Kissing My Best Friend: A Friends to Lovers Romance

by Sullivan, Piper

  The drive to the hotel ballroom took less than ten minutes and just a couple minutes later, there was Jase. He was gorgeous in his deep blue tux that looked purple or black under different lights. It was stylish and fun, just like him.

  “Good luck,” Mikki whispered and kept walking like we didn’t arrive together.

  “You look beautiful.” Jase’s words were soft spoken and filled with a reverence I felt down to my bones. “I wasn’t sure if you were gonna come.”

  That was fair so I shrugged. “This is a special night for you and I promised you I’d be here.” It was more than that, but now wasn’t the time so I fixed his tie with a stiff smile. “You look beautiful too, Jase.”

  He laughed and pulled me close, clasping our hands together as he pulled me into the ballroom, decorated in red and yellow because, firefighters. “I’m glad you came. It wouldn’t be the same without you.”

  “You’ve never invited me before,” I told him without bitterness.

  “That dress is a heart stopper, by the way.” There was heat and appreciation in his gaze that I couldn’t ignore. Wouldn’t because it felt too damn good and with this silky dress against my skin, I felt desirable. Wanted.

  “Thanks. I wore it just for you.” My reward was another of those panty scorching looks accompanied by a chaste kiss to the very corner of my mouth.

  “I’m glad to hear that.” His lips curled into a slow grin that hit me in all the right places, or they would have been if this dress allowed me to wear anything but my birthday suit underneath. “This damn dress,” he growled and pulled me along the perimeter of the room, stopping to get us glasses of beer.

  “I guess I’m gonna need this,” I told him and took a long sip, making sure to be careful of my lipstick the way Mikki insisted at least a dozen times.

  “Maybe not need, but it’s always nice to have a beer in hand when the brass is around.” As we made our way around the room, I understood what he meant. It was all the forced politeness, pretending to care that every man you met was the smartest, most interesting person in the world. It was exhausting.

  By the third beer, I was ready to poke my eyes out. “Are we done? Please god tell me that’s the last ass I have to watch you kiss.”

  “Until later,” he whispered in my ear. “Come on, I think our table is over there.”

  Jase pulled me along, looking back occasionally with that seductive grin curling his lips as if he wanted to be sure I was there. That I hadn’t gone anywhere. As if I could think straight, much less go anywhere when he was looking at me like that. “Slow down,” I finally managed when I nearly stepped out of my stilettos for the third time.

  “Sorry.” He pulled me close and smiled. “Listen, I owe you an apology Bo.”

  I shook my head. “It’s not necessary.”

  He frowned. “It is, and I just want to explain everything.”

  “Ah, there you two are.” Rafe strolled up to us with a smile on his face, laying a hand on each of us. “Looking good, Bo.”

  “Thanks. You clean up nicely, Rafe.”

  “Thanks. Spread the word, would you?” He patted his chest and smoothed his collar with a sly smile before turning a serious expression on Jase. “I expect to hear good news. Soon.” After a short not, he walked away.

  “What was that about?” Rafe was a pretty straightforward kind of guy, but that was definition of ominous.

  “Nothing,” he said easily and I just shrugged the weirdness off because Jase wouldn’t start lying to me now. Would he?

  “Okay.” It was easier to go along right now because my mind was focused on what I had to do. What I needed to say. “Anyway, you don’t owe me an apology. If anyone is owed one, it’s you. You were right about me, I was being a co-,”

  “Jase Callahan, good to see one of your Hometown Heroes up for a special honor tonight.” Mayor Ashford came up and clapped Jase right on the back and I bit back a groan. Would every citizen of Tulip stop and talk to Jase before the night was over?

  “Mayor, you’re looking dapper this evening.”

  Mayor Ashford patted his round belly proudly. “Thanks. Now listen, I sure hate to lose a Hometown Hero before the calendar even hits the newsstands, but this is a big step up son. Our loss is Omaha’s gain.” Jase froze at Ashford’s words but the mayor was oblivious, offering up another clap on the back before turning to me. “I suppose you’ll be going with him and we’ll need to court another business.”

