So he admits that much. Finally.
He's right, though. We were both too immature. I threw a letter in his car, and he starting icing me out, keeping the conversations too casual and never addressing it.
I can't believe he's talking to me right now. Right here. Are we finally going to just move on from this and be semi-friends again?
***
DANE
I won't lie and say that doesn't hurt. I mean, she basically just said she knew I was in love with her, and then insinuated it ruined our friendship. She's being honest, finally. I'm not going to crumble, because I want her to be honest. Instead, I'll play it off; make it no big deal.
Besides, we both did react poorly. She ran off without so much as a word, got colder and colder after she distanced herself from me, and I stubbornly refused to go after her and force her to talk it through with me.
My pride was hurt. I was hurt. But I should have still gone after her, and she should have tried to talk to me as well.
After holding her all night, waking up with her hand on my cock, and then seeing her hungry gaze on my body when I walked out in a towel, I've decided I have to have her in some way. She trusted me with her body once. She can trust me again. Who knows? Maybe we can start from there. I shouldn't want the torture that comes with this path, but I'm no more over Rain Noles today than I was six years ago.
"Sorry," she says after a minute. "I shouldn't have ever... I'm sorry. I get it now. Seeing Kode so hurt... I hate knowing I did that to him. I understand why... I just wish we had handled things differently as well."
I force a small smile, and then I turn to face her, letting my hand come down to caress her cheek. Damn, she feels so good. I'd give anything to kiss her.
"So, can we try to be friends again? You and me?" I ask.
When her bottom lip slides between her teeth to aid in her biting back a grin, I have anything but friendly thoughts. Her grin finally falls free and she leans over to wrap her arms around me in the hug I didn't realize I was holding my breath for.
When her body presses against mine, pulls me in, and just embraces me, I take the first painless breath I've had in six long years. I can't help but smile. Hell, I don't know if I'll ever be able to stop smiling.
"I've missed you," she whispers, sniffling slightly when her emotions try to step in.
I really wish I was wearing more than a towel right now. My plan to seduce her has backfired, since I'm the one left seduced. Not to mention, now I don't want to lose her again. One hug is all it has taken to remind me just how pointless life has been without her. I want more than just a meaningless tryst. I don't want to risk ever scaring her off like I did before.
"I've missed you, too, Rain," I murmur softly, pulling her even tighter to me, even though it means I'll need another cold shower.
"So friends?" she asks, wiping away her tears as she leans back.
I nod slowly, smiling still, and then I say, "Definitely. And as your friend, I have to tell you that you look like hell. Go get cleaned up."
She laughs as a few more tears trickle out. I wipe a few away with the back of my hand, and she leans in to my touch. I wish she wouldn't do that. It's so hard to deny how much I feel about her right now.
She climbs over me to head to the bathroom, but during the shift, her heated center slides across and my towel falls open, revealing how incredibly turned on she's made me. She stills above me, and I fight back a grin when she turns every shade of red there is.
"I'm... sorry," she releases in a squeak, quickly scrambling to cover me back up, but her frantic hands touch me more than once, making me long for that perfectly smooth stroking she was giving me this morning.
I damn near lost it when she was sleep-fondling me. The second her hand went to work, my eyes rolled back in my head, but then I realized she had no clue what was going on. I panicked when I thought I was going to burst in her hand.
"You're making a habit of this," I tease, enjoying how much harder she blushes as her hand brushes my cock once more.
She finally scrambles off me and dashes to the bathroom. I definitely need another cold shower. If she's going to get this flustered around me, being friends will be fun.
Chapter 8
RAIN
"Kade's wine thingy is tonight," I say while shuffling through my closet. Three days. Three long days Dane Sterling has been in my house. It's like heaven and hell are coexisting in the same space.
"Oh?" Dane asks absently, studying the screen on his laptop as he lounges on my bed, his ankles crossed as he subconsciously taunts me with his shirtless perfection. He really does make my bed look really damn good.
"You know you can go home. I'm fine now. And I'm pretty sure you have work to do."