Page 33 of Inevitable

Once we had gotten arranged in the living room with Micah right next to me on the couch, he pulled upGoodfellas. We had bonded over our love of Martin Scorsese movies back in middle school. His favorite wasThe Aviatorand he declared that was next on the queue for the evening.

It felt right, being with Micah like that. It was easier to breathe and I felt a peace of mind that was hard to come by recently. His scent wafted toward me every few minutes and it both calmed and aroused me equally, which seemed impossible. However, I was beginning to think that nothing was impossible where Micah was concerned.If only that were true, then you could be with him…

I kept a blanket wrapped around me from the waist down to hide any unwanted erections that might pop up through the evening, and there had been several by the time the first movie ended. When Micah laughed, when he had leaned across me to grab his drink, when he hadwhispered something about Ray Liotta in my ear, when he had yawned and stretched, exposing a sliver of his stomach under my shirt…each time my dick would jump in my pants and make me hot all over. I was starting to worry that this would be commonplace now that I was hyper aware of my feelings for him. Each action of his had a direct line to my cock, like some twisted, horny marionette being connected to his beautiful body.

“You know, this is the first time since I moved here that it's felt like old times between us,” Micah murmured softly about ten minutes into the second film. “I was so scared that my moving here had jinxed us and we'd lose everything that made us close.”

The sadness in his voice made my heart clench in my chest. I ached to touch him, so I threw my arm around his shoulder and pulled him into me. Micah didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around my middle and throw his left leg over mine, fusing us together in a way that made me light the fuck up inside.

This. This is how it should be between us, always. I want him here in my arms for the rest of my life, right where he belongs.

“I'm so sorry, M&M. I haven't been giving you the attention you deserve from me. I spent years wishing you were here at UT so we could talk, hang out, and be close just like this, and I shouldn't have taken that for granted this month. Please forgive me…I promise I'll do better. You are so fucking important to me, and I should be showing you that every day,” I told him earnestly.

Micah tilted his head up to mine until he could look me in the eyes. “It's okay, BB. I forgive you. I just missed being close to you,” he said softly. Having him this close to me now, I could see the swirls of caramel and green that ran through the gorgeous, brown orbs. They were mesmerizing in their intensity, and the breath caught in my throat. My mouth suddenly felt dry and my tongue darted out to wet my lips. Micah's eyes dropped to track the movement, and the temperature in the room started climbing to unbearable levels.

My heart sped up in my chest, beating so wildly that I was positive he could feel it against his own. Micah's pupils were growing before me, the black starting to swallow up the caramel irises. I felt his breath on my face coming faster, little pants that reminded me of the last time I had kissed him.Shit, I should not be thinking of kissing him right now! I'm fucking hanging by a thread!

I swallowed hard, and Micah's eyes then dipped to focus on my Adam's apple. “Bash?…” he whispered, barely audible.

“Yeah?…” I asked, almost missing the way my face was leaning towards his of its own volition, as if I was in Micah's orbit and being pulled in by his gravity.

His eyes once again locked with mine, our lips a breadth away from each other. If one of us breathed too deeply, we'd lose all space between us. My body screamed for it, to lose all distance between us and become one again.It felt so right…

Just then the doorbell rang, and we sprang apart in our panic. Micah's eyes were wide, his chest heaving as the adrenaline hit him at the unwelcome intrusion into our moment. We held our gazes for a few seconds longer, unspoken words lingering between us in the space that wasn't there a heartbeat ago. As I opened my mouth to say something, a knocking sounded through the apartment.

Micah shook his head as if clearing it of the fog that overtook us a second ago, and went to answer the door. I buried my head in my hands, trying to get my bearings straight before Micah came back. There was no denying the electricity and tension that had been building between us, and I know it would have combusted if we hadn't been interrupted. I needed to get a better handle on myself before I did something horribly stupid that could make our friendship implode.

As Micah opened the door, I heard his voice filter in with someone else's. A male voice that I hadn't heard before. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but Micah's tone was nervous and wavered slightly. The man's voice raised a bit in volume and I thought I could make out the words “why is he here?”Oh shit on a stick…please don't let this be who I think it is…I'm not ready…

Micah rounded the corner again with the man in tow, and I instantly knew who it was. I recognized his face from the club while he was flirting with Micah.My Micah.

