The Chinese takeout on the passenger seat of my blue Ford F-250 smells like heaven after a long day. I stayed at the paper until I was finally able to convince Aria she’d clocked enough hours for one day. She’s a workaholic and determined to prove herself. I can’t help wondering how much of that stems from the way Aaron left her. He made her feel inferior, like she’d never amount to more than a staff writer. It took everything in me not to pound his face in when she called me up crying over his text message. Of course, I also wanted to celebrate her freedom from that douche.

I pull up to Aria’s apartment complex and take my usual spot. She gets two spaces, and I’m usually occupying one of them. I cut the engine, grab the food, and head for the front door.

“Mr. Dixon, nice to see you,” Mr. Sherman says as he steps out the front door. “On your way to see Aria?” He pushes his wire-rimmed glasses up his nose.

“Of course.” I hold up the bag of Chinese food. “If I don’t feed her, she’ll never stop to eat.”

Mr. Sherman laughs. “Don’t we know it!” Since meeting her four years ago when she moved in straight out of college, he’s become like a second father to Aria.

I step into the building and head for the elevator. As soon as the doors open, I smell Michelle’s signature scent, a perfume she had designed specifically for her. It’s a combination of lavender and some other things I can’t place. All I know is it’s way too strong. Her flaming red curly locks bob as she steps out of the elevator.

“Nate, I didn’t know you were stopping by tonight.” She smiles and steps toward me, but I maneuver around her and into the elevator.

“In a hurry. Can’t let Aria’s food get cold.” I press the button for the third floor and then the one to close the doors. Michelle is harmless, but I don’t have the patience for her today. I’m still on edge over my conversation with Aria back at the office. I never should have brought up Aaron. All she did for the rest of the day was talk about him. After watching her be with him for five months, I’m officially done. I never liked the guy, and I know he never liked me. But what guy would like his girlfriend’s male best friend who’s so obviously in love with her? Well, so obvious to everyone but Aria. She has no idea how I feel about her, and it needs to stay that way. At least for now. At least until she’s completely over that asshole.

I can hear the TV in Aria’s apartment blaring as soon as the elevator stops on her floor. How she doesn’t get evicted is beyond me. But then again, Aria charms everyone. It’s hard not to fall for those baby blues that seem to look right into your soul. I shake the thought away and step out of the elevator. She’s the first apartment on the right. I don’t bother knocking since she wouldn’t hear it over the TV anyway.

“Dinner is served,” I say, opening the door and holding up the bag.

Aria is standing in the kitchen with a towel wrapped around her. “My God! You nearly scared me half to death.”

I’m surprised I don’t drop our food. Over the years, I’ve seen Aria in minimal clothing—tiny bikinis, pajamas that leave virtually nothing to the imagination... But this is a first for nothing but a towel.

She grabs the front of her towel to secure it in place. “Let me get dressed. I just got out of the shower and was about to boil water for tea.” She motions to the Chinese food.

“Right. The tea bags are in here somewhere.” I bring the bag to the kitchen counter and start rifling through it, keeping my eyes anywhere but on Aria’s bare legs. It’s insane to think that after knowing each other for twelve years it’s too soon for things to happen between us or even for me to be honest about my feelings, but it is. I can’t lose Aria, and making a move now would pretty much guarantee I do.

She heads to her bedroom and closes the door without clicking it shut. She trusts me not to peek, which I don’t exactly view as a good thing. It means she doesn’t think I look at her that way. Or she doesn’t see me that way, which is even worse.

“So, what did you order this time?” she calls, and I see her shadow move across the doorway.

My mind immediately goes to thoughts of the towel on the floor. Aria’s naked body mere feet from where I’m standing. Stop it! I remove the cartons from the bag and grab forks from the drawer to keep myself busy.

“Nate?” Aria pokes her head around the door. Only her head. Which means she’s not fully dressed yet, if at all. Good God, someone kill me now!

“Um, chicken with cashew nuts for you, obviously.” Her favorite. “And I got pork lo mein.”

“Egg rolls?”

“Of course.”

“Wonton soup?”

Damn it. I forgot the soup. “I’m sorry. Want me to run out and grab some?”

She waves a hand through the doorway before disappearing again. “No worries. It’s getting too hot for soup anyway.”

“You sure? I don’t mind going back out.”

“No. It’s fine,” she calls.

The teapot on the stove whistles, and I remove it from the burner. I grab two mugs from the cabinet over the stove and pour the hot water into them. I place a tea bag in each and carry them to the coffee table in the living room. Then I go back for the cartons of food.

“Mmm. That smells so good. I’m starving.” She walks out of the bedroom, gathering her hair into a ponytail while she heads to the couch.

“You never ate lunch, remember?”

She rolls her eyes and digs into her food the second I place it on the table in front of her. “The deli screwed up my order. They put mayo on my sandwich.” She shivers at the thought, which makes me smile. She couldn’t be more adorable.

“I would have traded with you.”

“You don’t like mayo either,” she says, holding up her hand to cover her mouth, which is full of food.

“Doesn’t matter. I would’ve tolerated it so you didn’t have to starve.”

She bumps her knee into mine. “You’re always playing the part of the white knight coming to my rescue.”

“You don’t need rescuing. You handled yourself with Monohan today no problem.”

She takes another bite of egg roll and shakes her head. This time she swallows before talking. “Only after you threatened to carry me into his office.”

“So you needed a nudge? You did the hard part yourself.”

“Enough about me. Tell me what’s going on with you. Why aren’t you sleeping well?” Her eyes lock on mine as she continues to eat.

I wish I could tell her the truth. No, I wish I could show her. Take her in my arms and kiss her the way I’ve wanted to since freshman year in college. Instead I settle for, “My allergies have been acting up. I can’t breathe when I lie down.” I shovel food into my mouth, pissed off at myself for lying.

“I know what helps with that.” She puts her food down and motions for me to do the same. I do, and then she pushes the coffee table away from the couch.

“What are we doing?” I ask.

“I read inversion tables are great for relieving sinus pressure and headaches. I don’t have one, but we could use the couch to get blood flowing to our heads. Watch.” She sits backward on the couch so she’s facing the cushions. Then she swings her legs up over the back of the couch. Finally, she brings her arms over her head and leans all the way back so she’s hanging off the couch with her head a few feet from the floor. The blood rushes to her cheeks, making them rosy. “Come on. You try it.”

I’m not sure I’ll be able to get back up, but I can’t say no to her. I repeat her actions, though nowhere near as gracefully, so I’m dangling off the couch next to her. “Like this?”

She laughs. “You look ridiculous upside down.”

“Thanks,” I say.

“I guess I probably do too, huh?” She smiles at me, melting my insides.

“Yeah,” I say, but “ridiculous” is the last word I’d use to describe Aria. She’s sexy in any position, which sends my mind back to that place it should never go. Keeping these feelings to myself is getting more difficult every day.