Page 115 of Friend Me

I wrinkled my nose. Tyler did often bring me chocolate right before my period started. Holy Edwin Hubble.

He tugged me closer. “Remember that time we were right up against deadline and the power went out in the building?”

“That construction crew down the street accidentally cut the power. And the internet connection.”

“The rest of us just sat around staring at our screens, wondering if the batteries would run out before the power came back, knowing we couldn’t compile without the network. But not you. You got on the phone to the power company, to the ISP. You marched downstairs and told us to keep working. Even Jackson was afraid of you that day. You were like…thunder. Or a vengeful goddess.”

I buried my face in his neck. “I knew how important that deadline was. I’m sorry I was a bitch.”

“No, sweetheart.” He hitched my leg over his and pressed me against him. He was already half-hard again. “You were magnificent.”

I rolled him to his back and straddled him. “I’ll show you magnificent.”

We made love again, more gently this time. After, we burrowed under the comforter, our legs tangled and my cheek resting on his chest, our breathing synchronized and slow, my limbs loose, like we were two fish in the ocean.

Tyler brought my hand to his lips and kissed my thumb. “I can’t believe this is real,” he whispered, like if he spoke louder he’d break the spell.

I tilted my head to look up into his eyes, shadowed in the darkness. “It’s real. I love you, Tyler. I want you to be my plus-one at weddings. I want you to stop at my desk and flirt with me every time you come up to see Jackson. I want you to come upstairs just to see me. I want to hold your hand in the elevator when we leave every night. Together.”

His smile, the special one he saved for me, gleamed in the moonlight coming in through the window, and his arm wrapped around me. “Friends. And lovers.”

“Lovers. And friends.”

The best of both.

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