Page 49 of Best Friends, Tennessee

“You just kissed me.”

“I know.”

“You just fuckingkissedme.”

He shrugged a shoulder. “You looked like you needed it.”

I swallowed. “You really are too nice to me.”

“I know that, too.”

We both let out a small laugh, the real world coming back a little bit.

“Thank you,” I said softly. “For… that. And for saving my life, or whatever.”

“Saving yourlife?Quit being dramatic. Just helping make that prick get out of your face. But you know how to save your own ass, Ori.”

I glanced over toward the bar doors, then back at Finn. “Tell me the truth about something.”

“Anything.”

“Did… did you just want to kiss me because Thomas said we were on a date?”

Finn looked off toward the other side of the patio, breaking eye contact with me. “Oh, come on,” he protested.

“Did you get possessive, Finn?” I asked him, in a slightly teasing tone. “You want to make sure youclaimme before he comes back outside? Big ol’ cowboy ego, much?”

I’d been mostly joking, but the look on Finn’s face was serious.

Suddenly it was as if there were miles and miles between us again—but this time, something about it was different. What the hell was going on in his mind? Why did his eyes look wild when I mentioned Thomas?

I had a thousand questions.

But the patio doors opened a moment later and Thomas came out, smiling at us. “I’ve got you aplatterof good stuff,” he said. He was carrying a tray of water glasses, ibuprofen pills, and sliced apples and oranges. “The cure to any fucked-up bar fight, am I right?”

8

FINN

Keep your friends close, and your tongue inside your childhood best friend’s mouth.

…That’s not the saying. Definitely not the saying.

I looked over my Google search history on my phone, my body getting hotter with embarrassment as I read back each line.

How can you tell if you like a guy?

How can you tell if you’re gay?

How can you tell if you’re straight, but want one guy?

Is asking to have sex with your best friend a really bad idea?

And the last one, which turned out to have a real gold mine of information:dick sucking tips.

I stared at the screen, feeling like I was a teenager who had just hit puberty instead of a 24-year-old man. I may as well have started searching forhow to act normal again, because this week, it didn’t feel possible.

I glanced at the time and jumped up off the couch.

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