Page 32 of Shared By my Ex's Best Friends
She leans back enough to look at me, brows knitting. “Why?”
Because if I go any further, I won’t stop.
Because Jake kissed her. Because Liam looks at her like she’s already his, and Jake… he doesn’t hide it. I’d be the third man in line to complicate her life. And she deserves better than that.
She deserves one person brave enough to love her unconditionally not three men too scared to stake their claim.
“I don’t want to be another thing that makes your life more complicated,” I say. “And I think if I touch you again, I won’t stop.”
Her expression softens, but there’s a flicker of hurt, too. She nods, slowly, then opens the door.
I watch her walk up to her building. She doesn’t look back.
Only when the door closes behind her do I let my head fall back against the headrest. The leather’s cool against my neck. My heart’s still hammering like it’s trying to tell me something I’m not ready to hear.
The taste of her lingers.
I already know—I’m not getting over this.
She’s not mine. But tonight, I kissed her like she was.
And that’s going to ruin me.
Chapter thirteen
MAYA
Once inside, I close the door quietly, press my back to it, and release a shuddering breath.
The silence inside my apartment is deafening.
I press my fingers to my lips, like I can still feel his there.
Ethan kissed me.
He kissed me, and I kissed him back—and for one infinite second, I didn’t care. I didn’t care that he’s Nick’s friend, or that he’s not the first man I’ve kissed this week. I didn’t care, and that fact kind of bothers me.
I should care, shouldn’t I? I should at least feel guilty…right?
I pace the living room, my bare feet whispering across the hardwood. I think if I keep moving, maybe I can shake the feeling off, but it clings tighter with every step. The heat of Ethan’s mouth. The hunger in Jake’s eyes. The slow, burning way Liam looks at me like he already knows every secret I’ve tried to bury.
I know I’m in deep. Not spiraling—just tangled. Twisted up in something I don’t want to name, but can’t stop feeling. Not with one of them.
Not even two.
I want all three of them.
It’s too much. Too intense. Too tangled to make sense of—but pretending otherwise doesn’t make it less real.
By the time I crawl into bed, the room feels too quiet, the sheets too cool, the pillow too crisp against my skin. I toss, turn, drag the blanket up and shove it down again. There’s no comfort in the stillness tonight. No peace in being alone.
I close my eyes and let my thoughts drift, but they don’t settle—theyburn.
Ethan’s hand, warm and steady on my thigh.
Liam’s voice, deep and thoughtful, murmuring things I didn’t know I needed to hear.
Jake’s kiss, hot and reckless, the kind that steals the breath from your lungs and leaves your knees weak.
