More than Friends
Once our lips separate, I want more even though I know we have to stop. “Help me get out of here.”
“What about breakfast?”
“You honestly think we can walk out of here and say hi to Theo and Tucker after the things you said about me?”
“I didn’t say them about you. I would never talk about you like a puck bunny.”
“Well, you did. But that’s not the point, Dean.”
“Do you care what Tucker and Theo think of us?” He cups my face in his hands, pinning me down with his denim irises. “You are my best friend, Kitten. There’s nothing wrong with us being together.”
“When you say together, what does that mean to you? Like we go out on dates?”
He shrugs.
“You are making my point for me. We don’t even know what this means to us. I’m not about to go tell my brothers that we are together.”
“You mean everything to me.” He runs his calloused thumb along my jaw, causing my breath to hitch. “You should know that by now.”
“But that doesn’t mean you want to be with me, as in hearts and flowers and all that romantic shit.”
“I don’t do hearts and flowers.” He opens his mouth, as if he’s about to speak, and hesitates. “But I could do them for you. If that’s what you want.”
“I don’t know what I want, Dean. As usual, you confuse the fuck out of me.”
He looks away from me, slowly releasing his grip on my face. “We have to figure a way to sneak you out the back door.”
The sudden change in his behavior terrifies me.
What did I just do?
I told him the truth, and it backfired. Things are complicated now, more so than I ever thought they could be. I wish I could turn back time and stop myself from ruining our friendship.
Chapter 13
Senior Year
Dean
Kat has been acting strange for the last two weeks. Ever since we had sex again, nothing has been the same. Something was off about her. She was never this emotional in the past. I was always the one who was more invested in our relationship. Now, she’s acting like a girl who had her heart broken. But I am the one with the broken heart.
At first, Kat stopped meeting me at Broad Street Beans for coffee before class. Then, she had excuses for why she couldn’t come to the SAC to play air hockey with her brothers and me. It’s as if she has distanced herself from everyone. Kat should know me well enough to see that I am only giving her space.
This is not permanent. I will not allow Kat to walk away from me. Sex always complicates things, which is why I’m picky when it comes to women. Kat knows that, too. She knows everything about me. I wouldn’t have slept with her if I thought it would ruin our friendship and any shot of us ever being together. Now, I don’t know what to do. I need her back in my life.
Flanked by Theo and Tucker, I walk past the library, hoping to see Kat. She has a class across the street on the second floor of the business hall. Her class lets out around now, and I brought her brothers as ammunition. Even if she’s mad at me, she won’t turn away the twins. I hate that I have to use them to get to Kat, but she hasn’t left me a choice.
Theo plops down on the concrete ledge out front of the library. Tucker and I follow suit.
“What’s been up Kat’s ass lately?” Tucker says, twisting off the top from the Gatorade bottle in his hand. “I’m starting to feel like a stalker.”
“It’s all Dean’s fault,” Theo says.
“No, it’s not,” I spit back, defensive. “Unlike you assholes, Kat studies for her final exams.”
Theo waves his hand to dismiss me. “Easy for you to say. You’re good at school. This shit comes naturally to you.”
“I still have to study.”