Best friend's Baby Sister [END]

BFBS : 24

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Chapter 11
FREEN

"Yes." The word leaves my mouth before I have a chance to think about it. Rebecca doesn't say anything, doesn't react. Her lashes come together in a blink, and she looks at me, almost as if she's waiting for me to tell her I'm joking.

Then she smiles.

It's the most beautiful thing in the world. And right now, with her hands on my chest and my arms locked around her waist, I want to kiss her hard and tell her I'd take her on a thousand dates and it wouldn't be enough.

The moment is over as fast as it started, and I'm sure she's thinking the same thing I am. She lives in Chicago. I live in Indy. We're not worlds away, but a four-hour drive makes starting a relationship hard.

I don't know the next time I'll be able to get away from work long enough to come see her. It could be weeks before I'm able to drive back up north and take her on a second date.

My heart starts to ache, even though everything I want is right in front of me for the taking. Rebecca slides her hands down my torso and around my back. She rests her head on my chest and admires the skyline above us.

This is exactly what I've wanted, what I've wished for. And now that I had a taste, now that I know how fucking good it feels to finally let my feelings surface, it's going to hurt. I need to disengage.

"It's getting late."

"Yeah," she agrees, pulling away. Instantly, I miss her touch and the warmth of her skin. "We should head back. If you want to crash on the couch, you can. Do you have to be back at the convention thingy tomorrow?"

"There are a few more panels to sit in on, but I don't have to be there until nine. It's the last day and they'll be done around two."

"That was a short convention."

"It started earlier in the week, but I couldn't get off work."

She clasps her hands on her elbows, holding her arms in tightly against her body to stay warm. Not pulling her close goes against every fiber of my being, like I'm wired to do everything and anything to make her comfortable.

"Do you like being a surgeon?"

"I do. I better, right? I've put enough into it."

"Yeah. You'd have wasted a lot of time if not."

We go a few paces without talking, and I hate how much the dynamic changed between us. It's because of me, and Rebecca has to fucking know it. A gust of wind blows in off the lakefront. It's cold, chilling me and I'm in long sleeves and pants.

I can't help it. My arm wraps around her and the moment we connect, I relax.

"Do you want my shirt?"

"Then you'll be half-naked."

"I have an undershirt," I remind her. "I should have worn the suit jacket just so I could give it to you."

She tries not to smile. "That would have been very gentlemanly. Though you'd think I'd learn to dress for the weather. I have lived here for quite some time. When the wind blows over the lake, it's always cold."

Not wanting to make her walk in the cold, I hail a cab. There's not much traffic this time of night, and we get back to the loft quickly.

"You really can stay," she says again, taking off her shoes. I don't move out of the entryway. I shouldn't stay though I want to. "Or you can call an Uber to take you back to your hotel."

I pull my phone from my pocket and see that it's dead. Rebecca says she has an extra charger and that I shouldn't leave until my phone has some battery life in case I need to make an emergency call. She reminds me of her mother there, and it's more endearing than I thought it'd be. She goes into her room to get the charger.

I step out of my shoes and sit in the living room, looking around at the décor. The stark modernity of the space isn't something I'd guess she would have gone for, but the view is amazing and she's close to her office. She's done a good job making this large, white space look homey and feel cozy.

— TBC 🐻