“I need…” I pause. “I could really use a friend.”
“I can be that, Bookworm. I’d love to be your friend.”
“Yeah?” I sniff.
“In fact, I think we’re gonna be great friends.Best friends.”
“I’ve never had a best friend before.”
“Well, then, you’re in for a treat because I’m as best as they come.”
“Do you think… Do you think you might like to come over and maybe just talk?”
My head flicks to my front door when someone knocks. I push to my feet and open it, my phone still pressed to my ear.
“Yeah, I’d really like that.”
My eyes turn glassy, and Chase immediately steps into my space. As his arms wrap around me, the strong rhythm of his heartbeat thuds against my cheek. It grounds me, pulling me out of the storm in my head and into a place of safety.
“None of that, Bookworm. None of that.”
I don’t deserve this.
I don’t deserve him.
And yet, here he is, offering me all of himself.
At a languid pace, my hands lift from being pinned at my sides. I lock them around his back, and for the first time, every part of me relaxes as he holds me close.
It’s easily the best hug I’ve ever had.
How long we cling to each other, I don’t know. Who goes to move first? I don’t know that, either.
Eventually, we untangle and move over to the sofa. Once I’m settled, he grabs the blue blanket from a wicker basket on the floor and drapes it over me. Then he moves to the kitchen and returns with a mug in his hand.
He watches me, the corner of his lips lifting slightly. When my eyes linger on them a moment too long, he doesn’t appear to mind.
But my mother does.
Snap out of it, Erin.
You don’t kiss your friends.
You don’t kiss anyone.
“You scare me,” I blurt out.
“I scare you?” he repeats, his voice laced with confusion and surprise. “Can you tell me why?”
“When I’m around you, I give you parts of myself I’ve never let anyone else know or see.” A searing ache spreads with each breath. “It terrifies me that you pull me out of my shell without me realizing.”
“Do you want to share more?” Chase asks.
“Would that… Would that be okay?”
“Yeah, sweetheart. That would be more than okay.”
My cheeks burn instantly, fire licking my skin. The use of the new name has the butterflies dancing. I politely ask them to settle down.
