The Best Friend Problem

by Mariah Ankenman

  He didn’t have any thoughts in his head beyond her. She was everything at the moment. The beginning and the end.

  She lifted her head, slipping her hand to his neck and tugging him down until their lips met. He knew he was close to losing it, so he slipped a hand under her hips, angling so every thrust hit her exactly where she needed.

  In a matter of seconds, he felt her tighten around him, her lips wrenching from his as she screamed his name in delight. He continued driving into her, her cries forcing him over the edge as he gave one final thrust and joined her in the most astounding experience he’d ever had.

  “You…” She panted, chest rising and falling with heaving breaths. “You totally lived up to the hype.”

  He laughed, kissing her softly. “Good to know. You, however, blew my fucking mind, Pru.”

  She grinned. “I am pretty awesome.”

  “That, you are.” He rolled to his back, pulling her with him until she lay sprawled against his chest, tucked carefully into his side. “Stay?”

  “I couldn’t move if you gave me a million dollars.” She opened her mouth in a jaw-cracking yawn. “My bones are jelly.”

  “Want me to carry you to the shower?”

  She nuzzled against his shoulder. “As long as you hold me up in it, too. Between the booze and the orgasms, I think I’ve lost the ability to walk for the rest of the night.”

  He laughed softly. After rinsing them both in the shower, he carried a sleepy Pru back to his bed, tucking her into his side.

  He kissed her brow softly. “Sleep, Precious.”

  “Night, Finn,” she murmured, eyes already closed.

  “Night, Pru.”

  He lay there for a while, listening to the sounds of her soft snoring, completely amazed by what had just happened and totally confused by the aching need in his chest to do it again.

  Chapter Five

  Pru roused into half consciousness as the warm weight beside her moved. She whimpered, annoyed that her pleasant cocoon of heat and peaceful sleep was being disturbed, plus that she had a mild headache. Stupid shots. Once she hit twenty-five, her tolerance for partying all night and popping out of bed the next morning had reduced drastically.

  “Sorry, Precious. I have to take Bruiser out before her tiny bladder relieves itself over all my clean laundry.”

  Precious? Her brow furrowed at the new nickname. She didn’t hate it, but it felt a little too…intimate.

  More intimate than what you did last night? Her brain would have argued with her further, but then she felt Finn shift and leave the bed, tucking the covers—still warm from their night together—around her and slumber pulled at her satisfied body once more.

  “I’ll be back in a few.”

  Her mind drifted to sleep. Though she wasn’t as muddled as Mo in the mornings, she didn’t like rising before the sun, and since darkness still filled the small studio, she imagined the seven o’clock hour had yet to arrive. Pru slipped quickly back to dreamland where her mind played the most amazing dreams of her and Finn, naked. Only now she knew reality was so much better than anything her subconscious could conjure up.

  She vaguely recalled Finn returning and slipping back into bed, tugging her into his warm embrace. Something small, but surprisingly weighty, covered her feet. Bruiser, she assumed. She burrowed into the cozy cuddles, her fuzzy, sleep-addled, slightly hung-over brain trying to tell her something important, but the slumber pulled and lulled her once more.

  The next time she woke, the sun had risen, a bright ray spilling across her face from the window. Rather rude way to be woken up, but at least her headache was gone and she didn’t have to wake alone. She was with Finn.

  Oh my God. I slept with Finn!

  All vestiges of sleep disappeared as the reality of what they’d done last night hit her like a proverbial ton of bricks. She’d had sex with her best friend last night.

  She knew what his dick looked like.

  She knew what it felt like.

  What did this all mean? Her heart raced, panic gripping her. She didn’t regret last night. Not one single second of it, but she had no idea what to do now.

  She’d never had a one-night stand. Which was kind of what they’d agreed this was, right? Sating a curiosity. Scratching an itch. It wasn’t like either of them planned to turn their friendship into a relationship. So where did that leave them this morning?

  Did one-time sex only count at night or was it like a twenty-four-hour kind of deal? Did she stay and have breakfast? Run out claiming an important work meeting?

