Agony (Entangled Hearts Duet 1)

“Reese,” Tessa whispers. “You awake?”

“Babe, they’re sleeping.”

“I just… hold on a second.” I hear the door creak, and I assume she’s pushed it open to get a better look. “Oh,” she breathes.

“Oh? What, oh?” Nixon asks, keeping his voice low.

“Look at them.”

“Let me see,” he tells her.

I can picture him, with his hands on her hips, using any excuse to touch her, and leaning around her to see what she’s talking about. “He’s an idiot.”

“Why do you say that?” Tessa asks.

Their voices are low as I strain to hear them. “He’s in love with her.”

“They’re just friends.”

“Tell me you think she’s not in love with him,” Nixon says.

I wait for Tessa’s reply that never comes. Hot tears prick my eyes. I thought I was hiding it better. I thought I was doing a good job of not letting on that I love Cooper, not just as my best friend, but as the gorgeous, tall, dark-haired, brown-eyed man that he is. I know we can never be together. I’m not willing to risk losing my best friend. Besides, I’m not Janie or any of the other girls I’ve seen him date. I’m not even close to being in their league. They’re all tall, long legs, dark hair, exotic-looking beautiful women, much like Tessa.

I’m just me.

Just Reese.

“Is he in love with her?” Tessa questions.

“He’d never admit it,” Nixon answers. “Come on, you checked on her. Let’s go to bed.” There’s a soft click followed by the sound of their voices as they carry down the hall.

A tear slides down my cheek as my heart feels more exposed than ever before. No matter how much I wish that life was different, it’s not. No amount of wishing is going to change the outcome. Cooper nuzzles closer. His hold on me is tight as he sleeps peacefully beside me. He had no problem falling asleep next to his best friend.

I don’t know how long I lie here, listening to him breathe while his hot breath caresses my neck. Minutes, hours, I’m not sure. One thing I do know is when I finally drift off to sleep, it’s with the dream of the two of us together, as more than just friends.The sun shines brightly through the blinds on Cooper’s bedroom window. It’s silently telling me with its blinding rays of heat that it’s time to drag my ass out of bed. I’m awake, but my eyes are still closed. I refuse to open them and face the day. Not after last night. I’m humiliated, and I need a few more minutes to get myself in the right frame of mind to deal with all of this.

I came in to use the restroom.

I was tired so I went to bed.

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. I need to watch myself around Coop and make sure that what I do for him, I do for the other guys. That should be reason enough for them to quell their suspicions, right?

I hope so.

I hear Cooper moving around the room, so I know that I need to accept defeat and get moving. Slowly, my eyes flutter open. I blink to bring them into focus and almost gasp at what I see. Cooper is standing in front of his dresser, a towel hanging low on his hips facing me. He’s drying his hair with another. His eyes are closed as he runs the towel over his head. Lucky for me, he’s not in my direct line of sight. I squint but don’t pull my eyes away as he drops the towel he was using on his hair and unties the towel around his waist, letting it drop to the floor.

I slam my eyes closed, but it’s too late. I can never un-see what I just saw. Not that I would want to. No, never will I forget getting a full-frontal naked look at my best friend. The same guy I’m secretly in love with. He’s… big. Much larger than any others I’ve been in contact with. Not that there have been a lot. In fact, there has only been one. Just Joey. And that experience lacked any kind of luster for a repeat performance. Granted, it was the first time for both of us, but even so, I’ve decided not to take part in such activities again. There’s been no one, and I promised myself after the Joey incident—that’s what I’m calling it—that I would never offer my body to someone again just for the sake of getting it over with.

I feel the bed dip and his hand as he rubs my back. “Hey, sleepyhead.”

I count to ten slowly in my head before doing a slow blink with my eyes, which I’m sure looks fake as hell. “What time is it?” I ask, rubbing my eyes. Doesn’t matter. I still see his impressive cock before he slides his boxer briefs up over his hips.