Page 80 of The Best Friend Power Play

"Because I like you."

I turn my head toward him.

Sunlight catches on his strong profile, and his brown eyes are open as he floats in the water. His face is unreadable, but his voice carried a weight to it, like he's not being flippant or joking around.

"I like kissing you," he goes on, staring up at the sky. "I like it when you wear my shirts. I like cooking for you. And doing laundry. And giving you foot rubs. I like…all of it."

"I like all of it, too."

He rolls off his back and stands in the water. "I have to tell you something."

I draw my legs to the floor of the pool and stand, too, so we're face-to-face in the chest-deep water. "Go on."

He drags a hand through his wet hair, and I do my best to stay focused on his eyes and not the impressive flex of his bicep.

"I think I may be liking you as more than just a friend."

"Oh."

He's going there.

"Yeah. This may come as a huge shock, but I don't do any of those things with any of my other friends."

"They're really missing out," I joke, then cringe at how stupid a thing that was to say.

Culver is being honest with me. Raw. Vulnerable.

I should be the same in return.

I want to be the same in return.

So I decide to open up about the one thing—the only thing—I've ever held back from him.

"You were right about the list."

He tilts his head. "Huh?"

"The hot girl summer list. You know how you kept saying I cut it off in that photo I sent you, and I kept denying it?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you're right. I did add something to it, and I didn't want you to see it."

I pause.

His dark-brown eyes bore into me. "Yeah?"

I take a deep breath of salty air. "I added that I want to lose my virginity."

"Oh." His Adam's apple bobs in his throat. "I wondered about that…Not that I spent a lot of time thinking about it. I just…you know. You've had other things on your plate."

I smile. "So, yeah. There you have it."

A few beats pass.

Another seagull screeches overhead.

"Did you have anyone in mind? To, uh, tick off that item?"

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