Kissing My Best Friend: A Friends to Lovers Romance Read online

“I never knew.”

  I shrugged. “Not something I was gonna brag about, is it?”

  “No, I guess not. But you guys have this chemistry, it’s pretty incredible.”

  “That’s not chemistry, it’s called being comfortable with each other. We have no interest in the other stuff, so it’s easy to just be.”

  “Sounds like the ideal relationship to me.”

  I laughed. “Sure it does. Were you designated to come ask today, because I can’t imagine who hasn’t been in here already today.”

  Max laughed. “No. I suspected for a long time you two had something going on but that photo on the Hometown Heroes page confirmed it.”

  I frowned. “Photo? What photo?” I would have remembered someone taking a photo of me because I would have run in the other direction.

  “Look for yourself.” Max handed me her phone and I examined the photo on the screen. “Who took this?” The photo was from Monday when we grilled some fish and hung out at my place. In the woods. “How?”

  “Don’t know. My guess is Trixie or Mimi, those girls are squirrely and reckless.” Max shrugged, looking mildly amused but I don’t think she expected my reaction to be so extreme.

  I explained to Max what that day was. “We were just hanging out. I caught two big catfish and he stayed for lunch.”

  “Yeah, but in this photo he’s looking at you like you’re the steak and the sizzle.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” But another look at the photo and I knew exactly what she meant. Even from a distance, the heat in his eyes was unmistakable but that’s just Jase being a guy, staring at female flesh on display. “Maybe he’s just squinting against the sun.”

  “Yeah? Okay, what about you? Head tossed back, nipples hard and eyes closed with pure pleasure written on your face. You’re glowing. This photos looks like you spent all morning in bed.”

  “We always have a good time together,” I insisted because it was better than thinking about spending the whole day in bed with Jase. “We’re friends, that shouldn’t be much of a surprise.”

  “All right,” Max shrugged, giving up. “I’ll leave you to work the rest of this out on your own. Eventually. We still on for dinner this week? Callie made a new hook and she’s bursting to show it off.”

  That kid was so cool. She made me think about having one of my own. “I’ll be there with my famous creamy cheesy potatoes.” Adding cheese and creamy stuff to potatoes was a crowd pleaser every single time.

  “Perfect. I need to get going anyway, there are four hundred fancy cupcakes waiting for me to make, bake and decorate them.” Max worked as a caterer, and no one did pastries like she did. “See you later.”

  Max left and took her phone with her, which meant I was squinting at my own phone, zooming in on all the details of the photo someone had managed to snap of us, when Nate walked in. He cleared his throat to get my attention and I looked up. “Two black coffees coming up. Check out the pastries, they just got in this morning.” I would take any distraction I could get just in case Nate also had an opinion on what he thought was happening with me and Jase.

  “Two cronuts, bear claws and those cream filled ones covered in chocolate.” He came in twice a week for coffee and pastries before he and Preston started their shift, yet he refused to learn the name of his favorite pastry.

  “Two black coffees, two bear claws, two cronuts and two Bavarian cream donuts. Anything else?”

  “Nope, I’m good.” He set his cash on the counter and stared at me until I looked hope. “I hope like hell you two know what you’re doing.”

  “We do,” I insisted even though I wasn’t sure. There were a lot of weird, unexplainable feelings lately that I didn’t want to think about. We had to be okay because our friendship was worth it. So, we would.

  “Good, ‘cause pretending has a way of getting things all mixed up in the mind and you and my brother are already mixed up as hell.” His gruff laugh was well-meaning but I still bristled at his words.

  “It’s fine. We’ll just be hanging out a little more than usual and we’ll look like a couple. People already think we are anyway. What’s the big deal?”

  He blinked, those shocking blue eyes so beautiful against his bright red hair. “You really don’t know?”

  “Don’t know what, Nate?”

  “Nothing,” he shook his head in disgust. “Thanks for breakfast.”

  “Sure. Thank you for your service and stay safe out there.” I refused to let his words or his ominous question get to me. It was hotter than usual this summer and everyone’s brains were just a little bit fried, that was all.

