The Worst Best Friend: A Small Town Romance

There’s no doubt after this taste that’s stealing my sanity.

It’s all I’ve ever imagined it would be with her.

Hell, it’s so much more.

Our hands are as out of control as our lips, fused together like two desperate explorers in uncharted territory.

We’re in a race to touch every inch possible, caressing, holding on tight. It’s like we’re both afraid we’ll break if we don’t hold the other person together.

This is not a connection.

This is a sacrament, a silent vow in sin and flesh and heat I’ve never felt with another living soul.

This is an addiction, too. The more I claim her, the more I want, and the more I need.

I physically jerk back when my brain kicks in.

“Damn!” I snarl, tearing myself away. I’d have an easier time losing my own foot in a bear trap.

What the fuck is happening?

She stares after me, startled.

I back out of the kiss slowly, painfully.

I can’t have her thinking this is her fault, either.

It’s not. It’s mine.

I’m the prick who lured her in, the one who should’ve known better.

Haven’t I always? She’s not just my best friend’s little sister, and she deserves more than I can ever give her.

That’s why I deleted myself from her life. After the war, the way it poisoned me, I couldn’t ruin her.

Shel Simon deserves a better life, a better man, a better everything.

With a final quick kiss that feels too self-conscious, I yank myself away from her and put several feet between us.

Breathing hard, muscles flexed, I make myself look at her.

She lowers her lashes, digging her teeth into her bottom lip, this portrait of delicious agony.

I’m pillaging my brain for a way to make this okay because it’s too damn late to make it go away. Pretending it didn’t happen is out of the question.

Shit. What have I done?

I just wanted her to feel better. To not beat herself up over Herc and those rat shit almonds.

With a sigh, I step forward, rubbing gingerly at her arms.

“Feeling better?” I ask softly.

She smiles and looks up at me.

“Better? Huge understatement. You?”

I feel like a trillion bucks, even if I also feel like I’ve just chopped up what was left of my brain and tossed it off a cliff.