Page 132 of Friends Like This

I mean, I know we love each other. But it’s been as best friends, even if we both admit there’s a potential for it to be more. And this feels different. It feels like thesomething moreeveryone has been talking about. It’s bigger, stronger, more connected, and electric. His hand on my back and my hand on his chest send waves of energy shooting through us.

And it doesn’t feel like he’s talking about the right guy I’ll find someday. It feels like he’s talking about himself. It feels like he’s talking about us. Especially when he says…

“We’re gonna have it someday, that epic love story. The intense, unending, never-give-up, do-anything-for-each-other, perfectly imperfect love story. We’re gonna have it, Rae.Trust me,” he says, resting his cheek against mine.

Wait, does he meanwe? Like, him and me?!

Tension fills in the space around us, pushing our bodies closer and closer together.

We dance together in silence for a little while longer before he leans in and gently kisses me on the lips. It’s sweet and not unlike kisses we’ve had before. But when our lips meet, that tingly feeling runs through my body. The same one I had the first day he held my hand.

I’m lost in the moment. In everything he said, the heat of our touch, and how his lips feel pressed gently against mine. When he has the audacity to slowly pull them away, give me a little squeeze, wink at me, and walk inside the house, it feels like negative pressure. His words, the look in his eyes, the connection we shared, the fire I felt from his touch, the feeling of his lips on mine are all suddenly ripped away, and I feel his absence in my soul.

One touch. Some words. Looking into each other’s eyes. A soft kiss.

Why does it feel like everything just changed inside me?

I stare into the fire, thinking, replaying it all over and over again.

Because…

What just happened?

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