Page 12 of Keep Me
Her eyes were glassy, never moving from the couple, as she said, “Just look at them. In a room full of all their friends and family, they can’t stop looking at each other. They’re so in love.”
“That they are.” I didn’t have to see them to know that. Besides, the view in my arms was better. “You know, he knew the minute he met her that she was the one. Adam has a theory that Devin stalked her on an app, but Jackson says that they had a one-night stand before she became our neighbor.”
“Well, which one is it?” Britt turned back to me.
I shrugged, still dancing. “Not sure. Devin and Reign’s origin story is all lore at this point. When you ask Devin to explain, he just smiles and says he’s focused on his future, not his past.”
Britt laughed, and I felt it in my chest. I didn’t just want to hear her laugh like that for the rest of my life, I wanted to be the one causing it.
She looked back at Reign and Devin, and I had to admit, I was jealous of all the attention she was giving them.
“Of course that’s what he’s focused on. He’s having twins.” At that moment, I decided to follow her gaze to the happy couple. They were dancing, drunk on emotions, with Devin constantly dropping kisses on Reign’s lips. “I hope one day I can find someone who looks at me the way Devin looks at Reign,” Britt said wistfully.
I swallowed, holding back what I wanted to say because I was desperate not to ruin our friendship. I looked away for a split second to see Adam watching us. He gave me a thumbs-up, and I rolled my eyes.
He and Devin had been so persistent tonight. Britt and I had always been friends. Firm friends. Neither of us ever admitted feelings for the other, but I felt it so hard in my stomach that I broke up with Olana several times over it. Somehow, I never gained the courage to tell Britt about those feelings. Not to mention, Olana would always wheedle her way back into my lifeby reminding me of all the times we shared with my mom. In a sad and slightly tragic way, breaking up with Olana had always made it feel like I was losing my mom all over again, and that was a feeling I tried to avoid like the plague.
That feeling was gone now. She cheated on me, and I had no idea for how long.
She also wasn’t here to whisper anything in my ear and convince me otherwise.
The only thing that stopped me from telling Britt how I felt was me. I’d been led to believe by my friends that she felt the same, but what if she didn’t?
What if I told her, and she didn’t feel it back? Could we still be friends? Did I want to lose what we had over some unrequited love?
My fingers grappled against her hips. Being this close to her and not being able to touch her the way I wanted was riling me up.
She was still dreamily watching the married couple, unaware of the battle going on in my head. I wanted to be the guy to give Britt everything, and the only way that would become a reality was if I actually took a leap of faith and did something about it.
Fuck it.
I refused to cower in a corner anymore and let other people run my life. I was in control now.
It was now or never.
“You already do,” I said with the unfortunate need to clear my throat at the end. I couldn’t help it; it was my nerves.
She slowly turned toward me with furrowed brows. So caught up in watching another couple, she had no idea what I was even talking about, and I wanted to laugh. How could she not see that she was golden in my eyes?
“What do you mean?”
“Britt, do you remember the day when we first met?” My voice was surprisingly calm, considering my heart was beating so erratically.
“Yeah, at the bonfire. Why?”
“I have a confession. I may have purposely hit my marshmallow against yours just so I had an excuse to talk to you.”
“Wh-what?”
Laughing, I shook my head. The next words out of my mouth would make me sound like a stalker, but I didn’t care. I was halfway there, anyway. What did I have to lose at this point?
“When I got to the bonfire, you were the first person I saw. I thought you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Still do, by the way. You were sitting there alone, and I couldn’t let the opportunity go to waste because all I wanted to do was to spend the rest of my night talking to you.”
She stopped swaying and dropped my hand as though it was taking everything in her to process my confession. It couldn’t have been that much of a shock to her? If it was obvious to all my friends that I had a crush on her, then I had no doubts she realized too.
She shook her head before daring to look at me again, and her forehead crinkled.
“I-I don’t know what to say.”
