Chapter 2

The next morning, I was standing at the bathroom sink brushing my teeth when Alex walked out of the shower completely naked.

I slapped my hands over my eyes and yelped, "What are you doing?"

He shrugged and said, "Relax, I forgot to grab my clothes."

But my reaction clearly annoyed him. He planted both hands on the counter behind me, trapping me between the sink and his body.

His jaw tightened, and he said, "We used to take baths together when we were kids. You've seen every inch of me before, so what's the big deal now?"

He stood almost six-three, and with him leaning in this close, he was practically all I could see. Our bodies were inches apart, separated by nothing but the thin fabric of my pajamas.

And then the image flashed through my mind again, that split-second glimpse of something I absolutely should not have noticed.

My ears burned so hot I thought they might actually catch fire.

I clutched the towel in my hands and casually held it up against my chest, trying to shield myself from the situation.

If I stayed like this any longer, Alex was going to figure out exactly what was going on with me.

So I pressed my palm against his shoulder, pushed him back, and forced a look of disgust onto my face. "You've got the same parts I do, so there's nothing worth looking at. I just didn't want to jinx my eyes, that's all."

I gave him another nudge and added, "Now go put some clothes on before you catch a cold and get me sick too."

That worked. Alex backed off and obediently went to get dressed.

That night, I had a dream.

It was the exact same scene from that morning, with Alex fresh out of the shower, pinning me against the sink.

But this time, I didn't push him away. Instead, I grabbed the back of his head and kissed him.

My hands had a mind of their own, wandering across his abs and up over his chest.

The problem was, the more I'd enjoyed myself in the dream, the more mortified I felt when I woke up.

My face was on fire. I peeled off my boxers, shoved them to the bottom of the laundry basket, and splashed cold water on my face until my head cleared.

No. Absolutely not.

If I kept going down this road, I was going to fall for him, and there would be no coming back.

I didn't want Alex to hate me, and I definitely didn't want to lose him as a friend entirely.

So from that day on, I started keeping my distance.

Every time he came to me for something, I found an excuse to slip away.

I told myself that if I just had less contact with him, my feelings would fade on their own.

Then one night, Alex tried to climb into my bed again, and I shut him down immediately.

His lips pushed out into the most dramatic pout I'd ever seen.

After a moment of silence, his expression turned serious, and he asked, "Jamie, have you been avoiding me on purpose lately?"

I looked away instinctively and mumbled, "No, I haven't."

But Alex stared straight at me, his voice rising a notch. "You won't let me drive you to work anymore, you won't eat with me, and now you won't even let me in your bed. How is that not avoiding me?"

He looked genuinely hurt as he said it, almost like a kid who'd been wronged.

My heart melted, but I kept my face composed and said, "We're adults now, Alex. We need to respect each other's boundaries. Name one pair of friends who still share a bed."

Alex fired back without missing a beat. "That's different. Nobody else is as close as we are. We're best friends."

I paused for a moment, then said, "Being close doesn't mean we have to do everything together. Someday you're going to get a girlfriend, get married, have kids. And when that happens, we—"

Alex cut me off before I could finish, his reaction almost explosive. "When that happens, nothing changes between us! And that's years away. I don't even want to date anyone right now. Why are you even bringing this up?"

Something clicked in his mind, and his eyes turned dangerous as he stared at me.

Alex asked in a low voice, "You're not thinking about dating someone, are you?"

The look on his face told me that if I nodded, he would tear me apart and not leave a single bone behind.

So I denied it immediately.

I said, "Look, I need my own space. Stop clinging to me all the time, or you're going to make me hate you."

The moment those words left my mouth, Alex went quiet. The light in his expression faded bit by bit, and he couldn't hide the hurt pooling in his eyes.

I forced myself to look away because I knew that if I kept looking at him, I would cave.

From that day on, Alex really did stop following me around.

Our mutual friends noticed something was off, and one of them came up to me and asked, "Jamie, did you and Alex get into a fight?"

I shook my head and said we didn't.

He pressed on, "Then how come you two aren't hanging out anymore? I figured he got mad because of that kissing scene in your theater rehearsal."

I froze for a second and said, "I haven't even told him about that yet. But he wouldn't get upset over something like that, right?"

It wasn't like he had feelings for me anyway.

He gave me a long, knowing look, patted me on the shoulder, and walked away with an expression that basically said, "Good luck with that."