Yes, she is. But now she’s more.
And you want her!
Brooke put her hands on his chest and pushed off of him. Or did she try to push him away? Hard to tell. She couldn’t move him because he didn’t want to be moved. He wanted to stay close to her. He wanted to get even closer.
She took another step back and suddenly stiffened as she stared past him. “Kristi,” she whispered.
He turned just enough to see her across the room out of his peripheral vision.
The devastated look on Kristi’s face disappeared with a plastered-on smile, hiding the betrayal she must feel.
I did that.
Fuck!
She went back to talking with her boss, but not before he and Brooke caught the promise of revenge in Kristi’s glare.
I fucked up. I was supposed to talk her up and support her the way she always supports me.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Brooke met his gaze, hers serious and angry. “You should go to her and tell her it didn’t mean anything.”
I can’t pull off that colossal lie anymore.
Brooke took another step back.
He hated the added distance and wanted to bring her back into his arms. He denied himself that pleasure. Reluctantly. Painfully.
He stuffed his hands in his pockets so he didn’t reach for her again. “She knows we’re friends. I wish I didn’t have to keep explaining that plain and simple fact to everyone. Including her.”
She lifted her hand but let it drop before it connected with his arm. “Yes. We are friends.”
“But?” he asked, prompting her to speak her piece.
Remind me that we’re more, like you always used to.
He hated to think that he’d killed her love for him when he pushed her away during the picnic.
“Being my friend isn’t as easy as it used to be. Is it? If I was in her shoes, and you shared a close friendship with another woman, and kissed her the way you just kissed me, I’d be mad and jealous as hell.”
Good. Because that’s how I feel tonight watching every man in the room looking at you.
Cody brushed his fingers along her soft as silk cheek. “You’ve been jealous of every other woman in my life.” He’d always known that, but never said anything. Now, he couldn’t help the feelings exploding inside him.
And the new truth he couldn’t deny. He wanted her to be jealous. He wanted her to want him the way she’d always wanted him.
She took another step back and his chest tightened with the loss.
He didn’t like that at all. This time, he hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her back in.
Her eyes went wide. “You love Kristi.”
Do I? Then why am I holding you like this?
“She deserves to have you completely.”
That’s not what I really want. Not anymore.
