Tattered Souls

Chapter 7: Do you like me?

Once the match ends Jason goes to the bathroom leaving us alone again.

As we sit in silence, I start to feel bad for yelling at her because even though she was being dramatic at the end, I know I really did make her upset by raising my voice.

I could have just given her her phone back rather than being childish about it but of course, I had to be a Dick about it.

I watch as she reaches over to take a sip from her glass and while shes not paying me any attention, I grab one of the teddy bears that she has laying around and sneak over to the side of her chair.

I squat beside it and raise the bear up so that only it is visible.

She glances at it over the rim of her glass and shakes her head, but I know she's trying to hold back a smile.

In the voice I would assume the bear would have I say, "Hey Paige, are you still mad at sam? She's really sorry for being a meanie."

She giggles and smiles at it pretending she doesn't see me right below it. "Tell Sam I'm not mad anymore but I expect a proper apology from her lips, not yours."

I smirk and sit up on my knees so I can lean on the arm of the chair and get really close to her face.

"Well my lips can do a lot of things, but I think you owe me an apology as well. You were hitting me kinda hard."

She Rolls her eyes at my attempt to flirt and goes back to her paperwork.

"You act like it hurt."

I give her a look and she sighs before closing her folder.

"I'm sorry..."she mumbles looking away from me so I can't hear her clearly.

I raise an eyebrow and cup my hand behind my ear. "What was that?"

She glares at me with a slight blush on her cheek.

"I said I'm sorry."

I smile and softly kiss her hand.

"I'm sorry too doll. I shouldn't have raised my voice at you. You still love me?"

I give her my puppy dog eyes and she laughs before shaking her head.

"Of course I do dummy. You just get on my nerves."

She pushes me off the arm of the chair onto my butt and we share a good laugh.

I lean back against the couch and she starts telling me about her day and how things have been going.

Even though we see each other everyday, we never seem to run out of things to talk about.

As we're talking, Jason finally comes out of the bathroom and says he has a phone call to make so we move to the couch to be more comfortable.

I sit in the corner of the couch and she sits beside me with her legs crossed so that she can face me.

You'd think that we were two teenagers about to share the latest gossip or something.

"So how are things with you and Jason? Did he pop the big question yet?"

She laughs a little but her gaze falls slightly.

"We're fine,just the same old same old."

I tilt my head at her reaction.

All of a sudden, it seems like the mood has shifted.

Her smile doesn't reach her eyes and I feel like I've entered a pretty touchy subject.

"Trouble I'm paradise?" I ask,scooting a little closer to her so she has my full attention.

She leans over and sighs laying her head on my shoulder as she thinks over a response.

Im getting a little concerned because she's always been open with me about everything so why is this topic making her so uncomfortable?

I wrap an arm around her and as I rub her back, she looks up at me and asks, "Sam, do you find me attractive?"

My face heats up and I look towards the ceiling trying not to make eye contact with her.

Did she figure out that I have a crush on her?

I don't want to ruin our friendship over it so I try to keep my composure in order to figure out what's going on, but I'm freaking out like SpongeBob did on that one episode where her had a bunch of mini spongebobs running around in his head freaking out.

"Wh-what? Where is th-this coming from?"

Im failing terribly at staying calm, but that caught me completely off guard.

She looks around to make sure Jason is still gone and scoots closer to me making me instantly scoot over a little more backing myself into the corner

She gives me a funny look and leans in to me placing a hand on my thigh to steady herself.

My heart is beating insanely fast because yes, we're touchy with each other as most best friends are, but the context of this conversation is making things feel different.

I am hyper aware of everything about her and it's driving me crazy.

Her smell is captivating and the warmth of her body so close to mine feels pretty intense.

As she whispers in my ear I feel a slight shiver go down my spine. "I don't think Jason is attracted to me anymore."

I scrunch up my face and look down at her confused. "Huh?"

She nods her head and I am dumbfounded.

How could he not be attracted to her?

She is drop dead gorgeous.

Even though we get on each others nerves, she's an amazing woman, insanely beautiful, and has a great personality.

What could he possibly not be attracted to?

She raises her head and looks at me with a tear in her eye.

"I don't know what I did wrong. He doesn't touch me the same or spend as much time with me. Even the sex is different. I don't know if I did something wrong or if I'm doing to much, I just don't know."

I gently shush her as I rub my hands up and down her arms. "Calm down doll.You're shaking."

She chokes up a little and smiles at me as I gently brush her tears away.

"You know I hate that stupid nickname." She sniffles, laying her head on my shoulder.

I chuckle a little before kissing the top of her head.

"I know, but it makes you smile."

She rolls her eyes and sits up, trying to get herself together.

"Gosh I'm such a wimp. I don't even know why I'm crying."

I hate seeing her like this.

I know I need to help her figure this out but the topic at hand is making me a bit uncomfortable.

I'm not dumb. I know they have sex.

I have sex all of the time.

They've also been together for 4 years, but I don't particularly enjoy thinking or talking about it.

Not only because of my feelings but they're also my friends and the thought of them being intimate makes me want to hurl.

Seeing her like this breaks my heart though. I have to find some way to help.