One Night (Friends #0.5) (5 page)

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This night isn’t going as I expected.

Em for some weird reason is mad at me. She totally ditched me for that overly muscled football player Cannon Whittaker and I really don’t get why. She knows it’s my last night in town before I leave tomorrow. I thought she wanted to spend time with me. I thought she wanted to hang out with Dustin and I and get drunk and do stupid stuff.

But for some reason, she was really awful to me earlier and what she said hurt my feelings.

Now all I want is to go home. I can’t find Dustin so I can tell him that, and I’m frustrated. Where could he have gone? What is he doing? I’ve searched as much of the house as I can-which is saying a lot because Tuttle’s house is massive-and Dustin is nowhere to be found.

It’s like no one cares I’m leaving tomorrow. But why should they? They’re all going to carry on and have a great summer together. I’m the one who’s going to miss out on all the fun.

Pity party for one, happening right now.

I head back through the kitchen, ready to go outside one last time when I spot him. Standing in the corner next to the giant subzero freezer, his shoulder propped against it, smiling down into the face of one overly animated, way too cute girl.

Stupid Brianne Brown. She’s been after Dustin for what feels like forever but he usually doesn’t give her the time of day.

So why is he looking at her like that?

And why do I suddenly feel like I can barely breathe?

It’s called jealousy, you dork.

Taking a deep breath, I tug on the hem of my shirt, smooth a hand over my hair and then start toward them. Dustin glances up, his gaze meeting mine and the sweet smile that curves his lips makes my heart flutter madly.

There. That’s the look I want to see. His gaze is on me and not Brianne. She knows it too, glancing over her shoulder to send me a withering stare, hardly registering that it’s me. We’ve never really gotten along and I’m guessing a lot of that has to do with Dustin and how much she wants him.

Whatever. He’s my best friend. She can’t sink her claws in him.

I won’t let her.

“Livvy,” Dustin says when I stop directly beside him. “Where’ve you been?”

“I was wondering the same thing about you.” I lean into him, bumping my hip against his and his smile grows.

Brianne scowls. “Excuse me, but you’re interrupting our conversation.”

Oh. My. God. She is such a bitch.

I smile sweetly and loop my arm through Dustin’s. “I’m sorry. Please go ahead with your fascinating conversation.”

Dustin is completely clueless. He shoots Brianne a kind smile. “Yeah, Bri. Finish your story.”

“I’ll tell you about it some other time.” Her smile is brittle. She won’t even look in my direction. “I’ll talk to you later, Dustin.”

“Yeah, bye.” He tightens his arm around mine, turning to face me the minute she’s gone. “What was up with that?”

Oh. Maybe he’s not so clueless after all. I decide to go for clueless instead. “What do you mean?”

“Why did I get such hostile vibes between you two?” He smirks. Like he doesn’t know why. Ha.

“Um, because she’s hot for you and hates me.”

He laughs. “She is not.”

“Yeah. She so is.”

One dark brow lifts. “So? What’s the big deal?”

I don’t want to look like a jealous shrew but… “She’s trying to move in on you.”

“And you have a problem with that?” He sends me a pointed look and remains silent. So do I. For way too long.

Reality check. It’s hard for me to admit exactly how I feel about Dustin when I’m not one hundred percent sure. He’s been my friend for so long, and I don’t want to damage our friendship by falling into a relationship. That’s serious. I don’t know if I’m ready. And sometimes I think he wants serious more than anything.

It’s kind of scary.

I decide to keep it light. “I can share you,” I tease. “But I don’t think Brianne likes me very much.”

“You’d share me?” Dustin sounds incredulous.

My cheeks go hot. “You know what I mean. I’m your friend. She wants…more.”

“You’re not just my friend, Livvy.” His voice drops lower and I swear I feel it reverberate throughout my body. “You’re my best friend. My closest friend. No one knows me better than you.”

“Right.” I nod, hating how shaky I feel at the thought of him with someone else. With Brianne.

“If I start dating Brianne, she’ll have to get used to you in my life. We’re a package deal, you and me. And Em,” he says, his tone deathly serious.

My mouth drops open and I quickly snap it shut. He’s really considering going out with Brianne? Gross. She would never get used to me in his life. She’d shut Em and I out and never think twice about it.

