“Are you sure?” Dad says. “That would be a big help.”
“Honestly, it’s fine.”
It’s the least I can do; I don’t add since all I want is to be his best friend’s girl.
Once they’ve given me the code, I walk across the street and into Alex’s apartment building. With the spare key, I open the door.
The alarm starts screeching, making me jump, a cutting noise that blares through the apartment. I rush over to the display pad, quickly type in the code and then sigh.
“Guess you didn’t forget after all,” I say to no one.
“It makes me feel less crazy, knowing I’m not the only person who talks to themselves.”
I turn at his voice, the voice that hasn’t stopped whispering to me since we parted ways at the wedding.
He stands at the end of the hallway, wearing a T-shirt. It shows off his forearms and a hint of his biceps. His eyes blaze with that intensity I remember so well.
It’s only been two days, but it feels like forever.
“What are you doing here?” I whisper.
“Alex forgot to set his alarm. He called this morning.”
“He did the same with Dad. I guess he was getting paranoid about it.”
“Ah, that’s my fault. I was supposed to text him. I forgot. I only came back to check on something but I must have reset the alarm when I walked in. I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.”
I’m not sure what to say to that, especially with his intense eyes searing into me, pinning me in place.
It’s like all the anger, the pain, the whatever the heck he feels at our separation…it’s right there, so close I could touch it.
And then he moves closer, walking with slow footsteps. It’s like he’s giving himself a chance to turn back, but he can’t.
He stops inches from me. I can smell his musky scent, his manliness, him.
It’s as though his body is talking to me, the same way mine is, screaming out for his touch, screaming out to be close to him at all times.
“I wonder if we’ll be interrupted this time,” he says.
I laugh, though it feels forced, difficult somehow. I can’t shake the fact that Ben is standing right there, close enough for me to touch, ready to…to what? To kiss me, to do more?
My belly warbles at the thought of more. Then I remember Mom and Dad waiting downstairs.
“We haven’t got a lot of time,” I murmur.
He tilts his head, his smirk somehow wild. Or maybe it’s the look in his eyes, glinting like he’s ready to do something crazy.
“Time for what?”
“Time for…,” I swallow, licking my lips. “I don’t know, exactly. Mom and Dad are waiting for me downstairs, I mean.”
“Ah.”
He takes another step closer, making me crane my head to look at him.
“I’m just wondering,” he goes on, his chest heaving, his whole body seeming on the verge of an explosion. “Every time we’ve almost kissed, there’s been an interruption. It’s like the world’s trying to tell us how wrong this is.”
Anotherstep, and now our bodies are almost touching.