Page 26 of Be Mine, Sweetheart (Something Borrowed 3)

His eyebrows fused together. “What about Kelly?”

“You are not that d

ense.” When all he did was blink at Maria, she sighed heavily. “Or, maybe you are. Chris, come on. No woman wants to play second fiddle to another and with you, Kelly always comes first.”

“What? That’s ridiculous.” It was… right?

Maria glanced over his shoulder. “Look, Rachel is coming back. Do not misunderstand me, I like Kelly. But if you ever want to have a functioning relationship with a woman other than her, you’re going to need to take a step back from your BFF.”

Chris wanted to say more, that they were wrong, but he didn’t want it to be awkward for Rachel, so he snapped his mouth closed. He knew that women in his past had been jealous of Kelly, but was their friendship really scaring them off?

Rachel came back to the table, and sat back in Michael’s chair. She looked around at them, as though sensing that some serious subjects were covered while she was absent. “What are you all talking about?”

Chris pushed his beer away, his mind racing. “I was just telling these guys that I need to get home. I’m wiped.”

Disappointment flashed across her face. “Really? You just got here.”

“I’ve got another half an hour drive and I don’t want to get sleepy behind the wheel.” He stood up just as Michael came back to the table and set another pitcher down.

“Hey, you’re taking off?” Michael asked.

“Yeah, I’m going to call it a night.” He pulled out a twenty and put it on the table. “Next round is on me.”

Maria shot him a chiding look, as if to say, why are you running away? Trevor just tapped his fingers to his forehead in a salute.

“Bye, Chris,” Rachel said, softly.

He patted her shoulder lightly. “See you, Rach.”

The rest of his friends murmured their goodbyes and he took off. He headed for the door, his mind whirling as he thought back on all the relationships he’d been involved in since moving back to the area. Had he really put Kelly before all of them? Even if he had, she was his friend. Would things be different if she was a guy and had needed his help for something?

For him, not at all, but according to Maria, her presence in his life was scaring off potential girlfriends. All because of her gender.

He climbed into his car with a laugh.

Screw that. If he met the right girl, it wouldn’t matter who his best friend was.

Except if things were really platonic, then why did I nearly round third base wrestling with her the other day?

It was the question that had been plaguing him for days. Sure, he’d gotten a boner before, but never like that. He’d almost slid his hands from around Kelly’s waist and gripped her hips, pulling her body harder against him. Placed kisses along the soft skin of her throat and whispered dirty things in her ear. The whole fantasy had lasted only a moment, but it had lingered. He could still remember the sweet scent of her lotion; he knew it was lotion because Kelly didn’t wear perfume. The hitch in her breath…

He’d pulled away, afraid she’d freak if she knew what he’d been thinking. He’d gotten the hell out of there and now, he had no idea how to pretend he hadn’t thought about taking things to the next level with her.

Just like after that New Year’s Eve party in high school.

He’d played it off like he hadn’t meant what he’d said about kissing her, but he had. He’d wanted to kiss Kelly so bad it had hurt. He’d avoided her and Ray for weeks after, trying to push down the disappointment and frustration and eventually, it had worked and they’d gone back to being friends.

Now here he was, screwing everything up again.

Maybe taking a step back from Kelly was the best thing he could do right now. And in a week, he’d call Rachel and ask her on a date.

The drive back to Sweetheart was a two-lane curvy road, with tall pines on either side that would open briefly to grassy hills. The sun was still setting, and turned the sky the color of a ripe peach. He did love the area, and preferred the simple sounds of crickets and wildlife to the horn honking bustle of the city.

Chris turned down his driveway twenty-five minutes later, and tore down the gravel road. Once he parked inside his garage, he climbed out of his truck and went inside.

He passed through the small, simple kitchen and breakfast nook without bothering to flip on the light. Chris was pretty clean and organized, so he didn’t worry about stepping on anything on the floor he might have forgotten about. The living room was barely a blip on his consciousness as he headed down the hallway to his bedroom.

Normally, he’d stay up and watch something on TV until he fell asleep, but he just wanted to go to bed. To clear his mind and not dwell on women or Kelly or why in the hell he was single.

---