Chapter One

Brad

I blew into my cupped hand, then sniffed. All good. I knew I probably didn’t need to do it, but I didn’t want to have dragon breath. No one wanted to hang out with someone who could peel paint off the walls with their breath.

Taking a deep breath, I knocked, aware that I was nervous as hell. I shouldn’t have been. I had done this a hundred times. Tonight felt different though. It was different. This would be the last time we hung out for a long time. Mia Hunter was my best friend in the world, and she was also incredibly hot. I didn’t think I was exactly scraping the bottom of the bucket in the looks department myself, but in all the years we’d known each other, we had never crossed the line. We weren’t friends with benefits. We were plain old friends. It was nice. Things never got complicated so it was an easy friendship.

Even though I’d been carrying a torch for her for a long time, I had never let her know how I really felt.

“Hey. You knocked?” she said with that smile that always hit me right in the gut.

I shrugged. “I wasn’t sure you’d be decent.”

She giggled and swung the door open wider. “Get your ass in here, Brad.”

I winked and walked past her, carrying my bag of goodies for our last night together. It wasn’t anything fancy. It never was.

“I brought vodka,” I said, pulling out the cheap bottle I picked up at the liquor store.

She scoffed. “Our last night together and you couldn’t even spring for the good stuff?”

“This was your big idea. You could’ve bought the booze, you know.”

I got another one of her sexy giggles. “I just wanted to spend one last night hanging out with you. I can’t believe you’re leaving me,” she pouted.

“I’m sorry. It’s too good an opportunity to pass up,” I said. “You can text and call anytime. Email works too. And I’ll be making the big bucks soon and can buy you a plane ticket to come out and visit me.”

Seeing her was killing me. She was wearing yoga pants and a tiny shirt that left her belly button exposed. The woman didn’t seem to know how sexy she was. That messy bun on top of her head was torture. I loved her long brown hair, but seeing it piled on top of her head like that was too much for me. I knew she wouldn’t be so relaxed around me if she knew how attracted I was to her.

“I can’t believe you were actually going to leave without saying good-bye. That’s not cool,” she scolded.

I shrugged a shoulder. “I’m sorry. I really wasn’t trying to offend you. I thought it would be easier for both of us.”

She was shaking her head. “You knew I would be pissed. That was a dumb idea. You can’t just move away without a real good-bye.”

“I’m here. Let’s eat, drink, and be merry.”

“Sit. I’ll get the snacks and make a couple screwdrivers. You can splurge tonight. Don’t give me any of that crap about not eating carbs,” she muttered. “It’s seriously a wonder I am even friends with you. A man who watches his weight and eats right can’t be trusted.”

“You love my body and you know it. But tonight, just for you, I will stuff my face with unhealthy food.”

“And you’ll damn well like it,” she quipped.

“Nothing fried,” I said, settling on the couch.

I heard her mumble something under her breath and smiled. “What was that?”

“Nothing.”

“Not all of us can be naturally thin and beautiful, Mia. Some of us have to put in some effort to look this good.”

She made what sounded like a choking noise, and I started laughing. Mia could eat, like, a five-hundred-pound man and never gain an ounce. She chalked it up to good genes, and I had even told her on more than one occasion that she had won the gene lottery: gorgeous, sexy as hell, and smart to top it off.

“Here. Drink this and I’ll look even better to you,” she said, shooting me a silly grin.

I took the tall glass of orange juice from her. After one sip, I realized it was equal parts vodka and juice. I choked as the alcohol hit my tongue, and an involuntary shudder shook my body as the strong drink rolled over me.

“Wow,” I sputtered. “That’s a stiff one.”

She was laughing. “Too strong?”

“If you’re trying to get me drunk, it’s definitely going to work.”

More of her delicious laughter washed over me. “So, tell me about this job that is taking you away from me.”

I smiled, feeling excited about the new path I was about to jump on. “I’m basically the coffee guy. It isn’t anything spectacular yet, but I hope to impress the big guys and get on the air. Maybe one day I’ll even have my own show and you’ll get to hear my voice from all the way across the country.”

“Good. I’m so proud of you, Brad. You deserve this. I know you’re going to be bigger than Ryan Seacrest one day. I’ll get to say I knew you when.”

I shook my head. “It isn’t going to be like that. You’re still going to know me. We’re going to be seeing each other and talking all the time. You aren’t getting rid of me that easily.”

“That’s what you say now. You’re going to be in Los Angeles with all the beautiful people. Some hot little blonde is going to catch your eye and you’re going to forget all about me.”

“That will never happen,” I promised her. “Besides, I’m partial to brunettes.”

She slapped my arm. “I have some news as well, by the way.”

“Really? What’s up? You’re not running off with the guy from the coffee shop, are you? I don’t think I could take that kind of heartache on my last night in town,” I teased.