  I really hoped that was all it was.

  Jase

  “Who forgot to do the shopping?” Rafe stood in the kitchen with his arms folded over his massive chest, scowling at the collection of firefighters within scowling distance. “I asked a damn question.” As Fire Captain he didn’t need to raise his voice, that low lethal tone was enough to get us all snapping to attention.

  Johnson, a rookie, stepped forward looking guilty but I was closest to the schedule. “Says Kavanaugh was supposed to do the shopping on first shift today.” And since we all came on shift about three hours ago, it wasn’t on us.

  Rafe frowned. “Who the hell is Kavanaugh?”

  “Good question, Captain.” A few of the guys dared to laugh and then a few more when Rafe stomped to the white board and glared at the name in block letters.

  “I didn’t write this.” He turned and looked at us, confusion written on his face mirrored back on most of ours.

  “Neither did we, Rafe, ‘cause now we have no food.”

  “Maybe we do,” Johnson said, his nervousness gone and replaced with something I knew well. Male appreciation.

  I turned and saw Bo carrying two canvas bags and looking good in a pair of fitted jeans and a dark blue Bo’s General t-shirt. It was her standard outfit but today she wore it well. “What are you doing here, sweetheart.”

  She frowned at the endearment as I knew she would, but then those blue eyes scanned the room and realized that half of Tulip Fire Department was watching us and smiled. Sort of. “Betty asked me to bring this heaping bunch of tomatoes to the firehouse, something about them being the perfect chili tomatoes.” She shrugged and rolled her eyes, handing the bag to the nearest fireman. “And Mimi and Trixie insisted you boys needed lemon cupcakes, ten thousand of them,” she said and nodded towards the bag stacked with pastry boxes.

  “Weird.” It wasn’t that out of the ordinary that the firehouse got a casserole or a dessert in thanks for saving someone’s home or business, but all at once and by no recent victims? It was suspicious.

  “Ya think?” That was my fake girlfriend, sarcastic as hell. “There’s two big ass crockpots filled with stew from Eddy and a vat of wings from Elizabeth. Come give me a hand. Babe,” she added with a heavy emphasis before shoving the other bag at Johnson and walking away.

  I grinned at just how hard it was for Bo to squeak out that pet name, and watched her ass until she rounded the firehouse out of sight and I stopped short. Why in the hell was I admiring my best friend’s ass? And why was I noticing how long and lean her legs were and more importantly, where in the hell did those legs even come from?

  “My eyes are up here, honey.” She leaned against her Jeep, her one rebellion against being a born and bred Texan, one leg crossed over the other, arms folded defensively but an amused smirk on her face.

  “Just admiring the goods,” I told her honestly. For some damn reason. Must be the heat. “Why did you end up with all of this food?”

  Bo pushed off the Jeep and open the door. “We’re dating so of course I would come up here to see you at some point on your forty-eight hour shift. So said Big Mama, who by the way also sent a box of her famous fried chicken and about twenty pounds of fries.”

  “Sweet. A box?”

  She nodded. “A whole damn box. I had to put it on a towel but my car is still gonna smell like the Colonel move
d in and took up residence in the back.” She grinned playfully and I arched a brow.

  “How many pieces of chicken did you eat on the way here?” Bo’s love of food was a well known fact in Tulip, as was her inability to put on any weight.

  “One on the way. One in the parking lot,” she admitted on a long, slow breath.

  I laughed and reached inside the Jeep for the food. “Smells good in here, like fried chicken and perfume.” Bo reached in and grabbed the pot of wings which she sat right on top of the box of chicken.

  With great effort I looked away when she leaned in and gave a little wiggle of her ass as she pulled the stew to the edge of the seat and lifted it with ease. “Why don’t you stay and eat with us, consider it your delivery fee paid in full.”

  “Sure. I’m going for a hike tomorrow anyway. A long one.” Her tone was odd but I knew Bo only opened up when she was good and ready. Not a moment before.