  I had no damn clue what the mayor was talking about, but I had a pretty good idea that he and Rafe had been hinting at the same things. Jase was leaving. “Nothing’s been decided yet,” I said quietly, restraining the desire to shout at the top of my lungs.

  The mayor shrugged off our non-answer answers before joining his wife at the bar.

  I turned to Jase at the same time he turned to me and pointed right at his face. “Don’t even think about trying to talk your way out of this, Callahan.”

  “I can explain, Bo. Really.”

  Of course he could. Jase was as charming as a man could get, but that wouldn’t work. Not this time. “Yeah, explain what, Jase? That you received some sort of job offer in Nebraska and didn’t bother to tell me about it? That pretty much explains it, doesn’t it?” I turned on my heels and made a beeline for the table where a few familiar faces sat.

  “Just let me explain,” he whispered through clenched teeth, which was the only way any type of private conversation could be had at such large tables.

  Instead of quieting him, I ignored Jase, instead focusing on the intrusive questions posed by girlfriends and wives of the local firefighters. “I haven’t seen asparagus that fat since I was a girl.”

  The woman grinned. “I was thinking the same exact thing!”

  “Bo.” Jase’s deep voice was right in my ear though I felt the heat of him before his voice intruded on my thoughts.

  “Not. Now.” Not ever if I had my way about it.

  “Dammit,” he groaned and leaned back in his chair with a thud. Jase stewed but he stayed by my side throughout cocktail hour, attempting to get a word in whenever there was a lull in conversation.

  Thankfully the event organizer was on a schedule and the awards were up before dinner and Jase was nominated, a fact I’d only learned about from one of the women at the table. “So much for talking about things, right?”

  He leaned forward and glared. “It’s hard to have a conversation when you get shut down every time.”

  “Maybe because the time for conversation was before this new information came to light. Not after.”

  He grabbed the underside of my chair and turned it so we were face to face. “I should have-,”

  “The medal for bravery this year goes to Tulip’s own Jase Callahan!”

  It was wrong of me to feel relieved but that’s how I felt when he stood, leaving me with a dark but promising look, before taking off for the stage. But as he stood up there with a grateful smile on his face, all I felt was love. Affection. Pride.

  This was a big moment for Jase, being recognized for the hard work and dedication he put forth every day. I was so proud of him as he thanked the town for believing in him even when he was a screwup kid, as he laughed and joked with the audience. He’d earned this moment.

  Just like he earned that job offer, another voice whispered in my ear and I knew he deserved better. More. He deserved a chance to be the best firefighter he could possibly be, to teach other firefighters. To lead them. To teach them.

  When he was done accepting his award, I was the first on my feet, clapping and whistling the loudest because I was prouder of him than anyone. I loved him more than I’d ever loved another person, and I had to let him go.

  So I did. While he was accepting congratulations, I slipped out of the ballroom and made my way home.

  Jase

  “I wouldn’t be half the man, heck half the firefighter I am without the help of men like Captain Montgomery who helped teach a hothead like me everything he knew.�
� This speech and this award meant the world to me. it meant that the powers that be recognized my hard work and appreciated what this job meant to me. But what really mattered to me in that moment was the gorgeous woman in red, smiling up at me like I was absolute perfection.

  Bo. She was a stunning vision in red silk and I couldn’t stop staring at her. Especially when she stared up at me the way she was now, as I gave my speech, blue eyes filled with adoration. It was the kind of look that men would start wars to see again, they would spend a fortune just to see that look on a woman’s face again. “Thank you all and to my brothers and sisters out there, this is for us all.”

  I still couldn’t believe Rafe had nominated me for the medal of bravery. It wasn’t an honor given out lightly and it was one I would cherish for the rest of my life because it meant my hard word was being noticed. Warmth suffused me as the audience got to their feet, clapping and whistling. For me.