“You wouldn’t care if I went out with Brianne, right Livvy?” His voice is soft, and when I lift my gaze to his, he’s watching me closely. And standing extra close too. When did that happen? And how did my hand end up in his?

“If you want to date Brianne, I guess that would be fine. I can’t tell you what to do.” The bitterness is so obvious in my tone. I hope he doesn’t notice. “I had no idea you liked her like that, Dustin.”

“Like what?” he asks innocently.

“Like…you know.” I shrug, feeling stupid. “You want to go out with her.”

“She’s cute. And persistent.” It’s his turn to shrug. “I’m flattered that she seems to want me so bad.”

“Don’t let it go to your head.” I reach out to lightly smack his chest but he grabs hold of my wrist, stopping me. His fingers curl tight, his thumb brushing the inside of my wrist, making me shiver.

“I’m just messing with you,” he says, his rumbly voice so low, I have to lean in closer to hear him. His thumb still strokes my skin and I want to ask him to stop. Beg him to keep touching me. How can he touch me like that if he likes Brianne? “I don’t want to go out with her.”

Oh. Wait. He doesn’t? See, this is what drives me crazy about Dustin. We send each other mixed signals all the time. I don’t know why we do that but…we do. It’s like we play head games with each other. We flirt, we fight, I treat him like my brother, I yell at him, make fun of him, he yells at me, makes fun of me…

And then we end up hugging and sometimes kissing and on those very rare occasions, we end up touching each other and it feels so good, I never want it to stop. Until it’s over and I feel guilty and weird over what we’ve done, and I almost want to wish those moments away.

Almost.

“You don’t?” I croak, clearing my throat.

“I mean, she’s nice, don’t get me wrong.” She is so not nice, but whatever. “But I don’t want her to be my girlfriend or anything like that.”

“How do you know? You’ve never had a girlfriend before,” I remind him, which is totally weird because Dustin is a catch. He’s smart, he’s cute, he’s a star basketball player and everyone likes him.

“I have a pretty good idea who I’d want my girlfriend to be like.”

My heart sinks into my stomach and does a weird loop thing. I want to hear what he has to say, but then again…I don’t. Officially taking it to the next level with Dustin freaks me out.

And excites me too. Just a little.

“Come on.” He tugs on my hand and starts walking, dragging me along with him. “Let’s go find somewhere more private.”

“More private?” My heart is full on racing now. His fingers are tight around mine and he’s walking so fast, I practically have to run to keep up with him. His legs are extra long and mine are super short.

“Yeah.” He glances over his shoulder, his gaze smoldering. “I want to be alone with you.”

Oh. Crap.

Okaaaaay.

I don’t protest and wonder if it’s all the beer I’ve consumed. Though I don’t feel that drunk. In fact, I’m fairly sober and yet I’m doing this. Going off with Dustin to somewhere “more private”. And we know what we’ll end up doing once we find that private spot.

No need to spell it out, right?

We run up the stairs, passing Jordan Tuttle himself who’s talking with a girl I’ve known forever, though we’ve never been that close. Amanda Winters is disentangling herself from his grip and then she’s running down the stairs, her sobs loud enough that I can hear them.

My heart immediately aches for her. She sounds so sad.

“What’s up, bro?” Dustin asks, noticing the scowl on Tuttle’s face, no doubt. “Everything okay?”

“I think she just caught her boyfriend screwing her best friend.” Tuttle’s gaze is locked on the stairwell. “I should go after her. Make sure she’s okay.”

Before we can answer, he’s gone, calling Amanda’s name.

Ah, another night of drama at a Tuttle party.

“Come on.” Dustin’s fingers tighten around mine as he drags me down the extra long hall and into an empty bedroom. He shuts and locks the door behind us and before I can say anything, he has me pressed against the door, his hands at my waist, his mouth locked with mine.

Dustin is an excellent kisser. It’s like our lips fit perfectly and he knows exactly what I like. His mouth is warm and soft and damp and when his tongue tangles with mine, I almost want to pass out, it feels so good. Like who needs drugs when you have a boy who can kiss you senseless?

Not me. I’ll stick with Dustin’s lips, thanks.