“Tempting, but no. I’m going to be starting as an intern at that magazine I told you about.”

“What! How come you didn’t tell me? That’s awesome!”

She shrugged one of her dainty shoulders. “I didn’t want to steal your thunder.”

“Mia, you’re not stealing my thunder. I’m happy for you. You are going to do great. I hate that we’ll be on opposite sides of the country, but I’m glad you’re getting your shot.”

I hid my true feelings on the subject. I’d hoped to find success out in LA, then convince her to move out there with me. That would never happen now because I knew Mia was going to make it. She would get her dream job at a top magazine here in New York and never leave. My heart hurt at the thought of not seeing her every day, not getting together on the weekends, not going for hikes together. She was my best buddy, always willing to entertain my wildest ideas. I was going to miss her terribly.

“Is this it?” she whispered.

“Is what it?” I asked.

“This. I mean, how many people do you talk to from high school? None, right? At the end of senior year, we all promised to keep in touch and all that crap. None of us have. I occasionally see a couple people, but I don’t hang out with my old friends from school. Then with college, same story. You are the only one I really talk to still,” she said in a quiet voice. “We’re saying all these nice things about seeing each other on vacations and keeping in touch, but will we?”

“Yes! I’m not letting you get away from me that easily. We’re older now. Our friendship is based more on who we are and not on what boring class we were stuck in together. Mia, I want you to be my friend forever,” I said.

That made her smile. She was getting a little melancholy. I was, too. “Give me your glass. I’ll make the next round,” I said, grabbing her glass and heading for the tiny kitchen in her tiny apartment.

I had to put some space between us. Honestly, I was dying to wrap my arms around her and promise her things I knew I could never follow through with. I wanted to kiss her, just one taste. What could it hurt?

We finished our second glass, and I could feel the buzz from the strong drinks. “You’re drunk,” I told her, laughing at her flushed cheeks.

“I am not.”

“I should go. I need to get home and finish packing.”

“Don’t go. Not yet. You can sleep on the plane. Stay a little longer.”

I nodded my head, agreeing to stay. “Okay.”

She leaned back against the ugly-ass orange sofa I’d always hated. She had picked it up at a thrift store, insisting it was perfect for her apartment. I had not been convinced, but once it was inside, I realized she had been right. It really was perfect. She had an eclectic style that was unique to her. No other person in their right mind—and living in this decade—would have ever thought the sofa was a good idea. That was Mia, quirky and sporting a style all her own. It was one of the many reasons I loved her like crazy.

“Brad?”

“What?”

“How come we never dated or hooked up?”

I nearly choked to death on my drink. “What?”

“You and me. Why did you never ask me out?”

I took a deep breath. “I didn’t think that was what you wanted. You know I think you’re beautiful. No, strike that. You’re hot, way too hot for a guy like me.”

She laughed. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“It’s true. I could never have gotten through these past six years without you. You’re my best friend in the whole world, my partner in crime, my go-to when I want to try a new restaurant or do something crazy. I didn’t want to complicate things and risk ruining that friendship.”

“You’re assuming we wouldn’t have stayed together.”

“We’re both young. Neither of us wanted to settle down. You’re twenty-four and have admitted more than once that you don’t want to settle into a relationship. You’ll find the right guy for you.”

“Uh, you’re twenty-four, too,” she said.

I laughed. “I know. Like I said, we’re both young and neither one of us is looking for that whole long-term relationship thing. We would have had a good time, but then when we got bored with the sex and the mushy stuff, we would have broken up.”

“You wouldn’t have gotten bored with the sex—trust me,” she said in a husky voice.

I laughed to hide what I was really thinking. There was no way I would have ever let her go. I loved her. I was in love with her and had been for years. I should have told her. I’d missed my chance. What if she was the one for me and I’d fucking blown it because I was a coward?

“You’re right, but you would’ve gotten tired of me. You know it. We are too good of friends to risk throwing it all away for some hot sex.”

She released a long sigh. “I suppose. I guess we’ll never know.”

We both went quiet. With the talk about sex, it was all I could think of. I had undressed her in my mind at least a hundred times, but now she’d all but given me permission to fuck her in my dreams as well. I knew it would be good. Not good, fucking amazing. I thought about her tight little body pressed against mine as I drove into her. I imagined the sound of her heavy breathing and the little moans that would escape her lips.

Opening my eyes, I shook my head. I couldn’t think like that. Not now at least. When I was home in the privacy of my own bedroom, I could fantasize about her, but not here right in front of her.

“I really should get going,” I croaked out, my voice hoarse given my current state of arousal.

Mia leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees. “Fine. Leave me all alone,” she said, pouting.

It was the last thing I wanted to do, but I was convinced it was the right thing.