Page 55 of No Summer Hotter than You

Hold up.

My brows creased together and the corners of my mouth tugged down. Did I just call what we did last night making love? My jaw dropped as I immediately shifted and pulled my arms from under her and clamored loudly out of bed with my thoughts racing and heart pumping loudly in my ears. With a hand over my dropped jaw, my eyes widened at my sudden thoughts.

Love? Whoa. That was a bit?—

I watched Shoua stir from her sleep in slow motion. First, her head turned in my direction as she flipped to her side and then her eyes slowly fluttered open. I tried to wipe the horror and distress off my face but failed to do so in time.

By the time she blinked, she had already registered it all and immediately sat up in bed. With my bedsheets still tangled around her body, an unreadable emotion morphed her expression.

“Morning,” she said weakly.

“Good morning,” I mumbled back. I cracked a wobbly apologetic smile, trying to gain some control over the look on my face. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have woken you up.”

“No, no. It’s . . . okay.” A sliver of a smile touched her lips.

I nodded as silence fell over us. “So . . . about last night,” I started as my heart continued to hammer in my chest.

“It was fun.” I watched as Shoua bit her bottom lip, nervously looking up at me.

“I—I—Yeah, it was fun,” I agreed. I climbed back into bed, feeling awkward about standing in front of her butt naked even though her eyes were now glued to her hands. She was tightly gripping the sheets.

“But it was a mistake.” Her words slurred together as if she was drunk. It took me a second to realize what she said.

“A mistake?” I echoed. It sounded so distant and anguished I almost didn’t even register it as my own.

My heart hammered so intensely that my rib cage started to ache. A mistake. I blinked as my poor attempt at a smile collapsed instantly.

“W-we’re still friends. Right, Anthony?” Shoua’s voice was never shaky, so when I heard it, my spine straightened. Then she sniffed, and I knew this was proving to be much harder for her than it was for me. “I don’t want to lose you.”

I felt like an asshole, freaking out about how my mind was just being hazy, tired, and fucked senseless. I was certain that was why those thoughts of love floated around so easily. It was because Shoua and me were exhausted. Judging from the dark circles under her eyes, we probably shouldn’t have stayed up until four a.m. making love?—

Fuck!

“Anthony?” Shoua called out. Her voice was full of worry.

I smiled at her, making sure it was a wide, gentle, and genuine grin to reassure her. I reached across the ocean between us and tucked a stray strand of her wild bedhead out of her face. That simple movement revealed her face lined with tight features and cloudy and unreadable eyes.

It was my fault. I should’ve never suggested we be real for a night, because look at what I did. Shoua was right. Last night was a mistake despite how everything felt strangely perfect with her.

“You’ll never lose me, Shoua. Never, ever.”

She reached out to touch my arm, igniting a wildfire that immediately engulfed my body and soul. My heart began to race again as the trails of her light fingertips slithered their way to my hand. She gave me one quick squeeze before pulling away.

“You’ll never lose me either.”

“Of course.” I bumped my elbow playfully into her arm. “We’ll always be best friends.”

Her hard expression softened. My heart skipped an aching beat, and I tried not to think too much about it as I attempted to hold onto the remnants of my grin. If I faltered, Shoua would only get confused and may get hurt by my lack of control over my expressions.

“Of course, Anthony.” Her answer was as light as a feather.

While Shoua showered, I started making our coffee and breakfast. It wasn’t long before she came downstairs in nothing but a black T-shirt I gave her to slip in to. Upon seeing her in it, I flashed her a quick grin and then turned back to the pan and kept my eyes glued on it.

She looked good in my plain black T-shirt, and I refused to let my mind wander all over her body as if I was just any other man leering over her perfection. I was her friend, I reminded myself, and friends don’t look at each other the way I just gawked at her.

“Thank you,” she said when I placed this morning’s huge breakfast in front of her at the kitchen table. Her brows shot up, surprised. “You made omelets and blueberry pancakes?”

I felt my cheeks flush as Shoua looked up at me with eyes that caught the morning light and glittered like all the stars in the universe contained in them. “I—I—yeah,” I stuttered. The heat of my blush kept creeping up higher and higher until I was certain I was as red as the tomatoes I used for our omelets. “I thought we were going to come home piss drunk last night so I prepped everything yesterday.”

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