Page 59 of More Than Friends

When I look up, I find him still looking at me, waiting for an answer.

I sigh before finally failing at hiding my smile any longer. “Fine. We’re going.”

His smile gets wide, and he shows off his dimples, which drive me more mad with each day that passes by. “Good. It’s adate.”

A choking sound comes from the back of my throat. It’s so loud that it wakes Ava up. She stretches against Jude’s chest, her lips pressing together in a thin line as she lifts her head.

“Jude!” I scold. I try to keep my voice down to a whisper, but I don’t know if it matters. Ava’s eyes pop open, and she immediately smiles.

“What?” he asks innocently. He leans in and presses a soft kiss to his daughter’s head while he waits for me to respond.

“You’re flirting, and that’s breaking the rules.”

“Char, I don’t know if we’re really playing by the rules anymore.”

My mouth snaps shut, and my pulse skyrockets. He has a point, but I didn’t think he’d say it out loud. I rip my gaze from his to look at Ava. She blinks repeatedly, the cutest little smile on her face as she shows off the same dimples she got from her dad.

“Friday is afrienddate.” I try to really emphasize the wordfriend, even though it feels weird leaving my mouth. Jude is my friend, but it’s so much more than that now. There’s so much more to him, and I don’t even really understand my feelings for him. All I know is that I don’tneedto understand how I feel about him because it doesn’t matter. We need to stay friends, no matter how I feel. And to maintain that boundary, I can’t be blurring lines in my head and think that Friday is anything more than an evening shared between two friends.

Jude snickers before standing up with Ava. “Whatever you say,” he practically sings. Why does he look so amused by this? We started this interaction with him seeming reserved and not warm to the idea of leaving the house or seeing anyone, but now it’s ending with the return of his casual smirk and effortless flirting. His demeanor has changed, and I don’t know why. Is he excited about getting out of the house? Maybe the knowledge that he’s finally going to stop hiding here with Ava and shielding her from the world feels like a weight off his shoulders.

Or maybe he’s excited about the date.

The thought pops into my mind without warning, and it’s completely unwelcome because I know it isn’t the truth. Or if it is, his mood change isn’t because the date is withme. It’s probably that he’s just finally excited to see his other friends.

That’s got to be it.

“How about I take Ava for a bit so you can finish those emails?” I offer, needing a change of subject. Now that he’s standing up, he seems way too close.

Or maybe I’m just all too aware of his presence after he called mehisand then called our plans together adate, allwithin a few minutes.

“You worked all day. You aren’t taking her.”

I ignore him and reach for Ava. Her entire face lights up, and I can’t help but return her smile because she’s too damn cute. I wrap my hands underneath her armpits and go to grab her, but he keeps a soft hold on her.

I meet his gaze, and I don’t know what he sees in my stare, but he relents. His hold loosens, and I’m able to pull her to me.

I line our faces up, reveling in the wide, gummy smile she gives me. “Hi, sweet girl,” I coo. “I missed you today. You ready to have some real fun while your dad works?”

“Hey, you didn’t tell me you missedme.”

I shoot Jude a look. “Maybe that’s because I didn’t miss you.”

He swallows, and I swear for a moment there might actually be hurt in his eyes. It’s only a flash of it, but it seems like he might actually be disappointed by what I said. “Well, I missed you,” he gets out hoarsely. “Wemissed you.”

I have to look away from his warm, brown eyes. I don’t know if he even realizes how much weight the words he keeps saying have. I know he doesn’t mean them the way that I hope him to, but I can’t pretend that hearing him say he missed me—especially in that raw and real tone he used—doesn’t do things to me.

I’m desperately trying to be his friend. To be there for him and Ava and make sure he has someone to lean on. I want to be that person for him more than I’ve ever wanted anything else. But my stupid heart has a mind of its own, and it doesn’t care about all the reasons I shouldn’t fall for him. It hears things like “my girls” and “it’s a date” and “I missed you” and thinks that maybe Jude is feeling every single thing I am.

And that’s dangerous.

Because as much as I try to tell my heart not to feel that way, it doesn’t matter.

I’m developing real feelings for Jude Kensington—my best friend—and I don’t think there’s anything I can do to stop it. All I can do is hide it and try my best to pretend it isn’t the truth.

“I’m going to go feed Ava, and you work on your emails.” I don’t even wait to hear a response from him. I make sure my grip on Ava is tight before I rush out of his office.

“Still waiting for you to tell me you missed me!” he calls after me. There’s humor to his voice, but there’s something else. Something more vulnerable. Something that makes my stomach do a flip.