  You can’t say that, dummy; he knows you.

  That was the problem. They knew each other so well. She usually knew what to do when she crashed over at Finn’s place after a night of trivia or a movie marathon. They’d hit up Dozens for Novo coffee and a plate of Here’s Your Aspen scrambled eggs, then walk down 16th Street Mall and people watch. But she’d always kept her clothes on those nights and slept on the couch, not in bed with him.

  Could she sit across a busy breakfast diner chatting away with him now that she knew when he blew on his hot coffee, it was with the exact same gentle breath that rose goose bumps on her naked flesh just last night?

  “Morning.” His voice rumbled in her ear as he nudged the tip of his nose along her temple, leaving a soft kiss on her cheek. “Sleep okay?”

  She turned to face him. Oh crap, it hadn’t just been the booze. He was even sexier this morning than he’d been last night. Couldn’t he have horrifying bed head or something? A small flaw for her to make fun of to get this strange panic out of her chest?

  “Yup. You?”

  The left side of his lips curled up in a grin. “Best sleep I’ve had in a long time.”

  Her too, oddly enough. She supposed good sex did that to a person. No. Not good sex—phenomenal sex.

  “Sooooo, this is good. Fine. Totally cool,” she said.

  His smile faltered.

  “I mean it’s, you know, not weird.”

  “Okay.”

  She pushed her hair away from her face, fingers tugging on the strands. “’Cause we were wondering if it was going to be weird and, you know. It’s not.”

  He raised one eyebrow. “Sure.”

  “Totally not weird.” Tug.

  The second eyebrow joined the first. “Right.”

  “Not weird at all.” Tug, tug, tug.

  He snorted. “Yeah, I’d be more convinced if you weren’t commenting on how not weird it is. That’s weird, Pru. And you’re tugging on your hair.”

  Crap. The problem with sleeping with someone who knew you so well was you couldn’t hide anything from them. Like an encroaching panic attack from the fact that she slept with her best friend.

  “How’s that freak-out going in there?” He reached out to poke at her forehead.

  She swatted his finger away, scowling. “It’s going just fine, thank you.”

  “Gonna run out on me or wanna grab breakfast?”

  And there it was. He was offering her their agreement. One night of exploration and then everything back to normal. A wave of relief crashed over her.

  They hadn’t ruined anything. She didn’t need to figure out what this meant or what she should do next. They were just Finn and Pru. Best buds, grabbing breakfast after a sleepover. Different from their usual sleepovers—naughtier, oh so naughtier. But he wasn’t kicking her out or asking for more.

  They were good.

  They were them.

  “If you think I’m running anywhere before I get some coffee and food in me, you’re a bonehead.”

  “I’ve been called worse.”

  She laughed, starting to rise, but then the sheets slid against her skin, the sensual action reminding her of her lack of clothing. “Um, could you…?”

  His eyes widened. “Seriously?”

  “Yes, you perv! Close your eyes.”

  “Pru, I’ve seen it all. Seen it, touched it, tasted it—”

  She smashed a hand over his mouth to stop th
e outrageous words from escaping. Her cheeks burned, knowing everything he said was true, but unable to tamp down the embarrassment of it all in the light of day. Her best friend now had intimate knowledge of her. It was… Okay fine, it was freakin’ weird.

  His brow drew down, expression wary. Gently, he grasped her wrist and removed her hand from his lips. “You don’t…regret anything, do you?”

  “No!”

  The denial came out a little too sharp and loud, but she’d hate it if Finn thought she regretted or resented him in any way. Quite the opposite. A tiny voice deep inside her was screaming for more. More naked Finn time. Now!

  She shut that voice down. She had plans to attend to, and none of them involved adding benefits to the friendship with her bestie.

  “Last night was…” She paused, trying to search for exactly how much it had meant to her without freaking them both out. “Perfect. I don’t regret a single moment. Do you?”

  He grinned. “Nope. Honestly, Pru. You kind of rocked my world. I knew all your exes were dumbasses, but I never fully grasped how much until last night.”

