Cigarettes [Bennoda] ✔

Chapter 85

Thank you for 40k reads :')

Chester's POV
Things were going good, really good, in our lives. Living with Ryan was fun and everyday was great. He helped with the rent and other bills, and he stepped up and helped with Max when it was my week with her.

Mike had started dating again about five months after we had split. Before that, he told me it was just one night stands. He had started dating this girl named Jada. No, not Jada Smith, he wishes. Anyway, she was this beautiful black woman with the prettiest honey brown eyes and curly hair. She was tall, a few inches shorter than Mike though, and was thin, but you could tell she spent a lot of time at the gym. The way Mike talked about her, I knew I'd be seeing more of her. He seemed so happy with her and I was happy for him.

Max absolutely adored her and that also made me happy. She hadn't ever had a mother figure around, and she was okay you know, but it was nice to know she had that now. Max was always talking about her. "JJ this" and "JJ that". It was cute.

I was trying to get back into dating as well, but I think at first I was putting the way I felt when I was a teen with Mike on this pedestal, and if the guy didn't make me feel like that, I didn't call him again. I had to learn to just forget about how I felt with Mike.

I wanted someone who treated me like Ryan treated me. Turns out, I didn't have too look far to find find that. All it took was the classic drunken kiss to make me realize what I wanted was right in front of me this whole time.

-

"I need someone like you, Ry." I said as I put an arm around him and rested my head on his chest, my free hand was holding a beer bottle at my side. He put his arms around me and held me close to him. We were standing in the open area between the kitchen and the living room, and we had just gotten a little deep talking while we had been drinking.

"Well... I'm right here. Why do you need someone like me when the real thing is right here?" He said with a laugh. "You're my best friend. That's weird." I said. He shrugged. "Is it though?" He asked. I looked up at him and he swallowed. "You're drunk, Ryan Christopher. Time for bed." I said as I pulled away. He just pulled me back to him. He eyed me for a while before leaning in and pressing his lips against mine.

I let it happen. I let my best friend since second grade, who I had never really thought of that way, kiss me. He put a hand at the nape of my neck and deepened the kiss. My heart was beating out of control and my stomach was aching with butterflies. I walked him forward, sat my beer on the couch side table and wrapped my hands around his neck. His free hand trailed to my bare side and he pulled me even closer to his body.

After a while we pulled away and he rested his forehead to mine. He stroked the hair at my nape slowly as we caught out breath. I felt like a nervous teen all over again. I didn't wanna open my eyes just yet in fear of me waking up and this being a dream, so I leaned in and kissed him again. He was so gentle and sweet with me. Every hand movement was done with so much care. I always thought he'd be rough with his partners, but no. He was being even more gentle than Mike had ever been with me.

He pulled away again after a while and looked at me. I looked back at him and tried to read what he was thinking.

"Is this... do you think this is wrong?" I asked quietly. He furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. "No... no I don't think so. We've been best friends for so long and I've never thought of you this way until just recently, but... I don't think this is wrong. Neither of us are in relationships, we... we need this, and... and this feels okay. This feels right." He said. I nodded. "Yeah... yeah it does feel right." I said. I smiled a little and he smiled back.

"So... how about tomorrow I take you out? Dinner and a movie? Dinner and a walk on the beach? What sounds good to you?" He asked. I smiled again. "How about dinner and the beach." I said. "Okay, that's perfect. Six o'clock?" He asked. "Six is perfect." I said with a nod.