The Best Mistake (Not Just Friends 1)

She would have never thought the scent of grease and pine would be attractive, but the more she inhaled the combination coming from Toby the more she wanted him. She was getting good and drunk, already a few drinks away from probably being passed out for the rest of the night.

“Hey,” he said and smiled. The corner of his mouth cocked up, and the sight was such a damn turn-on she couldn’t even think straight. The condensation from the glass she held slid down her inner arm, and instead of it feeling chilled it felt like liquid fire.

“Hi,” Shoshanna said and licked her lips once the word was out of her mouth. Could he hear the sound of her heart beating like it was in a race? He knitted his brows and glanced down at her body.

This flush stole over her, and she shifted on her feet, feeling extra warm all of a sudden.

“It’s been a long time, Shoshanna,” he said in a sexy, low, and deep drawl.

Yeah, it had been a very long time since they’d actually spoken to each other, but that was her doing, and she’d regretted it. “It has been, but you look like you’re doing well.” The words just tumbled out of her mouth, and she felt even more stupid for saying them.

He grinned wider, brought his beer bottle to his mouth, and took a long drink while he continued to watch her. There were some grease stains on his fingers, and she let her gaze travel down the thick expanse of his forearms.

The tattoos stopped at his wrists and traveled all the way up his arm to disappear under the sleeve of his shirt.

“You look well, too.” He lowered his gaze down her body, and she felt a chill move through her.

“Thank you,” she said softly, knowing he was checking her out, and feeling the heat from his gaze penetrate her. It took him a moment to speak again, but maybe it was because he had been waiting for her to say something else and she hadn’t.

“It’s been what, five years?” The way he said it wasn’t so much of a question, but a statement.

She nodded. “Something like that.” She swallowed, feeling like she was living in some kind of alternate universe. Exhaling, she knew she just wanted to say what she’d been thinking since she’d run off that night. “Listen, it’s a little late for this, I know that, but I want to apologize for the way I acted after I left that party. I was just in a weird place, and didn’t know how to handle…” She moved her hand between the two of them.

“You were right to run. I was no good to you. Hell, I wasn’t good to anyone back then.”

“That’s not true,” she said right away.

He nodded slowly, lifted his arm to the bartender, and called out for two beers. When he looked at her again there was this strange expression on his face. “It is really true, Shoshanna, and deep down you knew that. That’s why you left.” His eyes were slightly glossy and bloodshot, and she knew that he was drunk just as much as she was. Maybe that was why they were talking to each other?

He leaned forward and braced a hand on the counter. “But I remember you, Shoshanna.” The way he said it made her feel like it held this deep meaning. He smiled, just a small one, another lift of the corner of his mouth, but one nonetheless. “I was an asshole back in high school, pretty cocky, too, and to think a good girl like you wanted anything to do with me, even just to talk, was stupid on my part.”

Were they really doing this right here, hashing out the past? It had been years, but this was the first time they’d been this close to each other. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t push you away because I didn’t think you were good enough for me.”

He scrubbed a hand over his jaw, and the sound of his skin coming in contact with his stubble filled her ears. “In five years I did a lot of growing up, and am not the cocky little asshole I was back in high school.” He lifted one shoulder in a shrug.

The way he said that felt a little funny. He wasn’t cocky, or an asshole, or at least he hadn’t been to her.

“You look the same, but different, too.” He stared at her, looked her up and down. “You look all grown up.” It was spoken low, kind of husky and heated, and she felt this tingle move through her.

He lowered his gaze down her body once again, and she felt herself start to sweat even further.

Damn, am I the only one that is hot in here?