almost in apology.
“I told you you’re his favorite,” I pointed out again.
Jude slid his eyes to mine as he turned onto the highway that would lead us to Heartfire Falls.“You’re his favorite.Trust me, the more time we spend together, the more he’ll get over the novelty.”
I rolled my eyes.“Jude, we’ve already spent plenty of time together even before this.”
When his eyes caught mine briefly before he looked back at the road, the heat there felt like a flame shimmering through the air between us.“We don’t usually spend every night together, Kendall.”
