Page 4 of Fine, Dork

“Hey!” I held up my hands, getting ready to defend myself. I did date a professor for two months. He wasn’t my professor, so it was fine. “Two things, dumbasses: Don’t call me Kinky Kinley. I fucking hate that. And second, there is nothing wrong with being attracted to intelligent males. I need my mind stimulated, too, not just my body.”

Beckett laughed out loud, and Lyla snorted.

Jaxon’s next words shocked me. “You know what they say about dudes with big brains…”

I gaped at my best friend, and he gave me an exaggerated wink.

My heart started racing. J and I jokingly flirted all the time. We’d explicitly described different sexual experiences to each other before, too. Why was this little innuendo causing me to have this physical reaction?

Because I was finding myself wildly attracted to my best friend. It wasn’t the first time I’d wondered about me and J, but the attraction I felt for him was definitely at an all-time high. It was because I’d missed him this last year. That was all. I was simply happy to see him.

???

A few hours later, I stood at the top of the stairs in my parents’ beach house and watched Jaxon trying to awkwardly curl up on the sofa to sleep. There was no way that all six feet and two inches of him were going to fit comfortably. I burst out laughing. “Come on, J. I have a queen in my room. I swear I’ll wear clothes, and I won’t touch you.”

Jaxon narrowed his eyes at me. I rolled mine at him. “We can put a fucking pillow wall between us! I swear it won’t be like that time in high school when I was drunk!”

Jaxon’s face changed, and I couldn’t place the look he wore. Shock? Confusion? Maybe hurt? His voice was quiet when he spoke. “You remember that? I thought you were too drunk.”

I bit my lip and looked down at my feet. I remembered the first and only time I kissed Jaxon. I remembered it vividly.

“K?” Jaxon pulled me from my thoughts. “You remember that?”

I flashed him a grin and winked. “I was drunk, so it’s hazy, but I remember those big pouty lips, J.” I put my hands on my hips. “But don’t worry. I’ll resist those soft lips tonight. Come sleep with me, dork.”

Jaxon rolled his eyes but grabbed his bags and headed up the stairs to join me. He followed me into my bedroom and closed the door behind him.

My heart raced, and I tried to ignore it. I unbuttoned my jeans and started to slide them down but paused when I saw Jaxon staring at me with wide eyes. “Sorry.” I laughed and pulled my jeans back up. “I’ll go change in the bathroom.” I’d changed in front of Jaxon hundreds of times and hadn’t even thought twice about it. He was my sweet J. He’d never been a creep about my body, and I was one hundred percent comfortable in front of him. Things between us got weird when he started dating Savannah, though.

When I came back out in my pajamas, Jaxon was already in bed. I slid under the covers next to him and flipped off the lamp. I could feel his warmth beside me, and something that felt a lot like electricity crackled between us. “Night, J.”

“Night, K.”

Sleep was going to be a challenge with Jaxon next to me all night. I’d started suffering from a new burning attraction the second I spotted him in the airport. I should not have invited him to sleep in my bed.

3

Kinley

“Oh my god, K. Stop kicking your legs!” Jaxon’s voice sounded muffled. I knew he was sleeping on his stomach without having to look at him. J always slept facedown, usually on top of a book.

I laughed. “Sorry. I’m uncomfortable.” I turned off the lamp hours ago, but as predicted, I couldn’t fucking sleep. I was all charged up with sexual tension.

“Because of me? I can go back to the couch.” Jaxon started to slide out of bed.

“No!” I grabbed his arm, and my fingers tingled when I touched his skin. Weird. Super weird. Jaxon was making me feel tingly everywhere. “It’s just like, hot in here or something.”

“I saw a little fan in the hall closet. I’ll go grab it for you.”

“No, no. I’m fine, J.” I didn’t want him to leave. “I’ll stop flopping around, I promise.”

Jaxon laughed. “No, you won’t. You’re a wild sleeper.”

I laughed, too. “I haven’t sleepwalked since fourth grade, thank you very much.”

Jaxon rolled over onto his stomach again. “Way to be, K.”

Quiet resumed, but it was one of those excruciating silences that made me squirm. I wanted to know if Jaxon ever thought of me as more than a friend. I wanted to ask him, but I didn’t want to screw everything up.

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