Page 129 of Before We're More Than Friends
Raina nodded. “It went well. I had a lot of realizations about my family. About love.” She squeezed my hand again. “It made me realize I want to forgive. To accept the love others give me.” She stopped walking, arriving at another bench. Her eyes pierced through me as she looked into mine. “I want to accept your love. If you let me.”
“I-I . . .” The blood rushed in my ears, my knees knocking together. Had I been sucked into some type of fever dream? Was she pulling an April Fools’ prank on me three weeks early? “I . . .”
“I love you, Dallas Alexander Friar,” Raina whispered in my ear, her voice making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. “You’re the sunshine to my moonlight. You rise when I fall and bring the world to light.”
I was going to die. I was about to go into cardiac arrest and die in a dog park.
And I was over the moon about it.
“I-I love you too,” I said, my heart seconds away from jumping out of my chest. “I love you so much, it makes me lose my mind whenever I see you smile.” I twisted the friendship bracelet on her wrist. “But we can’t be friends like this.”
Her face fell. “We can’t?”
“Not when I want to be so much more.” I kissed her hand, the warmth of her skin greeting my lips. “Not when I’ve been waiting for your love for so long.”
A grin spread across her lips. “Then let’s stop being friends and start being what we really want to be.” She closed her eyes and pressed her lips against mine, sending another shock down my spine.
My mouth followed hers as they danced together in the moonlight, her lip gloss tasting like a mix of strawberry and vanilla. The heavenly scent of her lavender perfume filled my senses. I cupped her chin with my free hand as she moved closer. I craved more of her taste. More of her.
I tried to hold on to Houston’s leash, but the electricity zapping through my body made me weak. It felt like I could collapse as our lips continued to dance to a song I’d never heard before.
Nothing about this could be real.
But it was. It was all real.
And it was all mine.
Raina pulled away from me with a huge smile. Some of her lip gloss was smudged, probably now on my mouth, but she looked as stunning as ever as the breeze blew through her hair.
This girl was freaking everything to me.
“I think we should have the dogs actually enjoy the dog park,” she said, nodding over to the dog play area. “Then we can finish what we started.”
“Good idea.” I loved the sound of that way too much. But I didn’t have to hide that anymore. I didn’t have to hide my feelings and make myself feel stupid about them. For my entire friendship with Raina, I’d never thought I’d have a shot with someone as raw as her.
But things could definitely change. For the better.
Raina and I brought the dogs over to the play area and closed the gate. Houston barked at me, then at Penrose, and they continued their growling fit.
“Come on, guys,” I said. “You can get along.”
Penrose looked at me and growled as if I were ruining her evening.
I glanced at Raina, who was still smiling. “I don’t think she likes me.”
“She does,” Raina said, waving a hand. “She shows her love through aggression and trying to suffocate you in your sleep.”
“I’m still not convinced.” I blew the dogs a kiss and wrapped an arm around Raina, happy I could finally hold her like this. “So where did we leave off?”
CHAPTER 32
Raina
As soon as Dallas closed the doggy gate to let our dogs play—or growl at each other—he pressed his lips against mine again, his hands around my waist.
I let out a deep gasp, surprised at how good he was at this, like he’d been waiting forever for this moment. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders as I deepened the kiss, his lips warm and welcoming. Had he put on ChapStick earlier, or were his lips naturally this soft?
His firm chest pressed against mine, his heart pounding so hard that I thought it would escape his chest any second. I slipped my hand over it, allowing it to pulsate against my palm. I grinned against his soft mouth and whispered, “You’re enjoying this.”
