Chapter 1
My name was Ryan Chandler, and the girl next to me, grinning at her phone like she was in love, was Natalie Evans, my best friend since we were in diapers.
I called out to her a few times.
"Natalie?
"Ms. Evans.
"Hey, dummy!"
Her grin only got wider as she tapped away at her screen, and she never heard a word of it.
I leaned in and caught a faint trace of the gardenia scent she always wore.
That girl was so far into her phone that her soul had gone in with it.
An idea came to me.
I snuck around behind her and crouched down.
The next second, I sprang into action.
"What's got you so hooked?" I teased.
I snatched her phone in a flash.
Natalie shot up off the couch like a startled cat, her cheeks still pink and now with panic on top of it.
"Ryan, give it back!"
She pounced on me, waving her arms wildly as she tried to grab her phone.
I had the height on her, so I held the phone straight up and let her hop around under it.
"Not a chance. I want to see what's got Ms. Evans this hooked. Is there a guy I don't know about?" I teased.
"There's no guy. You're the one with the dirty mind. Now give it back!" she snapped.
Her face went even redder, and she came at me harder.
The living room wasn't big, and the two of us laughed and yelled and knocked into each other until it turned into a full scuffle.
I ended up as the cushion, flat on my back, with Natalie landing square on top of me.
It was not a dignified position.
It was the middle of summer.
She straddled my waist, hands planted on my chest, still trying to snatch the phone I held high above.
As we wrestled around, her loose cotton T-shirt got all twisted and out of place.
One sleeve slid off her shoulder and left the whole curve of it bare.
All that skin made my head go light.
My eyes locked on like they had auto-aim, straight to the soft shape under the thin fabric.
It was pressed right against my chest, and the shape of it stopped my brain cold.
My head buzzed and went completely blank.
My grip slipped.
Natalie snatched it back right away.
Once she had it back, Natalie lifted her chin with a smug grin and got ready to rub it in.
"Ryan, you lost!" she teased.
But halfway through, she suddenly froze.
"Hey, what's going on? Why are you zoning out?" she asked.
She shot me a confused look and waved her hand right in front of my eyes.
I swallowed hard, and my throat was so dry it felt like it might catch fire.
"Hey, Ryan!" Natalie called out.
Her eyes followed mine, dropping down to notice just how close we were pressed together.
Then, she seemed to realize something.
"Is your phone in your pocket? It's digging into me. Take it out," she complained.
She frowned at me like I had done something disgusting.
"It's getting hot, too. I told you not to buy that bargain-bin phone. You said it was built to run hot and fast. Congratulations, it runs hot."
I had nothing to say to that.
Thanks a lot, Natalie.
That was definitely not my phone in my pocket.
It was the reaction every guy got in a moment like that.
I finally came back to myself, my throat working, my mouth dry as sand.
"Uh, Natalie, you might want to," I managed, my voice so rough it barely sounded like me, and I nodded toward her shoulder.
She glanced down, confused.
First she saw the sleeve hanging off her arm, and then she saw how much of her was showing.
Her eyes widened in shock.
Her face went from pink to deep red in about two seconds flat.
"Ah!"
Her scream nearly took out my eardrums.
She scrambled off me like she had been shocked, and she ran straight into her room without looking back.
The lock clicked.
She had shut herself in.
I lay on the carpet, stunned, and it took me a while to sit up.
Damn.
I had spent all those years bickering and messing around with her, and I had never once noticed.
When exactly had Natalie grown up?
I shook my head, grabbed the cold water off the table, and drank it down.
It tasted a little sweet.
But something didn't feel right.
I looked at the rim of the glass and saw a faint ring of gloss on it.
I couldn't work out what it was.
It was a real mystery.
I let it go.
I walked over to Natalie's door and knocked.
"Nat, what do you want for lunch? Barbecue ribs or honey barbecue wings? I'll make either one," I called out.
She didn't answer.
"Fine, I'll pick something. Come out when it's ready," I said.