Minutes pass and we’re still kissing, my back pressed against the door and Dustin’s body smashed against mine. “Livvy.” He whispers my name close to my ear, his fingers slipping beneath the hem of my shirt and touching bare skin. I want it. I don’t. I want it so much, yet I don’t. Not with Dustin. Maybe with Dustin? Oh God, I don’t know what to do…

Using all of my strength, I push him until he’s stumbling backwards, his expression one of pure shock. I step away from the door, putting much needed distance between us as I try to catch my breath. Calm my racing heart. Make my head stop spinning.

“Why’d you stop me?” He sounds hurt. Great.

“We, um, shouldn’t really do this. Should we?” I sound confused but guess what? I am confused. Is it smart to mess around with him tonight only to turn around and leave tomorrow? I’ll be gone for almost six weeks. Alone at my dad’s house in Oregon, while Dustin is here with our friends, having fun and maybe…eventually…he’ll find someone new.

And that would break my heart.

I frown, hating how knotted my stomach becomes at the thought of Dustin with someone else. He wouldn’t do that to me, would he? I don’t think so, but it’s not like we’re in a committed relationship.

After all, we’re just friends.

*

Ahhh, what is Livvy going to do? We’ll be in Dustin’s head with the next chapter so you’ll find out then (next Tuesday!). Don’t forget to vote/comment/share this story with your friends. And don’t forget we are little over a month until the release of JUST FRIENDS. Can’t wait for you all to read it! xo - Monica

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“You don’t want…” My voice drifts and I clamp my lips shut. So Olivia is asking me if we should “really do this”. Is she for real? I thought she wanted it. When I kissed her just a minute ago, she’d seemed eager. Excited. She tasted good too. She always does. I could kiss her for hours. Hell, there was that one time when I did kiss her for hours, and I never wanted it to stop.

Yeah, I know. I’m a complete and total sap for Livvy. And trust me, sometimes it sucks.

“I don’t know.” She shrugs, looks away. She’s standing in front of me, but keeping enough distance so I can’t reach out and touch her.

Did she plan that? Probably.

“Don’t know what?” I’m pushing her, and I know she hates that sort of thing. So do I. We make a great-if sometimes annoying-team.

“I don’t know what I want, okay!” She throws her arms up in the air, as if she’s completely exasperated. And maybe she is. I know I am. I’m tired of going round and round with her. Does she like me like that? Does she want more? Or maybe she doesn’t after all? Why do I keep pushing the issue and let her do this to me?

If I wanted, I could have Brianne Brown with a snap of my fingers. Sounds arrogant as hell but I’m just being honest. She even said it straight to my face earlier, and I didn’t know what to say. I just smiled and laughed and acted like she was flirting.

But I could tell. She was serious.

There’s also Emily, who flirts like she means it because she does. She totally means it. I bet if I asked her to give me a blow job, she’d do it. No questions asked. She’d fall to her knees, give me one of those knowing Em smiles, and then go to work.

My dick twitches in my shorts at the thought.

“I’m leaving tomorrow,” Livvy continues when I don’t say anything. “I’ll be gone for six weeks, and you’ll be here. Hanging out with Em and your other friends. And I’ll be alone, stuck at my dad’s and bored out of my mind. If we were to get-I don’t know-involved, or whatever, before I left, what kind of start to our relationship would that be? While you’re here and I’m in Oregon? Hundreds of miles separating us during the summer would totally suck.”

“Are you saying you don’t trust me?” I run a hand through my hair, trying to calm the anger that’s simmering deep within me. I’ve been nothing but loyal to her for years. Does she really believe the minute she’s gone, I’ll chase after someone else?

If we were committed to each other, I’d never do that to her. She has to know this.

“No, of course not.” She takes a step toward me. Then another one, until she’s directly in front of me, and her hands are resting lightly on my chest. I can feel her touch burn through my shirt, into my skin and I want to grab hold of her. Kiss her all over again. Make her forget all of this crap she’s telling me. “I don’t want us to start anything-yet. The timing isn’t right.”

I take a deep breath and exhale slowly, never tearing my gaze from hers. She looks so sincere, yet a little sad. Like maybe she really does want to start something with me, something real. But yeah, the timing isn’t right.