  Well, that was… She had no idea what that was, but it sure made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Stupid insides, this is not the start of some fairy-tale romance. This was fantastic sex to tide me over for the next two decades.

  There. Inner nympho put in place.

  “They were rather dumb, weren’t they?”

  “Any man who’d let you get away is a moron.”

  She sucked in a breath at his words. “You know this was a one-time thing, Finn.”

  His smile slipped, just the barest of a drop, but then his lips parted even wider, head shaking. “Um, yeah. We kind of went over that last night. I mean, I know we were a little bit toasted, but we talked about it. Or did Finn’s Fun Stick cause you to have orgasmic amnesia?”

  She shoved his shoulder. “Shut up—that’s not a thing.”

  He laughed, rising from the bed, completely unashamed of his nudity, and headed toward the bathroom.

  “Give me fifteen. I’m going to hit the three S’s before we head out.”

  “Three S’s?”

  He glanced over his shoulder, grinning like a fool when he caught her staring at his ass.

  What? She couldn’t help it. Finn had a very fine ass.

  “Shave, shower, and shit.”

  “Lovely.”

  Okay, now she knew they were back on solid friendship ground. You didn’t talk about bathroom stuff with a lover. That was annoying your friend territory. Still, there had been that moment where she thought maybe he wanted more. Something in his eyes seemed almost sad when she reminded him of their deal.

  No. That was crazy. Finn didn’t want a relationship with her. He didn’t want a relationship with anyone. He was First Date Finn. She was just out of sorts because of all that had happened.

  The sound of a sharp bark caused her to glance down and see Bruiser at the foot of the bed, head tilted, tail wagging, tongue hanging out of the side of her furry little mouth.

  “Hey, Bru. You want a treat?”

  The tiny dog barked again, wagging her tail so enthusiastically that Pru was afraid it might just wag right off.

  “Come on.” She reached down, grabbing the sweet pup in her arms and tossing the covers off. “I bet I can get dressed and sneak you two treats before your daddy is done primping.”

  “I heard that!” a voice from the bathroom yelled.

  “Finish your S’s!” she yelled back.

  True to their words, in fifteen minutes Finn was ready to go and Pru had dressed and fed Bruiser two treats. Since it was a nice, sunny day, Finn insisted they take his bike, even though the restaurant was less than a mile away. She agreed because she was starving and needed coffee…or maybe it was because holding Finn tight, feeling the vibrations of the rumbling motorcycle, conjured up memories of last night.

  No. It was the coffee thing.

  Yup. That was her story and she was sticking to it.

  Breakfast went off like usual, with a few awkward moments here and there. Honestly, she’d be more worried if there weren’t a few strange bits. It wasn’t like she wanted Finn to fall madly in love with her or anything, but she did want last night to mean something to him.

  It meant something to her.

  After breakfast, he dropped her off at her apartment building. She slid off his bike, handing him the spare helmet, which he stashed back in the side bag.

  “I’m on shift starting the day after tomorrow, but shoot me a text whenever.”

  “Will do.”

  There was a moment. A pause in their goodbye that normally didn’t happen. Under ordinary circumstances she would wave, turn, and head inside. But last night had been anything but ordinary. It seemed they were still trying to find their new footing, even though they’d agreed not to let what happened change their friendship.

  You dummy! her brain screamed. Sex always changes everything.

  It didn’t have to. They could be two mature adults about this. So why wasn’t she leaving? Why wasn’t she waving? Why the hell was she moving closer to Finn and why was he grasping the back of her neck and pulling her to him?

  He tugged her closer, and she came to him, like a moth drawn to an irresistible, dangerous flame.

  His head tilted, lips pressing against her own. She opened for him instinctively, allowing his tongue to slip inside. She moaned, deepening the kiss at that first electric spark of his tongue caressing hers. Then, all too quickly, it was over, and he was pulling away.

  “See ya, Pru.”

  “See ya, Finn.”

