Page 62 of Rush of Jealousy

My best guy friend has just admitted that he loves me and wants me to take a chance on “us.” I have never seen him other than as a friend. I doubt I can get to the place his feelings are at. Advice?

-Friends First

I read and reread the entry. I don’t have any advice. Not even bad advice. I close that message and try to find an entry that I can advise on—even if it is just satire. Although, in my current state of mind, it may be best that I keep all of my thoughts to myself.

Feeling frustrated, I roll to my side and try to fall asleep—hours before my normal bedtime.

I just want this day to end.

13

I wake up the next day to the smell of bacon and fresh coffee—two of my favorite things. I roll to my back and smile up to the ceiling.Thank you. Maybe Claire and Ethan can make it work after all. Perhaps this time apart was exactly what their relationship needed to move to the next level. My stomach growls with the thought of being able to eat greasy breakfast meat at home again. The ban has been lifted. Today is going to be a good day. I can already feel it.

I get dressed in a long black maxi dress and pair it with a lightweight white denim jacket. I take my long wavy hair and work it into a loose chunk braid to the side, so it drapes over my right shoulder.

I stomp down the stairs to alert Claire of my arrival, just in case Ethan is here too. He is ninety-nine percent the reason why she makes bacon, so it is a safe assumption. While the verdict isn’t out yet on my approval of Ethan, I will forever be in favor of anyone who makes Claire happy. I round the corner into the kitchen and see the muscular bare back of a man wearing just low ride jeans. As soon as my eyes graze down and make contact with the shape of that behind, I am rendered breathless.

Hot damn. One could fry an egg on that ass.

I clear my throat, causing him to turn around with a spatula in his hand, coming face-to-face with a pair of sapphire blues.

“I shouldn’t be surprised and yet—”

“Good morning, sweetheart.”

“Good morning, Graham,” I mutter, narrowing my eyes at him. I look around for Claire.

“Just you and me,” he chirps, obviously proud of himself.

I can’t take my eyes off his abs. I bite my lower lip and try to stay focused. “Claire let you in?”

“Sure.”

“What doessuremean?” I snarl. “Did you break into our place again?”

He turns back to the stove and hums. “It is not breaking in if I know the code.”

“You are insane. You know that?” I snatch the spatula out of his hand from behind and turn off the bacon before it burns. He might be pissing me off with his overbearingness, but burning the food will take it up a level for my bad mood.

“I missed you and your sassiness,” he says, giving me a smile. “You seem passionate this morning.”

“It’s called angry.”

“So, some extra bacon it is.” He throws another two pieces on my plate. Then winks.

I can’t help but shake my head at him. He makes me go completely crazy.

Graham steps closer to me, and I back up until I am pressed against the island. His thumb comes up and rests on my bottom lip. “Why did you let him touch you?”

“Everything happened so fast,” I whisper, looking down at his hand.

He wipes at my bottom lip, then moves up to the top and does the same swiping motion. It’s as if he is trying to remove the memory of Zander’s lips from my brain. Wiping me clean.

“When are you going to realize that you are mine?”

I close my eyes and feel the weight of his lips on mine. Yours.

“Yes, mine.”

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