  But my eyes were glued to Bo with her wide smile and pride shining in her eyes, like I’d done something worthy of that look. I didn’t and I wasn’t sure any man was ever truly worthy of that look, but I now understood that urge to earn it. Every. Damn. Day. The fact that she could wear that look, so openly, meant she knew how great we could be together.

  “Rafe, you sly dog. Why didn’t you tell me?” This man had proven himself to be more than just a friend and more than a boss. He was a mentor. A good man.

  Rafe shrugged, a small hint of a smile peeking through his stoic expression. “You earned it, man. Every man you pull out of a fire means I did my job right.”

  “So what you’re saying is that my award is all about you?”

  Rafe stroked his chin with a mischievous smile. “Pretty much, yeah. Good job, Callahan.” He shook my hand and pulled me in for a half-hug, half-handshake kind of thing.

  I accepted his words even as my gaze danced right past his and in search of the woman in the red dress. But I couldn’t see her, the crowd was too thick and now that the other award recipients had finished their speeches, walking through the ballroom wasn’t easy.

  Ry and his mother, and his soon to be stepson Mikey, all stopped to wish me well. “I brought you some champagne since you’re a fancy medal winner now,” Ry said, giving me a hard time just because he could.

  “Yeah, thanks. Ladies love men confident enough to drink champagne in public.”

  His dark brows shot up in the air. “Even Bo?”

  “Sure, her too.” Where in the hell was she, anyway? That red dress seemed to have disappeared, dammit.

  I pushed my way through nearly two dozen well wishers, in search of my date. My friend. The woman who was fighting a losing battle against me. “She left.” Damn her, she left me before I could get my hands on her in that sexy red dress that hugged her hips, her tits and her ass, those tiny straps that looked like they might snap at any moment, and the sway of her hips in those sky high heels that I hoped I got a chance to see later.

  As soon as the time was right, I said goodbye to all the right people, thanked the mayor and his wife and found my way to Bo’s remote hideaway. She could run with the best of’em, but there was no way in hell I was letting Bo run from me. Not again.

  “Open up, Bo!” I knocked on the door with my fist, pounding hard because I wanted her to feel as unsettled as I felt.

  A few moments later the door was yanked open and Bo was, blessedly, still wearing that damn red dress only she’d traded in the stilettos for a pair of fuzzy slippers and a beer dangled between two fingers. “Where’s the fire?”

  “Very funny. You gonna invite me in?” I stepped up, waiting for her to take a step back to let me inside.

  “I don’t know, you seem like you’re spoiling for a fight. Are you looking for a fight, Jase?”

  “Not a fight, just a talk Bo.”

  She sighed, disappointed but resigned. “Fine. Come on in and let’s get this over with.”

  I snorted a laugh at her fatalistic words. “Just what every man longs to hear,” I told her sarcastically. “You left.”

  She shrugged. “I fulfilled my obligation to be your date, didn’t I?” Arms folded, she had no idea how great her tits looked when she did that, or maybe she did and this was my punishment for being a jerk. “Congratulations, by the way. I’m very proud of you, Callahan.” Her sweet smile was genuine. Affectionate.

  “Thanks, but I don’t want to be your obligation, Bo.”

  She groaned and stepped back from me, instantly I missed her touch. “You know what I mean. You asked for three dates and that’s what you got.”

  “So that’s it, things are over between us?”

  She barked out a laugh and took a long swig from the brown bottle between her fingertips. “I think you made that decision when you started packing for Nebraska.”

  “I haven’t even given them an answer yet, Bo. Quit being so dramatic.”

  “Of course you’re taking the job, Jase. Don’t be stupid. This is what you’ve always wanted, to run your own firehouse and this is your chance. I only wish you’d told me sooner.” The way she wrapped her arms around herself, gutted me. I hated that I was now one of the people she felt she needed to protect herself from.

  “Would that have changed anything?”

  “Probably not,” she conceded. “But it would’ve been nice to not get blindsided by the news, at least once.”

