Page 92 of A Little Complicated

“Why not?”

“Because you’re Uncle Theo’s kid. You're my brother’s best friend. You’re…” I close my eyes, praying for clarity.

“I’m what?” she whispers.

“Fucking perfect.” Grabbing her face, I kiss her again. Hard. Rough. Needy. I shouldn’t. Fuck me, I shouldn’t. But I can’t help it. The way I crave her. The way I need her. To touch her, to talk to her, to be inside her.

“This is a bad idea,” I remind her. The last of my logic and restraint slowly dissipates as my blood rushes south. “You sure you want this?”

“Pretty sure we’ve been dancing around this for a while now.”

She grabs the hem of my shirt and tugs me to her mouth, but I stay strong, staring down at her. She looks like a fucking buffet. One I want to devour. Her hair is sprawled around her, and her shirt’s ridden up, giving me a glimpse of her pale, toned stomach. I smother a groan of frustration and cage her in, using my forearms to hold my weight so I don’t smother her. “Doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.”

“That’s future Lia’s problem,” she announces. “But present Lia? Past Lia? Well.” She spreads her thighs and cradles me against her core. “She’s been waiting for you for a lifetime.”

“You want me, Opie?”

“Yes.”

“Even if it’s only for tonight?”

She nods again. “Even if it’s only for five minutes. I want you. And I’m not gonna regret you.”

“Promise?”

“I know you, Maverick. And I know you aren’t one to think five years from now, let alone five minutes. As long as our families don’t find out and turn this into a bigger deal than it really is, I’m okay with it.”

She grabs the edge of my shirt and drags it up, trailing her hands down my spine, but I grasp her wrist and cock my head. “I think I can do better than five minutes.”

With a smirk, she brings me a breath from her lips and dares me. “Prove it.”

* * *

To thinkit started that long ago. Almost nine months. At first, we pretended like nothing had changed. Hell, she barely looked at me afterward. Didn’t make a fuss. Didn’t have any expectations. Didn’t text me or tell me she missed me. I went back to campus thinking I’d hit the lottery. A girl who understood I wasn’t ready to settle down, and she was okay with it. She knew me. The ins and outs. And instead of trying to change me, she embraced it. What I could offer.

It made it impossible to stay away from her when I came home for Christmas, and we wound up in each other’s beds again. And when I left for school a few weeks later, I sent her a text. I’m still not sure why. I’d never missed a girl before. But Ophelia? She was different. On and on it went, our relationship shifting from enemies, to friends, to friends-with-benefits, to casual dating, to secret love, to heartbreak, to…this.

Fucking strangers barely holding it together under the guise of family ties.

It’s a bitch.

29

OPHELIA

When Archer and I decided to give a romantic relationship a shot, I was terrified. Terrified I could lose my best friend if things didn’t work out. I should’ve given Archer more credit. This morning, he made me pancakes and dropped me off at practice. He even managed to make me smile—twice—after I ran into Maverick outside the bathroom, proving he can move mountains and achieve the impossible.

He really is perfect.

And I really am a fool.

Everything is so messed up. I don’t know how to fix it. How to forget what it felt like to be in Maverick’s arms so I can fully let him go and appreciate how amazing it could feel to be in Archer’s.

I wasn’t lying when I told Maverick I love his brother.

I do. Archer’s my best friend. My rock. My constant. And if Maverick wasn’t in the picture, I have no doubt I’d marry Archer in the long run. And I’d be happy. I would. He’sthatperfect.

So why the hell won’t Maverick just…disappear? From my thoughts. My day-to-day life. I dunno…maybe the LAU campus altogether? There’s no escaping him. Maverick willalwaysbe there. Haunting me. I’m sick of it. The pull I feel with him. The way he crawls under my skin and burrows deep. The way I catch him looking at me even when he shouldn’t. The way tingles spread through my entire body whenever his thigh touches mine when we’re sitting on the couch or how he acts jealous whenever someone evenlooksat me, yet he’s too stubborn to claim me for himself.

---