I walked up behind her, my hand grasping the back of her neck gently. She gasped as she turned, her eyes narrowing. "Justin…" she breathed, letting a short sigh of relief escape her full lips. She smoothed back her dark locks and crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes meeting with mine in a questioning gaze. "What are you doing here?"

I shrugged as if I didn’t know, handing her the bouquet of roses I held in my hand. In reality, I had come because she was driving me insane. I more than just craved her, each thought I had about her plaguing me incessantly as I struggled to think of something else. I couldn’t sleep. I had no appetite. And although it had only been two days, I missed her terribly.

She lifted the bouquet to her nose, closing her eyes as she inhaled the sweet fragrance of the ivory colored roses, her slender fingers wrapping around the chiffon bow at their base. She smiled a thin half smile and then wrapped her arms around my neck. "Thank you, Jus. They’re beautiful," she whispered as she pulled away. My eyes met hers with a loving gaze as I nodded in response. She blushed and looked away, clearing her throat and turning from me.

"Good. I’m glad that you like them," I responded as she placed them into a glass vase, filling it with water from the small wet bar at the far end of her office. "I was wondering if you had time to do some lunch with me…"

She glanced over at me and nodded as she hummed softly, preoccupied with her new roses. "Sure, let me just finish with these and then we can go," she replied, her voice hushed. I could tell she was scared by the way she eyed me, unsure of what I was going to do and unsure of how she was going to react.

"You ready?" she asked softly as I nodded in response, my fingers instinctively reaching for hers. My heart raced through the seconds until they were entwined, her head resting on my shoulder as we rode the elevator down.

"I thought we’d eat in my suite. There’s a balcony with beautiful flowers and patio set. The weather is not too bad so if you’re game…"

"Sounds perfect," she agreed. The weather was mild for New York in November. The meteorologists attributed the weather to a warm front off the coast of Florida that had wafted upwards to New York, which resulted in unusually warm days, the temperatures frequenting the low sixties, rarely a cloud in the sky.

We arrived at my hotel quickly as it was situated less than four blocks away from her office. I had chosen this hotel with that very thought in my mind. Closeness to her. We took a seat outside and sat in silence as we waited for the restaurant downstairs to bring up our food.

"So I assume you want to talk about us…" she whispered as her eyes traced over the skyline that she loved so much. She didn’t look at me, her lips parted as her glance turned to the various people buzzing over the aidewalks and the cars that slid by on the city streets.

"Yeah. Riley, it’s been two days and I am already sick of this shit," I replied thickly, shaking my head, already heated as my mind began to go through the scenario in which we had become entangled. I hadn’t intended to come out fighting, but it seemed as though I let my mouth get the best of me. So why stop then? "I feel like I’m getting played. You act one way and then you say another. I know you don’t love JC. You told me. Look who you’re talking to, baby. It’s me. I know you better than you know yourself. And I know that you need this as much as I do."

She was looking at me now, her dark eyes shooting me a painful glare. She was silent after my words, her top teeth gnawing on her damp bottom lip, her elbows resting on her knee, her head in her hands. "Justin, I refuse to let you do this to me," she whispered, shaking her head. "I love JC. I honestly do. And you have to respect my decision." Her voice was dark and angry, a vicious fire burning inside of her as she delivered her words. "He’s your best friend, Justin. Your best friend. Don’t you feel guilty about this? Can you look him in the eyes and tell him that you are loyal to him? Like he is to you? I can’t do this to him. He needs me and I need him. He’s a part of me."

"Don’t lie, Riley," I almost screamed, "You don’t need him. You haven’t needed him in a year. Let’s just face it. You don’t have the balls to try something new. You’re fucking scared. And I’ll admit it, I am too. But Riley, I want this…I need this just like you do. I crave it. You don’t look at him the same anymore, do you?" I asked as I licked my lips, my eyes staring deep into her rich chocolate orbs. She was scared– terrified to be exact– and confused. And this fueled me. Because I needed to know there was some validity in my words, that she felt what I felt. "When you guys sleep together, you don’t feel him anymore," I whispered huskily. "You don’t think of his touches as something to savor or even want to remember them after you’re finished. Do you think about me when you’re together? Because I think about you constantly, Riley. My body craves you–"

"Justin! Stop it!" she exclaimed, looking away, her cheeks flushed. She had tears in her eyes now, her breathing had become rapid. I smiled inwardly at the rise I had gotten out of her. "How can you say this about your best friend? How can you say this about someone say you love? This is all your fault," she cried as she shook her head. "Before two days ago, I was fine. Completely happy to go about my life and be with JC. I knew that he was someone who loved me, who wanted to take care of me…I’ve never had that before. And I care for him, Justin. And he’s been so good to me…

"He’s been good to you, Riley?" I cried as I listened to her ramble on about a life that had never existed. She looked at me as if she believed all her previous words, shocked that I would question her perfect JC. "Explain that to me, please. He cheated on you after your mom passed away, Ry! Do you just block this from your mind? Why did the chemistry die? Is it because he slept with someone else? Because he was with her for a whole fucking month while you wasted away in bed, too upset to get up?" I was screaming now, my blood boiling, my hands balled into tight fists. I could hardly breathe. "I was there, Riley. I laid with you. I held you. I loved you still. And he didn’t. I was the one who loved you. Don’t preach to me about being loyal, Ry. I’ve been loyal for nine years. My loyalty has always lied with you!"

