Dear Augustus | I Never Let Go ✓

09 | Not A Mistake

The fallout is inevitable. When you want something so badly that you surpass all logic or mental warnings, it's doomed to get snatched away from you the moment you become defenseless.

Ever since our cuddle has gone out of line, Adrian has been avoiding me. Maybe we both are avoiding each other. He left Sunday morning before I woke up, leaving freshly brewed coffee and pancakes on the kitchen island. He stuck a sticky note on the fridge with a smiley.

Take your meds on time. I have kept blueberry ice cream in the freezer. Eat it after your fever comes down. :)

There was no mention of the night before, which was good, but it still stung to know he ignored it as nothing happened. He didn't forget it, though. Not when I changed direction every time we crossed paths. Not when the entire soccer team came to the Brew Story, and he chose a far-end corner, away from the counter where our eyes could meet. He didn't even come to place his order. Of course, that would mean coming face to face with me, with the mistake for which we both are equally guilty.

As the week passes, I realize how badly we have fucked up. How can we work through this if we can't even look each other in the eyes? Somehow, it's worse this time. It wasn't just a brush of lips, but we were about to cross some lines. Above all, it's the first time I have experienced something this wild.

I might be immature and inexperienced, but I'm not clueless, not in my twenties. I do have some idea of why Adrian's mere presence around me ignites an inextinguishable fire within me. No part of him touches me, but he doesn't have to. His green possessive eyes are enough to drive my pulse crazy, and God forbid he touches, my insides thrum with mindless anticipation. But we are still best friends. Friends don't feel this way for each other. It is so wrong, and I'm not sure how to make it right.

I bite my lips to pull myself out of my reverie and move back to cleaning the counter, using a towel to wipe up coffee spills.

"You fight with him again?" Andrea asks, helping me clean up the counter before heading over to flip the sign on the door.

I pull off my work apron, placing it back on the rack, and turn to pin my co-worker with a what are you talking about look. Andrea has a lazy smile across her pink-tinted lips as she shakes her head and continues to arrange the disarrayed chairs. She's a year junior, but we've bonded well over our shifts in the café. Andrea has a rare superpower to know what's going on in people's minds. Crazy as it sounds, she's correct most of the time.

"You know I don't possess the same mind-reading talent as you," I rolled my eyes, continuing to arrange the counter.

"Adrian," she leans against the doorframe of the back room. "You guys are dodging each other. And taking subtle glances when the other one isn't watching. To top it off, you are missing that signature smile of yours."

I snort, swinging the towel over my shoulder and turning around. "Sorry for having a bad day. And no, it has nothing to do with Adri."

"Yeah, you can keep saying that, but I know the look."

I lift my brows in question then shake my head. "Can you stop invading everyone's thoughts for once? It's not cute anymore. You're creeping me out."

She smiled, knotting her black curls into a high bun. "So, are you going to tell me now what's going on between you and your sexy ass best friend?"

I take a deep sigh, looking at her with a knowing look. I can't stop the way my lips lift as I think about Adrian's brown messy hair and how they feel soft under my fingertips. My fingers still remember the feel of his fingers and how well they lace together. His ocean eyes, I miss looking deep into them. God! I need to sort our distance.