Page 36 of Charming my Best Friend

Chapter 12: Aiden

I should’ve kissed her. Why did I hesitate?

If it had been any other woman, I wouldn’t have stared at her like that. I would’ve gone for it and dealt with the consequences.

What the hell was my problem?

And what the hell was she thinking?! That I was drunk? That I didn’t know what I was doing?

I grabbed the peppers and sliced the tops off, turning the knife around the inside to remove the seeds.

I needed to get a grip and make a move. So what if she laughed in my face? I had to know if she tasted like cake, if her mouth could be as soft as it could be hard. And I wasn’t so drunk that I didn’t know what I was doing.

Sure, I knew that she was my best friend, that she probably didn’t look at me that way. But there was only one way to find out, and I wasn’t going to make the mistake of asking politely. She wasn’t that kind of girl. She fell for guys who knew what they wanted and weren’t afraid to go for it.

Not that I wanted her to fall for me or anything. I wasn’t thinking anywhere near that far ahead. I just wanted to kiss her, just to see what it was like, just to satisfy my curiosity before it became too much.

Because if I didn’t think of an excuse to lay my hands on her body, I felt like I might never relax again.

I took a deep breath and started slicing the peppers.

It had to be tonight. After all, I was drunker than she was which meant I stood the best chance of getting away with it. If she thought I was being a cheeky bastard, she’d just slap me, and we could both laugh about it later. However, if she was tipsy enough to kiss me back…

“You’re doing a good job with that,” she said, peering over the counter. “I don’t know why I doubted you.”

I looked up and smiled. “Thanks,” I said, wincing. “But I think you spoke too soon.”

“Are you okay?”

“Shit,” I said, holding up my hand.

“What is it?”

I looked at my finger. A second later, a thin line of blood began seeping through my skin.

“Damn it, Aiden,” Lucy said, coming around the counter. “You should’ve waited for me to do it.”

I started to laugh.

“What’s so funny?” she asked, grabbing my wrist and looking at the damage.

“It’s such a little cut,” I said, a tear springing to my eyes from laughing so hard. “But it burns like a bitch.”

“You’re an idiot,” she said, marching me over to the sink.

She turned the water on and held my finger under the tap. When she moved it, it started to bleed right away. “From now on, we get take out when we’re drinking.”

“Agreed,” I said.

“Do you have any band aids?” she asked.

“You mean I’m not going to lose the finger?”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re going to lose your tongue if you don’t stop laughing.”

I held my hand over the sink and pointed to a cabinet by the fridge. “Above the microwave.”

I watched her go to the cabinet and lift up on her tippy toes. When she reached for the band aids, her shirt lifted just enough that I could see a strip of her skin.

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