Page 59 of Love Thy Neighbor

We’ve spent many moments in this exact same position. Me sitting in my spot, legs bouncing off the cabinets. Him leaning against the counter opposite, one bare foot crossed over the other. Him sipping on his coffee, me drinking flavored water.

It’s comfortable.We’recomfortable.

Easy. Simple.

We make sense together.

How am I just now seeing this?

“Did he cancel on you? I knew something was off about that guy.”

“No. I’m the one canceling.”

“What? Why?” He sighs. “Come on. You can’t keep being too shy to get out there and date. You’ll never get laid if you don’t try.”

“I’ve been thinking about that. Maybe I jumped the gun on the whole thing.”

“Is there even a gun for you to jump? You haven’t been out with anyone in nearly a year.”

I lift a brow. “You keeping track of my sex life now?”

“What? No.” He scoffs. “I don’t care if you get laid or not.”

“Really? You’re pushing this a little hard, don’t you think?”

His hands tighten around his mug, and his jaw jumps with how hard his teeth are clenched together.

I wonder if he’s doing the same thing I am…trying to force one thing to forget about another.

“I’m not. Just trying to be a goodfriendis all.”

Another tic in his jaw.

“Right,” I say. “Friend.”

I take another pull from my drink, and he swallows down the rest of his.

He sets his coffee mug down on the counter harder than necessary.

“I’m going to take a shower.”

9

Cooper

Friend.

Fuck, I’m really starting to hate that word.

Being a good friend to your best friend is hard to do when everything inside you wants to haul her into your lap and kiss her until neither of you can breathe.

I stopped the other night because Caroline asked, not because I wanted to.

I wanted to kiss her again. To taste her.

To see if what happened last Friday was a fluke or not.

How can something that felt so fucking good be a fluke?

---