Page 99 of Friendshipped
Trevor and I walk up the basement stairs after he’s out of bed. Everything seems okay at first glance, but then we both see one of the living room side windows has shattered in several places. Jagged glass remains in a few of the panes and shards litter the floor. The curtain flutters when a breeze passes through. Water from the rain that followed the tornado has pooled in front of the window, mingling with the broken glass.
Trevor heaves a sigh. “Well, it could be way worse.”
We walk out onto the front porch. Leaves and debris line the grass, driveway and street. Across the way, one of the neighbor’s slippery elm trees cracked in half and the top section lays across the lawn blocking the full view of their house from where we stand.
Trevor takes our front steps in two strides and walks around the side of the house toward the back yard. I stand in his doorway with my arms crossed over my chest, slightly numb from the reality of the aftermath strewn around us and the memory of Trevor’s arms around me as we slept.
We’re fine and the damage seems minimal. Like Trevor said, it could have been so much worse. I wonder about the rest of our town and surrounding area.
When Trevor comes back around the side of the house he says, “A large branch came down in the back yard, but it fell away from the house. Otherwise, we seem to be okay.”
An unexpected shiver runs up my spine remembering what it felt like to be held by Trevor. I take him in, being all man-of-the-house in his faded T-shirt and jeans. He’s gorgeous. I shake my head to dislodge the thought. I need to get a grip.
I’m probably undergoing some form of Knight-in-Shining-Armor Syndrome after Trevor basically saved my life last night. All my usual feelings of attraction seem to be on steroids right now. I just need coffee—and a healthy distance from my best friend.
I step out Trevor’s doorway and walk toward my home. He looks up from where he’s walking around the perimeter of the yard doing his best hot-guy-post-tornado impression.
Agh. Nope. Nope. Nope.
Coffee here I come.
“Are you going home?” he asks, oblivious to the flip-flopping of my enamored heart.
“Yep. Just heading home. Right here. My home, not yours. Not your side of the house where I stayed the night in bed with you. I mean. Just my house. There.”
I point to my door and scoot myself and my blithering fountain of a befuddled mouth inside.
I shut the door on Trevor’s smirking face. There are definite downsides to being best friends. The ability to read one another like a book is one of them. I lean my forehead on my door and beg for mercy Trevor doesn’t see how his heroic intervention has me off kilter over him.
After a long, hot shower, I throw on sweats, make myself a cup of coffee with extra creamer and sugar and snuggle onto my couch with my Kindle. Unfortunately, I’m in the middle of reading a romance novel, and my mind keeps inserting Trevor’s physique and face into the story.
After about fifteen minutes spent fighting this invasion of all things Trevor, I contemplate throwing the device across the room. Instead, I open the dating app. I need to check in on TJ.
Lexi:How are you after the tornado? Did it come near your town?
TJ:I’m good. It came near, but not through our town. How are you?
Lexi:I was pretty shaken up, but I had a friend with me overnight, so I was safe.
I feel so torn mentioning Trevor to TJ. But I’m not in a committed relationship with either of them. And I never will be with Trevor, so I don’t have anything to feel guilty about. At some point, if TJ and I date, he’s going to have to accept that Trevor is my best friend. I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.
They do remind me of one another. Which is weird. I don’t even know why except I feel this comfortable ease with TJ that I don’t usually feel with anyone but Trevor. I guess that’s a good sign.
TJ:I’m glad you were safe. I wanted to text you to check.
Lexi:You thought of me? That’s so sweet.
TJ:Of course. I knew it was your birthday and was thinking how sad it was for you to have to live through a tornado on your birthday.
Lexi:Yeah. It turns out my friends had planned a surprise party. But I did do a birthday scavenger hunt before the warning hit, so it wasn’t a loss.
TJ:That sounds fun.
Lexi:I have a great group of friends.
TJ:Sounds like it goes both ways.
Lexi:I’d better go.