  “Want some company?”

  “Sure. I’m doing the Red Corkscrew, think you can keep up gym boy?” She laughed at her favorite nickname for me because I put in four days at the gym no matter my work schedule. It wasn’t vanity, mostly it wasn’t vanity, it was survival. Stamina and endurance and strength were necessary for all firefighters because there was too much shit you just couldn’t account for.

  “Want me to life you and that gallon of stew just to prove I can keep up?” I took a step towards her and she stepped back with a frown.

  “Do you want to wear this soup for the rest of your shift?”

  I grinned, daring her right back.

  As soon as we made beyond the trucks, the guys swarmed us, relieving us of all the food we carried most of the way into the firehouse. “I’m impressed at how efficient you guys are, that was almost like a dance,” she said when we all sat around the table to eat.

  “Gotta sit down to eat as fast as you can because you never know when the alarm will sound,” I told her and then promptly shoved a drumstick into my mouth.

  “At least half the time meals are interrupted by a call,” Rafe told her around a mouthful of fries. “It’s almost like the universe knows we’re about to eat.”

  She laughed at that. “So that’s where the firefighter chili stereotype comes from? Chili and stew can be reheated when you come back?”

  “Maybe,” Rafe said as if the thought had never crossed his mind. “I’m glad you got a girlfriend who can cook, Callahan, but I’m not done looking for who changed that schedule. There is no damn Kavanaugh, just like I thought.”

  “Don’t thank me, thank his elderly admirers,” she told Rafe and reached forward to grab more fries. “If I were you, I’d look no further than the town matchmakers for that schedule. You’re also a Hometown Hero,” she reminded him with more glee than was necessary.

  “Nice, babe,” I whispered and her response was to shove a handful of fries into my mouth. “Yum.”

  “Thanks for the food guys but I gotta go check on my cashier. It’s important to keep her terrified so she doesn’t let her friends rob me blind.” She planted an awkward kiss on the corner of my mouth, patted my shoulder and walked off.

  I pulled out my phone and sent off a quick text. “Your girlfriend etiquette sucks, honey.”

  I laughed out loud at her response, a middle finger emoji, and ate the rest of the fries left on Bo’s forgotten plate. The guys took their time eating the food given to us by the matrons of Tulip, putting off the inevitable task that we would have to do shopping if we planned to eat any more meals this shift.

  Rafe dumped his empty plate in the sink and took Bo’s empty seat. “It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if you two got together for real.” His voice was low, not that it mattered since half the table started to carry food to the common area where the TV was. “She’s a hometown girl, settled here, beautiful as hell. Plus the chemistry between you two is like a living, breathing thing.”

  I sighed because it was all true. It was no less than exactly what I heard from almost every person in Tulip aware of our friendship. “And if it doesn’t work out?”

  He shrugged. “It’ll be awkward for a while but this is a small town, you’d get over it. Eventually.” It was that damn eventually that worried me.

  “Or I’ll have ruined a perfectly perfect friendship.” Then something else occurred to me. “If she’s so great, why haven’t you asked her out?”

  “Did, years ago. She turned me down. Everyone else too, it seems. Maybe she’s holding out for someone special?”

  I laughed because of course, he meant me and that couldn’t be further from the truth. “Don’t look this way. There was a kiss, a really incredible kiss the summer after graduation.”

  “What happened?”

  “Nothing. I left the next day to move into the dorms and start EMT training before classes started. Came back six years later with a fire science degree and a job with Tulip FD, to find myself squarely in the friend zone. Permanently in the friend zone.” And it hadn’t bothered me, much. Until now.

  Rafe let out a low chuckle. “I don’t think it’s as permanent as you think, man. I mean, have you seen you two together?”

  I glared at him and again, he laughed. “Do you even listen to yourself speak?”

  “You know what I mean. I know it’s not real and your secret is safe with me,” he whispered. “But use this time wisely. Maybe this is your trial run to see if you even want to pursue that chemistry.” Rafe stood and grabbed a new plate, piling it with food before disappearing into his office.

