Page 1 of Fine, Dork

1

Jaxon

Sometimes, I successfully convinced myself that I loved my best friend in a platonic way, the same way she loved me. Those were the easiest, safest times. But, over the years, I’d also harbored varying degrees of crushes on her, ranging from mild and fleeting to consuming and soul-crushing.

There were exactly three moments when I would have called it love love, but the last time was years ago. It was so far in the past that I hardly remembered it.

Lies.

We were adults now. I lived my life, and she lived hers, and these respective lives of ours often took us in opposite directions. I hadn’t even seen the woman in close to a year. I could keep my feelings in check, even though I was about to spend two whole weeks with her in paradise.

Funny.

As she sprinted toward me in the crowded Kona, Hawaii airport, I realized that I was royally fucked. The smile that lit up her entire face when she spotted me made my heart race. The way she screamed, “J!” and tackled me, throwing both her arms and legs around me, had me smiling like an idiot.

“Hey, K.” I grinned and wrapped my arms around my best friend while she covered my face in kisses. Her body felt incredible, and she still smelled like sweet apple candy. That made my stupid smile even bigger.

Back when we were college freshmen, Bath and Body Works discontinued Kinley’s favorite apple-scented lotion. She was heartbroken, so I drove around to five different stores and bought every last bottle I could find. K was my best friend, and she deserved sixteen bottles of her favorite lotion. Incidentally, that was also one of the three times that I was crazy in love with her.

“I’m so happy you came!” Kinley laughed out loud and slid down my body to a standing position. She reached down, picked up my backpack, and flung it over her shoulder.

“Give me that. You’re not carrying my shit.” I rolled my eyes and reached for my backpack.

Kinley backed away, rolling her big brown eyes right back at me. “I am carrying your shit, J. I am. I’ve been working out.” She flexed her arms and winked at me.

Kinley’s sun-kissed arms did have a decent amount of muscle definition. “Whoa, K. Put those guns away before you hurt someone.” I laughed and draped my arm around her shoulders while we walked to the tram.

Shit, it was good to see her. Kinley traveled a lot for her job, so it was hard to align our schedules. Also, my girlfriend had a major problem with Kinley. Sorry, ex-girlfriend. Sometimes I still forgot that Savannah dumped me on Wednesday.

Kinley had invited me to come and stay at her parents’ new beach house in Hawaii over six months ago. “J!” she’d said, “It’s going to be incredible! Preston, Beckett, and Lyla are already in! You have to come!”

“Uh… I don’t know, K.”

“Bring your girlfriend!”

Savannah said, “Hell, no!” then spent the next week pissed at me for even saying Kinley’s name. But we were broken up, now, and Hawaiian paradise sounded like exactly what I needed, so I hopped on a plane.

The breakup was calm and logical, like Savannah and me, but it left my head spinning with confusion. I thought Savannah was my type. I thought I was doing everything by the book, you know, being a good boyfriend, but she dumped me anyway. Maybe I’d never have a damn clue what women wanted.

While we waited for the next tram to show up, Kinley stared at me with a big cheesy grin. I then noticed that the light spray of freckles on her nose was darkened by the sun, and her light brown hair was streaked with caramel. She looked beautiful.

“I’m so fucking happy that you came, J.” She punched my arm and then resumed staring. “I swear you’re taller. Did you get taller?”

I laughed and gave her a light shove. “Last time I checked, humans don’t keep growing into their mid-twenties.”

Kinley laughed, too. “Shut up. I know you didn’t really grow. You look different, though. Maybe it’s the scruff.” She ran her hands over my chin and jaw. “It looks damn good, J!”

“Thank you. Pretty manly?” I loved and hated it when she complimented me. It gave me this stupid fluttering feeling in my chest.

“Crazy manly.” Kinley’s smile melted away, and she leaned her head on my shoulder. “I haven’t seen you for so long, and I hate it.” She sighed. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this, you know? We were supposed to build our dream houses on the same street and stay best friends forever.”

That was the promise we made to each other when we were ten. It was before I realized I would want to sleep with her, and she would never reciprocate those feelings. “Don’t blame me. You’re the one that decided to become a famous photographer and world traveler.”

Kinley smirked. “I’m not famous. But you’re right. I’m not around very often.” Then she turned to look at me, shielding her eyes from the hot afternoon sun with one hand. “How are you, Jaxon? Like, really? We haven’t talked much since Savannah forbade our friendship. How are you honestly doing with the breakup?”

I sighed as the tram approached. “I feel like that’s a conversation best had over like twenty beers.”

“Aw, J, I’m sorry.” Kinley looped her arm through mine. “She’s crazy, do you know that?” Kinley grinned at me as we boarded the tram. “Want me to kick her ass?”

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