Page 54 of Just Friends
I’m so lucky,I thought again. So lucky to know Jax and have him in my life. So lucky that he lets me see this side of him. While most people only know him as the hockey badass, or as the bad boy that sleeps around, I knew him as he really was—a gentle giant.
Jax lifted my chin and our eyes met.
“Listen, Piper,” he said, with softened eyes. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you. No matter what. Alright?”
“Thank you,” I said, though I didn’t know how he could possibly protect me from what was going to happen with Soulmate.
With his thumb, he dried the tears from my cheek and laid a sweet little kiss on my cheekbone. That small, intimate kiss ignited a small ember in my heart. His lips had the power to heal—how had he managed to keep this a secretfrom me all along?! I didn’t know, but my aching heart began to sing for more. Because it wassonice to feel something besides crushing disappointment. Had he sensed the same thing? Did he feel that same hum resonating in his heart, too?
I moved against Jax, coaxing his mouth lower down my cheek. I didn’t know what we were doing; I was a mess of confused emotions. All I knew was that I didn’t want this, orhim,to stop.
Softly, he followed my jaw with his lips. His coarse stubble lightly scraped my soft skin, making me tingle with pins and needles. The ember in my heart spread, a warm glow smoldering in my core.
“Jax …” I sighed, beginning to writhe against his body.
With each kiss, the heat of his juicy lips neared closer to my mouth. Encouraging him further with little whimpers and sighs, I guided his mouth ever closer to mine. Inch by inch, the warmth of his mouth neared mine, and it seemed inevitable now what would happen next.
Were we making a mistake? I didn’t know, but I didn’t care. All I knew was that this feltsoright.
Jax stopped just shy of my mouth.
“Piper,” he whispered, sounding serious. He cupped my face with his big hand and his eyes deeply searched mine. I knew what he was looking for: some sign of doubt or hesitation. Because if we were going to stop?Nowwas the time for me to speak, or forever hold my peace.
Instead, I closed my eyes, knowing full well what I was doing:
Daring my best friend to kiss me.
13
Jax
It all started with an innocent kiss.
I hadn’t set out to make a move on Piper. All I wanted to do was comfort her, because it killed me to see her so upset. And who could blame her? Those assholes on the internet seemed determined to make sure Soulmate was destroyed.
And why? Because her app worked,if you think about it. Even if we werejust friends and not lovers—we were still reallygoodfriends. If you downloaded an app that promised to find you a match based on personality, and you ended up finding your best friend—someone you really,reallyclicked with—wouldn’t you still consider that a pretty big success? Wouldn’t you still wantthat?
The haters on the internet wouldn’t, I guess. They’d rather be miserable and alone. And since they’d gotten a whiff of blood in the water, they were going for the kill.
The problem was, I didn’t know how to say any of that to her or comfort her with words. Instead, I did what came naturally: I put my arms around and squeezed her, to show her I cared.
And then something funny started to happen—I didn’t even realize it at first. Lured by the scent of her clean hair, sweet like summer melons, I planted my lips on her head and gave her a little kiss. Just one tiny kiss on her soft, silky hair.
Whoa, buddy, watch it,the voice inside me—the one that always knew better—warned. Because even though that was just an innocent kiss, I still felt a little something.
Getting a little intimate there, aren’t we?
But hell, I was only trying to cheer her up. And hey, she’d kissed me on the cheek plenty of times in the past and that was never a big deal, so why would a kiss on the top of her head be any different?
Besides, I didn’twantto do anything with Piper. Because every time I went down that road with a girl, it always ended the same way: I fucked things up and ended up hurting her. Not on purpose, no—just by beingme,the guy that didn’t have the time for commitment, the guy that honestly didn’twantit.
And the one thing I never wanted to do was fuck things up with Piper.
But one small kiss had gotten the ball rolling. A warm, giddy buzz filled my heart and belly—and I wanted to feel it again, I wanted to feelmore.
Compelled to put my lips on her once more, I moved lower and kissed her on the brow—an innocent kiss, just like the first one.
Who are you trying to convince?something inside me wondered.