  I did the same and bit into a lemon cupcake just as the damn alarm sounded.

  Bo

  Red Corkscrew was my favorite hike because of how it wound up the small mountain like a corkscrew, easy in portions and strenuous in others. It was the trail I preferred to hike when I had some thinkin’ to do and after the week I’ve had and the crazy rollercoaster of emotions zipping through me, I needed to do some world class thinking. But then Jase, also known as my best friend, went and invited himself along. Not that I minded, I didn’t really because we always had a good time together. But Jase had one big flaw, the man loved to talk.

  About anything.

  Hell, about everything.

  “Why did you choose this trail,” he asked but the question came out like a whine because Jase hated doing things he wasn’t amazing at, which honestly was most things. Except hiking.

  “Because I like it. Too difficult for ya, Callahan?”

  “No,” he grumbled behind me and I was happy he couldn’t see the smile on my face.

  “We’re almost there,” I assured him after another half mile incline, which I still got very little thinking done because I kept thinking about Jase, which annoyed me to no end.

  “Promise?”

  I turned to him and batted my eyelashes innocently. “Would I lie to you?”

  “In a heartbeat.”

  That was true too, but this time I shrugged and turned forward, pushing myself to the flat top of the corkscrew and stood there, enjoying the view of Tulip and the land beyond my hometown. Fields of green grass, thick clusters of trees and a wildflower field to the right made up the landscape of this area and I couldn’t get enough of it. Usually this would be the point where all my thinking would be done and I could enjoy the view, but that wasn’t the case.

  My mind wouldn’t turn off, so I busied myself with other things like the treat I had for Jase. When he made it to the top I held it out and grinned. “For your pain and suffering.”

  Chest still heaving from the last part of the hike, he looked at the banana custard cheesecake and then to me and then back to the cake. Then back to me before a wide smile spread across his face and he lifted me off the ground. “You are my best girl, forever.”

  I ignored the flutter in my chest at his words because of course a girl who always worried about people leaving would get a little misty eyed over the concept of forever. No big deal. And that’s exactly what I kept reminding myself every time my heart gave
that little flutter. “You only love me for my cheesecake.”

  He snorted at my words and took the cheesecake when I handed it to him, grabbing half a turkey sandwich for myself. We ate and we enjoyed in the view for several long moments of sweet, blessed silence.

  That didn’t last long. “So what is it that you need to think about?” His question came out of nowhere and I gave him a frown. “This hike means you have some serious thinking to do.”

  I hope I hid my shock that he’d remembered that because I didn’t remember sharing that information with him or anyone else. “I do, but it’s just a thought at the moment. Nothing pressing.” It was just the sudden ticking of my biological clock and weird, unexplained emotions about a friend.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Yeah,” I asked with a mocking tone as I gathered up our trash and returned it to my pack. “What are you gonna do about it?” It was a challenge I knew he couldn’t resist and when Jase got in my face, invading my space with his size advantage, I notched my chin a bit higher. “Tough guy.”

  His lips twitched like he wanted to laugh but his green gaze was steely now, serious. Then he bent down in front me, slowly dropping to his knees and bringing to mind other instances that exact move might be more appropriate, thoughts I most certainly should not be having about Jase. Before I could get my head on straight, his shoulder pressed into my thighs and I was folded over his shoulder. “I’m gonna show you who’s boss little girl.” He smacked my ass in a totally platonic way, at least that’s what I told my sizzling skin, and then he started to run down the trail. Laughing.

  And talking. Of course.

  “You are so damn dead, Callahan! I can’t even begin to describe to you how dead you’re gonna be.” If he ever let me down from this upside down hell where I was too close to the enticing curve of his ass and that all of a sudden intoxicating scent of his. Dammit. “Slow down.”

  “We’re fine, I’m a seasoned hiker.”

  I snorted. “This trail left you winded. If not for that cheesecake I’d be carrying you down this trail,” I told him and pinched his ass for good measure.