  Of course she hated finding out like that, the same way she’d always gotten bad news. In the most jarring, public way possible. “Bo, I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. My issues are not your fault so don’t take them on, Jase.”

  “That’s what you do when you love someone, Bo.”

  She shook her head and ran shaky hands up and down her arms. “No, it’s what you convince yourself you have to do. Besides, you’re leaving so you have plenty of other things to concern yourself with.”

  “It’s okay to be scared, Bo.” She took scared to a whole new level but instead of being annoyed by it, I was amused. Intrigued by the lengths she’d go to deny the truth.

  “I’m not scared,” she insisted immediately. “It’s called being cautious.”

  “I’m scared too. You’re my best friend. If this doesn’t work out, will I lose you completely?” She wanted to say no, I could see the indignation written all over her pretty little stubborn face, but she couldn’t. Because Bo was many things, but she wasn’t a liar. “See? Even you’re not sure we could survive this, what does that tell you?”

  Bo sighed and held her ground, refusing to let me intimidate her with my size. “That we should have thought about this before jumping into bed together.”

  “No, smartass.” I smacked a kiss to that spot right behind her ear guaranteed to make her shiver. “That we risked our friendship because we knew there was something better on the other side.”

  She nodded, slowly as if she was about to agree but I wasn’t fooled. She wore the face she made when she was coming up with a better argument. “Maybe there might have been, Jase, I don’t know and neither do you and it doesn’t matter anymore because you’re going to Omaha.”

  “You want me to go?”

  “You know I don’t, but this is your shot Jase. How many months did I listen to you complain that if you’d come home sooner you’d be running the Tulip firehouse? At least ten million times,” she said with conviction. “Now you’ve got a chance to make that dream come true and you have to take it.”

  “What about us?”

  She shook her head. “We are, were a maybe. This job is guaranteed.”

  I heard the sadness in her voice and I knew I needed to make a decision and soon, or risk losing my best friend forever. “So that’s it?”

  She shrugged. “Every goodbye gets a little easier,” she said with the weight of someone twice her age. I hated that she was so used to be leaving, to saying goodbye that she expected it of everyone. Especially me.

  “So is that what this is, Bo. Goodbye?”

  She sighed and looked up a
t me until our gazes slammed together. “Not tonight. Maybe we’ll say goodbye in the morning.” A smile curled Bo’s lips as she leaned in until her lips were on mine, kissing me and reminding me of just how good she tasted, how intoxicating her scent was.

  The more she deepened the kiss, the drunker I became on her. We spent the rest of the night savoring each other, getting lost in one another. Tomorrow would be soon enough to get us sorted out.

  Bo

  I woke up with a delicious ache between my thighs, tightening my abs and arms, and a general ache that one gets when they spend all night and early into the next morning making love like it was the last time they would ever touch another human. Then again, maybe for me, that’s exactly what last night was about.

  Maybe I was just purging my love for Jase one final time before we said goodbye. I didn’t know and it was far too early in the morning to dissect or over-dissect the pathetic state of my love life. Right now I just stretched and let the ache permeate my muscles as memories flashed in my mind’s eye from last night.

  The way Jase loved me last night was enough to keep me running on memories for decades to come. He took his time, making slow passionate love to me while he stared me in the eyes, invading my body with an agonizing slowness that brought tears to my eyes. I could see it, the dark look in his eyes when he flipped me on my stomach and roughly smacked my ass, before pounding into me, hard and fast, like he had something to prove. Hell, maybe he did because at some point during the night, I forgot that it was supposed to be goodbye and I let myself forget that this was a relationship doomed from the start and I just reveled in our lovemaking. In Jase.

  In us.

  “Wow, I’d give up my entire savings to know what’s going on in that dirty little head of yours.” His deep, amused chuckle pulled me from my thoughts and I turned to him with a sleepy smile.

  “I was just thinking about last night and how incredible it was. You can have that much for free,” I told him and slipped from the bed, languishing in my naked state as I made my way to the master bathroom.