Page 8 of Jace
“No, Iwon’thurt a flea; it’d be a waste of my rage. But Iwillkill anyone who hurts you, Viv, so let me. Because for as long as I’ve known you, your husband has made your life hell.”
And Jace’s friendship has been my heaven.
Sometimes, you don’t know how bad things are until you see how good they could be.
I don’t need to be married to Jace, to kiss him, to even touch him, to know that every moment I spend with him is special. It’s how it’s supposed to be when you’re with a good man.
Even if that good man is just your friend.
Your friend, who happens to be the sexiest male specimen you’ve ever seen.
Christ on a cracker. Jace, finally touching me, feels like a gift, wrapped in a velvet bow. One that I want him to tie around my wrists, and bind over my head before he buries his beautiful face between my thighs and…
Stop it, Viv!
Focus on your hot mess of a life, not your hot friend.
“I’m fine,” I lie.
“You’re crying.” He grits out. “You’re always hiding your tears. And I’m not telling you to be ashamed of them, but when is it enough? When do you stop suffering and start saving yourself? And let me help you?”
“I don’t want you involved in my mess.”
“Too late.”
“Jace, it’smyproblem.”
“And I’m the solution. It’s what friends do.”
We both know we’ve become way more than that.
With the way Jace looks at me. With the way his smile sends wet tingles down my body to places dark and desperate. Withthe way I notice him adjusting his pants around me while his nostrils flare.
This tension between us is so erotic, I’m embarrassed. It’s so intense, I’m intimidated. It’s like, if we unleash this attraction, it would overwhelm us. We’d be lost in a wave of desire.
So why not dive into Jace? When God knows I’m wet and want to?
Technically, yes, I’m divorced.
But I’m not free to be with him.
I’ve confused the hell out of him this past year because when we met, I was separated and about to be divorced. Jace and I were almost free to explore this passion, this yearning, then inexplicably, I told him and everyone that I’d reconciled with my husband.
Not true.
My marriage was legally over, but so was my life.
Now, other than my work and my bestie girlfriend, Jace is the one good thing in my life—the dawn over my dark day.
I love making him smile.
Some days, I’ll surprise Jace with his favorite basil white chocolate macarons from the French bakery on Meeting Street. When I can find them, I’ll bring him an out-of-print photobook to peruse while he sits on his stool.
He tries to make me happy too.
Every day, he leaves a cup of hibiscus tea, sweetened with my favorite Tupelo honey, by the door of my studio. Every night I work late, he safely escorts me home.
Never touching. Always talking. Often laughing. Then he leaves me with a smile before it falls when I open the door to my house.
