Page 73 of Darn Knit All

I grinned, watching her slowly blink awake.

“What time is it?” she asked, still mostly asleep.

“Nearly seven. We’ve got time.”

She nodded, snuggling back into her pillow. “How’s the leg?”

I shrugged. “I’ll stretch it out today and try to be less active. It’ll be fine.”

She seemed to take me at face value, nodding once before her eyes grew heavy again. She shuffled—right into my erection.

I could tell the exact second she realized by the way she stiffened. Considering she’d taken up the whole bed, pushing me to the very edge, I couldn’t exactly shuffle away. So I waited for her to react, curious if she’d pull away or shuffle closer.

“Theo?”

“Mm?”

She cleared her throat. “Are you?—?”

“Of course.” I chuckled. “I woke holding a gorgeous woman in my arms, Mai. What did you think would happen?”

She spluttered, her head tilting back to stare up at me. “But we’re friends.”

Her words plunged a deep wound in my chest.

Just friends.

I stuffed my feelings back into the little box I’d been storing them in for years.

“I know,” I said, gently running my knuckles over her face. “Ignore him, he’s got a horny mind of his own.”

If this is all I’d ever experience, then I had to be satisfied. I couldn’t push Mai to feel something for me if it wasn’t there. She was far too precious a friend for me to fuck this up by making her feel guilty or obliged to try something with me based solely on my inability to keep my feelings to myself.

I began to withdraw, shifting to untwine myself from her when Mai’s arms and legs tightened around me.

“Wait,” she said, her dark eyes searching my face. “Maybe we could… cuddle? Just for a little longer?”

A shot of something that felt a lot like hope hit my bloodstream. I pulled her into my chest, holding her against me.

“Your heart is racing,” she murmured into the quiet of the room.

I made a sound of agreement, unable to find the words needed to explain exactly why my chest thundered like a freight train.

I’m in love with my best friend.

She cleared her throat, then cleared it again. “You sure your leg is okay?”

“It’s good.” I flexed the muscles, wincing slightly at the remaining tightness. “But I’ll take my crutch to set today, just to be sure.”

“That’s a good idea.”

We fell into companionable silence, our breathing beginning to match.

I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to admit how much I wanted to kiss her. It might change our friendship, but to hell with it—I wanted out of this purgatory.

“Mai, would you ever?—”

Her alarm interrupted me.

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