He glanced over my shoulder. “Can I…come inside?”
“Oh my God, I’m sorry. Of course.”
He stepped through, and I shut the door soundly behind him.
Christ, what was I thinking, leaving him out in the hallway like that? But it wasn’t like I was in the right frame of mind. In fact, it almost felt impossible that he’d shown up at all.
He toed off his shoes at the door, then turned to me. “First, I wanted to tell you that I got the job!”
“Oh my god! Congratulations!” I went to hug him, then thought better of it. God, it hurt to have him here and not be able to touch him the way I wanted to. “Should we toast to the good news?”
“That would be awesome. I could use a drink.”
“Me too.” So I could drown my sorrows after he left.
I opened a bottle of red while he retrieved two glasses from the cupboard. Guess old habits die hard. I followed him to the living room, thinking how surreal this felt. But I could do this—be friends. He came over to share some good news, and that was what friends did, right?
He sank down on the couch, and I did as well, leaving enough distance between us so that my urges to reach out to him were kept at bay.
“Okay, what should we toast to?” I lifted my glass. “Jobs?”
He arched an eyebrow. “Jobs, plural?”
My cheeks heated. “Yeah, well…my parents accepted my offer to relocate to the new office, and I honestly can’t wait.”
“That’s amazing,” he said, and my eyes snagged on his mouth as it stretched into a brilliant grin. I wanted to kiss him so badly. “Your mom didn’t tell me that part.”
“My mom?” My eyes sprang to his. “What do you mean?”
He carefully placed his wine on one of the coasters. “I was on my way over here when your mom showed up at my apartment.”
I nearly spilled my drink, so I followed his lead and set mine down on the coffee table with shaky hands. “Are you messing with me?”
He shook his head, amusement dancing in his eyes.
“Why would she do that? Oh my God, if she decided to meddle in my life again, I might—”
“She came to apologize for how she treated Mom and me,” he explained, and my muscles seized up. “Then we had a talk. A really good talk.”
“I…I think I’m going into shock.”
Skylar snickered, but a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions churned through my head.
“What did you talk about?”
“Our childhoods,” he said, and I just stared because, no way. Mom rarely spoke of her turbulent childhood with a mother who, well, reminded me a lot of my own. She had obviously been doing some soul-searching of her own if she’d brought it up to Sky. “We both admitted we were trying not to become the weakest parts of who our parents were, but it seems we’re already well on our way.”
“Wait a minute. I know how my mother was raised, but your mom, she’s awesome, and I know she doesn’t have much luck in the relationship department—”
He made a frustrated noise. “That’s because she’s so desperate for love, she always chooses the wrong men and puts up with a bunch of crap, but…it’s not always the guys. She repeats the same patterns, the same mistakes. She and I are a lot alike. We’re…a lot for people. But mostly, it’s just that she searches so hard for love, I think she either pushes it away or finds it too easily in everyone.”
“Okay…” I met his eyes. “So…what exactly are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I’ve been afraid to have an attachment to anyone because I didn’t want the same heartache. But it’s too late. My heart already aches…for you.” He leaned forward. “In case you didn’t already figure it out, I’m in love with you and I want to be with you. I ran because I was scared, but I can’t do it anymore. I love you and I miss you, and I don’t want to live my life without being with you.”
“Sky…” My eyes swam with unshed tears. I was pretty certain my heart vacated my chest at that moment, because I couldn’t breathe.
I must’ve been turning blue because Skylar seemed alarmed. “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to spring this on you. I just wanted you to know how I feel. But we can totally just—”
“No. I can’t just be your friend,” I blurted, and his eyes widened. “Because I also want us to be more. I want us to be boyfriends. I love you too, and there were so many nights when I thought about you and wished—”
But he didn’t wait for the rest of my ramble. He grabbed me and smashed our mouths together. And, oh God, it felt good to smell him and taste him as he groaned into the kiss and his tongue tangled with mine.
I got completely lost in the moment for who knew how long because the sudden knock on my apartment door made me jump.
“Holy crap, my food.” I dragged myself away from his embrace and stood up. Then tried to straighten my sweatshirt, which had ridden up from his hands gripping the back of it. “Or it could be our food. I ordered double, so maybe I’m psychic—or just wanted to wallow in missing you and stuff my face.”
“Well, I was wallowing too, so can we stuff our faces together?”
“There’s nothing I want more.”
There was a spring in my step as I grabbed the food from the delivery guy, then met Skylar in the kitchen as he got out plates and forks. We were both grinning like damned fools as we sat down to eat at the counter.
“This is amazing,” he said around his first bite. “And wow, I didn’t realize how hungry I was. So glad you didn’t scare him away with those clothes I’ve never seen you in before.”
“Hey, they’re my wallowing clothes. And you said—”
“That you’re adorable?” He pecked my lips. “And not only because you apparently have a self-pity wardrobe. Hey, there might be a whole market for that.”
“Then you’ll need to get on it,” I replied with a laugh.
As we chowed down our food and caught up and drank more wine, I had to keep touching him to make sure all this was real. That I actually got my wish—for my best friend to also be my boyfriend.
I reached for a fortune cookie, then slid one toward him.
“What does yours say?” I asked, working to open mine.
“Take charge and you will be rewarded handsomely.” Skylar arched a brow. “And yours?”
I looked down at the small white strip of paper. “You deserve to live a life you’re excited about.” Interesting.
Skylar arched an eyebrow. “Hmm…wanna trade?”
I chuckled, remembering how we did just that during our first lunch together. “Why?”
“Because taking charge sounds kinky, and if you don’t drag me to the bedroom right now, I’m gonna have to jump your bones.”
I shocked him by sliding off my stool, then grabbing and lifting him onto the counter to deliver a scorching kiss. “Something like this?”
“Exactly like this, my sexy, take-charge boyfriend,” Skylar said with a dreamy sigh as he wound his legs around my waist. “Now make me yours.”