“Hey BB, this is Kit, the guy I told you about. Kit, this is my best friend, Bash.” Micah sounded like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world than in that room with the both of us. I could read the discomfort and anxiety on his face like it had been written there in pen. I didn't want to make things more awkward for him and inadvertently cause him distress, so I summoned every bit of mental strength I had and decided to play “nice guy”.

“Hey man, I'm Bash. It's good to finally meet you,” I said confidently, putting my hand forward for him to shake. Kit's eyes narrowed slightly and he did a quick once over of me before grasping my hand in his.

“It's nice to meet you, too. Heard a lot about you.” Kit released my hand and promptly slid his arm around Micah's shoulders. I knew what he was doing, marking his territory from me, and it made me damn near violent to see. Was this how Micah felt each time he saw me andAinsley together? It was fucking miserable. My body was shaking with irritation, but I did everything in my power to school my features and appear as nothing more than the supportive friend.

Kit gave me a small smirk before turning his attention to Micah. “I was heading home from seeing my cousin, and I thought I'd swing by to see if you wanted to grab a drink. I didn't realize you had company,” he said fluidly, his tone giving away his annoyance at the situation.

“Umm, that's sweet of you, but Bash and I have had this movie night planned for a while,”not exactly true, but more or less, “but maybe next time? I mean, we did see each other last night” Micah gently said, looking awkward and uncomfortable under Kit's arm, though he made no move to pull away.What is it about that that is making me want to tear apart the room and rip Micah away from his touch?

Kit didn't appear to like that answer. I saw his jaw tick and his hand tighten subtly on Micah's shoulder. His eyes looked stiff around the edges, and I had a gnawing feeling in my gut that something was off with this guy. I understood if he was a little jealous that I was here, but then again, they'd only been seeing each other for a few weeks. Micah and I had been best friends for eight years, so his jealousy wasn't entirely warranted.Except for the fact that you're in love with the man he's seeing and you were seconds away from kissing him just now, so maybe he has a reason to be a tad bit jealous.

“I didn't know there was a limit on how often we could see each other,” Kit started, becoming slightly more aggravated. “I thought we had a fantastic time last night, and I missed you today. I figured it'd be a nice surprise for you if I dropped by.”

I wasn't sure if he mentioned their date and how much fun it had been on purpose, but I wouldn't put it past him. The words caused disgust and hatred for this man to pump through my veins, if only for the simple fact that he was now dating the guy who owned my heart.

Micah squirmed a bit in his grasp. “No, it was. It was sweet of you to think of me, but I don't feel right ditching Bash tonight. And we were in the middle of our movie, so…” Micah trailed off, and I watched Kit's lips thinning, but his grip on Micah loosened noticeably.

“No, I totally get it. I should have texted you before showing up unannounced, that was rude of me. Maybe we can do something tomorrow, just the two of us?”

It didn't escape my attention that he said the “two of us” in a blatant exclusion of me. I fought to keep my eyes from rolling in the back of my head at the obvious possessive move.

An idea came to me just then that I despised with every single fiberwithin me, but I knew it had the power to kill two birds with one stone. “What if we went on a double-date? You two with me and Ainsley?” I asked quickly before I lost my nerve. Micah's eyes flashed to mine, wide and startled. Kit looked at me with his eyebrows raised, almost appearing impressed that I had suggested it.

It wasn't something I wanted. The thought of sitting across from Micah and Kit on a date with Ainsley beside me was my unique version of Hell. I would much rather perform open heart surgery on myself without anesthesia than put myself through that shit, but it made sense in the moment. Ainsley's ultimatum loomed over my head and Kit was clearly feeling threatened by my presence in Micah's life, so a double date should satisfy them both and keep the peace. They'd see that Micah and I were only friends and would support the other's relationship, even if that was the exact opposite of how I personally felt.

Micah seemed frozen by my proposal, but Kit jumped in for the two of them. “That actually sounds great. I'd love to meet your girlfriend, and it would give you and I the chance to know each other better,” he said smugly, as if he had won the war for Micah already. In a way, he had. There was no war for Micah because I knew I couldn't fight for him though my heart shrieked at me to not let him go. This was best for all of us.

---