Page 28 of Beautiful Crazy

“Really? You mean your dad asks all your boyfriends about porn?”

Emily snorts and I’m all smiles. “He really did that?”

“He sure as fuck did. I almost referred to Wes just to out him to his own father.”

“Oh, my God, I totally owe you one.” She laughs. “I’m so sorry.”

“Meh. It was nothing I couldn’t handle.” I absentmindedly reach up and run my fingers through her soft hair. “Besides, there’s nobody I would rather have as my girl for the night than you, so it was worth it.”

Emily’s smile slowly fades, and her eyes meet mine. She’s breathtaking. I stare into her eyes for what feels like a lifetime, although it’s probably only a few seconds, wondering what she’s thinking. Wondering if she’s feeling the pull between us as we snuggle in this bed together. Wondering if she wants to kiss me as badly as I want to kiss her. Wondering if she’s aching to take whatever’s between us to the next level.

She stared at my V for Christ’s sake. She’s attracted. I know that. I also know I’m getting hard, fast, the more I think about her face as she stared at my body.

And the fact that we’re in her childhood bedroom as two consenting adults.

And both of us are half naked in her bed with the lights off. The energy is humming all around us for sure. I’ve got to do something and find out where we stand.

As she continues to stare at me, I let me my hand slide down from her hair to cup her cheek, rubbing my thumb slowly along her jaw and her bottom lip. I watch as her gaze moves from my eyes to my lips and that’s how I know she wants to kiss me.

She looked at my lips.

Slowly, I lick my bottom lip and then slide closer to her until our foreheads are connected, my hand still on her cheek, and that’s when I hear it. That little gasp sound she made the last time I kissed her. I’ve longed to hear that sound again.

It’s been over a year since I’ve heard it and now, the stimulation I get from that sound goes straight to my dick.

“Emmett,” she breathes.

“Emily…”

I slide my hand back through her hair and angle my head to finally connect my lips to hers.

“Goodnight, Emmett.” The words come out of her mouth so quickly I don’t have time to comprehend what she just said until she’s turned over, facing away from me.

Wait. What?

What just happened?

She doesn’t want me?

How did I misread her?

Was it all just in my head?

Leaving me bereft of her warmth, her softness, her comfort, I pull my hands back, afraid to touch her, as her body moves up and down with each breath.

“Goodnight…Emily.”

Once her breathing becomes a slow, steady pattern telling me she’s fallen asleep, I roll over onto my back. On the ceiling above me are several handfuls of glow-in-the-dark stars laid out in constellation patterns. I spend a long time looking at them as I go over the entire night in my head over and over again, wondering where I had to have gone wrong and praying that by wanting to be close to her, I didn’t just push away my best friend.

Chapter 7

Emily

“Add a few decorative drawer-pulls that you can leave as is or paint the same color as the drawer itself and that, my friends…” Lacey says, standing tall and smiling into the camera. “…is how you can flip the drawers of this old dresser into two beautifully weathered planters that are sure to look great all year round.”

She steps to the side to showcase her final products. “In our next episode, I’ll show you how to take the remaining hollowed dresser and turn it into a fabulous and functional kitchen island. I’m Lacey Fox, and that’s a wrap for this episode of Flip-It. Like and subscribe below to follow me for more ways you can turn your trash into new treasure with a simple flip.”

Lacey stops her recording and I applaud her energy. “Lacey that was amazing!”

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