"Justin, I can’t do this…" she whispered as she wiped away her tears, her eyes dodging my stare. She couldn’t even look at me.

"Why? He cheated on you; he was unfaithful. Why should you feel any remorse for a kiss?" My voice became bitterly sarcastic. "Oh wait, I know why…because it’s not just about the kiss, is it? It’s not." I paused my voice becoming gentler as I saw the tears that continued to make their decent down her beautiful cheeks. I hated being the bad guy. "There are emotions there, Riley. You feel something for me that makes you feel so guilty because it’s real. It’s supposed to feel this way. What I feel for you is so strong, it burns inside of me. It hurts when I think about living without you. There’s something in me that aches for you; I feel you in my heart, my soul, every piece of me is you. When I’m with you, I know I’m safe. I know that you love me. That you will always love me. You feel like home."

But still she was unsure. She shook her head and sighed, becoming angry again. She stood up and glared at me heatedly, her face inches away from mine. "So you came back to bring out all of this…to soil my relationship with JC? To make me remember something that I have tried so hard to forget? Justin, I can’t do this with you. Not now, not ever! It’s not going to work, we’re two different people…I–"

My lips came crashing down up on hers and pressed against them strongly, pushing her against the closed French door. She broke the kiss and frowned hopelessly, shaking her head before I felt her fingers on the nape of my neck, her hands pulling me closer. I grinned triumphantly and she kissed me again.

Lunch had been nice, I surmised as I slid beneath the sheets, my head resting comfortably against the pillow. But it had led to this, and this wasn’t so…nice…for lack of a better word. I took another grape from the cluster that he held in his palm and ate it, watching him out of the corner of my eye.

I felt his fingers running over the tender flesh of my back, his lips pressing against my skin. I shuddered and then sat up, wrapping the sheets around me and running a hand through my locks. Sleeping with Justin had not been a good idea. And honestly, this hadn’t occurred to me before this moment. Not when his skin was against mine, not when his hands were wrapped around me so securely, not even when he had murmured passionate words of love.

JC had never entered my mind. After the first touch, JC and all of my arguments had dissipated.

"Justin…" I murmured as I left out a soft moan, "I don’t think we should have done this." This was the kind of irrational behavior that got me in trouble.

"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe you shouldn’t think?" he asked softly as he slid himself on top of me, his nakedness on top of mine. I shuddered again, this time feeling his breath against my heated skin, his hands roaming over the curves of my body.

"Why do you say that?" I whispered against his skin as he hovered above me, the fleshy folds of his lips pressing against my skin as I writhed in delight.

"Because where has thinking really gotten you?" he asked, his body grinding erotically into mine. I let out a soft whimper as he continued, the heated friction between us becoming unbearable. I chuckled as I felt his stiffness against my hip, and I stroked his back, pressing a gentle kiss into his lips. He moaned, his fingers entangled in my dark locks, his hands reaching for any part of my body he could find.

"I mean really, Riley," he moaned as he sucked on the flesh at the base of my neck, his eyes two pools of heated sapphire, melted bronze circling through the waters. "When you think, you get JC…" he let out a series of deep moans, his voice now labored as he pressed into me, his eyes closed, "and when you don’t, you get this…" The built up friction caused him to hit his peak, and he fell away to sweet surrender, his mouth moaning words that were unintelligible. I soon followed, my hips raising to meet his, my head pressing against the pillow. I parted my lips and moaned, my heart dancing as I felt the delicate softness of his lips meet with mine.

"Riley," he whispered as he came down from his high, my body still reeling. "I love you."

I gulped and said nothing.

"You’re mad at me," she said softly, as she sat at the edge of the bed. We were at the loft again, JC and the guys downstairs watching football as I packed. We were leaving tomorrow and it seemed as though so many things would be left unresolved. Riley and I had managed to stay completely natural in all aspects of our friendship, except for, well, the obvious.

"I wouldn’t say that," I answered, shaking my head as I folded one of my sweaters against the bed and threw it into my duffel bag. She leaned back against the pillows, her tanned legs stretching out across the French blue bed sheets, teasing me. She let her head tip backwards, exposing the tender flesh of the column of her neck, her beautiful skin almost glistening in the soft lamp light.

"Then what would you say?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow, her slender fingers twisting the sheets between her fingers. I wanted to jump her right there and reenact the day’s previous events, my body craving hers desperately.

I swallowed deeply, diverting my eyes from her. "I would say that I am frustrated," I replied as I shoved a few pairs of my jeans back into my bag and then zipped it closed.

"And why is that?"

"Because…" I sighed. "I don’t know, Riley."

She pulled me towards her, her face just inches away from mine, her fingers pulling on the collar of my white T-shirt. "Because you seduced your best friend’s girlfriend…?" she murmured. I moaned softly, nodding, completely enchanted by her once again.

She slid her hand over my chest slowly, a deep aching feeling burning through me. God, I wished she wouldn’t do this to me. She leaned into me, her head curving into my neck, her lips "accidentally" brushing against my flesh. "Oh," she said softly, pulling away, her gray eyes meeting with mine. They were almost a dark silver, her lips dancing with a playful smile, her fingers twisting the sleeve of my shirt. "I see." she said, looking down to my groin which had managed to make it’s presence known. She laughed teasingly. "Well, it looks like you’ve got yourself a little problem there."

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