Page 30 of Shared By my Ex's Best Friends
“Hey there,” he says, eyes glinting in the firelight. “Finally get a moment alone with you. Score!”
I snort, turning to give him a sideways look. “Oh? You going to swoop in and sweep me off my feet now?”
He laughs, that low, easy sound that always makes my chest loosen a little. “Why not? I’m charming as hell and you know it. Plus, I have a PhD in sarcasm. Very sexy.”
That makes me laugh—a real laugh, deep and raw, the kind that shakes loose the heaviness and aches from days of pretending.
“Seriously,” he grins, “You should see your face right now. It’s the most at ease I’ve seen you in days.”
I shove him playfully. “You haven’t been looking at me that much to know that.”
He leans back, stretching out comfortably next to me. “I absolutely have. It’s research. I’m learning about you.”
I glance at him, feeling the warmth of the fire and the unexpected comfort of his presence. Then, without warning, he leans in.
His grin fades, just a little, and there’s something else behind his eyes now—something real and hungry. His hand comes up slowly, like he’s giving me time to move, to stop this.
But I don’t.
His thumb brushes below my ear, sending a sharp pulse of heat down my spine. My breath catches. I can feel the shift before it happens—the pause, the possibility, the pull.
His lips find mine, and the kiss is slow. Warmth spreads through me, and I melt into it before my brain can catch up.
When it ends, the silence that falls between us feels both too long and unbearably short.
I want more. God help me, even as his lips pull away, I want more. The warmth, the pull…the feel of his hands on me.
The guilt hits immediately, sharp and cold.
Because I think of Ethan. Of Liam. Of the way each of them sees me, knows me, wants me.
I didn’t plan for this. I didn’t want this.
But now… I’m in it. Too deep.
We linger there a moment longer before the others call us back. When we rejoin them, I settle back into my seat, trying to act like my heart isn’t cracking open in a dozen directions.
I catch their gazes as I slip back into the circle—Liam, steady and protective. Ethan, cool on the surface but burning beneath, watching me with that unreadable intensity. Jake, confident, but his eyes are fixed on me like he knows exactly what I’m thinking, exactly what I’m feeling.
Even if I don’t know exactly what I’m feeling, I know this: Something’s shifting. I came here tonight for escape, not clarity. But now? I feel raw. Unsteady. Seen in too many ways at once.
And I don’t know who I am when I’m not the one in control.
Chapter twelve
ETHAN
Idrive slower than usual.
The city’s thinned out, all neon glows and empty intersections. The occasional car hums past, but mostly it’s quiet. The kind of quiet that presses in around you, makes everything feel more fragile. Like if I exhale too hard, the night might splinter.
Maya’s quiet too, curled against the passenger door, her head resting lightly on the window. Her eyes are half-lidded, lashes catching the low streetlights. She looks soft. Not in the delicate sense but in that way people do when they’ve finally let go of something heavy, even if just for a little while.
The rooftop bar was good for her. Good for all of us, maybe, but especially her. She needed the air. The laughter. The escape.
And—selfishly—I needed to see her like that. Not unraveling or stretching herself thin for everyone else. She’s just… Maya.
“You okay?” I ask quietly.