  Then he was gone. Pulling away on that ridiculous excuse for a vehicle. Leaving her wondering what that was. They’d said sex wouldn’t change anything, so why did he kiss her goodbye? Friends didn’t say goodbye with their lips. Okay, so they did, but not in a tongues-down-each-other’s-throat kind of way.

  She headed into her complex, pondering what had just happened and what she should do about it as she made her way to her apartment.

  Nothing. She should do nothing because they agreed on as much.

  That was just a goodbye kiss. A ‘thanks for the great night’ kind of thing. Right? She didn’t need to think about it or talk about it with anyone. She could just put it in her nice memory box in her brain and move on.

  Mind made up, she opened the door to her apartment to be greeted by the sight of Mo and Lilly at the kitchen table going over seating charts.

  “I slept with Finn!”

  Stupid self! We weren’t supposed to tell anyone.

  Oh God, she couldn’t keep it in. She needed to tell someone, talk about it, analyze what the hell just happened. Who better to do that with than her two closest friends? Well, her two closest friends who she hadn’t just slept with, that is.

  “What?” Lilly pushed her glasses up her nose, shock dropping her jaw wide.

  “Hell yes! I knew it!” Mo pumped her fist in the air, jumping up and doing a little booty shake dance around the table. “Come here, sit. Tell us everything.”

  She allowed her roommates to ply her with coffee and cookies as she poured out the entire tale. Minus some of the more private details.

  “I knew it,” Mo crowed again, a smug grin on her face. “I knew you two would hook up eventually.”

  “So, what now?” Lilly asked, concern marring her brow.

  “Nothing now.” At her friends’ confused stares, she continued. “It was a one-time thing. We both agreed. I have plans, baby plans, and Finn doesn’t want anything like that. His job is too dangerous. Too much risk of putting any potential wife and kids through trauma if he were to…” She swallowed past the lump in her throat. She knew Finn’s logic was sound because if he ever died in the line of duty, it would gut her.

  And she was just his best friend. She couldn’t imagine what it would do to any wife or children he had.

  “We just had to see, I guess. What it would be like. Now it’s out of our systems and we go back to jus
t being friends.”

  Mo and Lilly shared a skeptical glance.

  “Seriously, you guys. It’s fine.”

  Mo crossed her arms over her chest. “Then why did you tell us?”

  Because she didn’t like keeping things from her friends. “I don’t know…bragging rights?”

  Lilly shook her head. “One night with Finn and you turn into a frat boy.”

  “Finn was never in a frat.”

  “Yeah, but he was in you. Last night. Heigh-oh!”

  No one high-fived Mo, so she raised her other hand and slapped fives herself.

  “My humor is so underappreciated around you two.”

  “Can we just move on from this, please? I don’t even know why I brought it up. Let’s just get to work.”

  Lilly glanced over at her and tilted her head. “Why don’t you go grab a quick shower and change of clothes? When you’re done, you can meet us downstairs and we’ll go over the Marlowe-Hillard wedding. They finally decided on a venue, so they’ll be sending us a deposit check soon.”

  Pru breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness for Lilly who was always ready to put off emotional stuff and dive into work. Work would distract her from whatever weirdness was going on between her and Finn right now.

  After the venue was set, things tended to take off pretty quickly from there. The Marlowe-Hillard wedding wasn’t for another eight months, but things in Denver tended to book up fast. The couple was smart to lock down their location now.

  It was time to work. She couldn’t ruminate on last night’s drunken escapades, no matter how good they’d been. Her mind drifted to last night. And the way Finn had seemed to know what she wanted, what she needed, even before she had.

  How?

  Had their years of friendship formed a connection that spanned into the bedroom or was he just that good?

  Ugh. She had to stop thinking about it. It was over. Done. A nice memory to bring out on a cold, lonely night, but not one to analyze to death.

  It happened and it was over. Their friendship remained. Last night would soon be nothing but a pleasant memory for them both. It had no lasting effects.

  None at all.

  Chapter Six

  “Prudence C.?”