Forbidden Touch: A Best Friends To Lovers Romance - Iona Rose (free ebook reader .txt) 📗

“How can you think of grimy New York when in this paradise?”

The conversation definitely was not going how I wanted it to. “I’m excited about us Brooke,” I said quietly.

She went still. “There’s no us.”

“Is this it for you?” I asked, perplexed and a little hurt to be honest. Usually, I was the one who said those lines when a girl came on too strongly.

She moved away from my chest and rolled to the other side of the bed. She faced the ceiling and pulled the covers up to her chin. She was so close to me but it felt like she was a million miles away.

I could feel her pulling away but there was nothing I could do.

“The girls asked me and I said there was nothing between us and that we were just fooling around.”

I faced her even though I couldn’t see her face clearly in the semi darkness. “Fooling around? Is that what you call what we’re doing?”

“That’s the only thing you’re capable of Blaze. A girl can’t hold your interest for more than a couple month and to be honest, I’m not interested in trying.”

Pain rumbled through my chest. “What are your plans for the rest of the vacation?” I asked her. I was a sucker for pain it seemed.

She shrugged as if she didn’t care either way.

Now in this moment, I felt sorry for the fuckers who had gone before me in trying to win Brooke’s heart. She was my best friend but she was a cold bitch.

“We could continue enjoying each other or stop. The important thing is that it ends when we get on a plane back home. Oh, and I’d appreciate it if none of our coworkers or friends know about this.”

“So, not only is my opinion unimportant, I’m to be your dirty little secret?” I exploded.

She threw the covers and got up from the bed. “I think I’ll sleep in my bed tonight. I don’t need this emotional drama.”

For the first time in my life, I was struck speechless. I watched helplessly as she picked up her clothes from the floor and left. How could I have thought I knew Brooke? The woman who had uttered the terms of our affair was not the Brooke I knew.

I stewed in bed and tried to make myself fall asleep. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to make any decisions. I felt too angry and humiliated.

Damn Brooke!

Amelia and Jack organized another minivan to take us to a popular aquarium center in Oahu.

Brooke and I sat as far from each other as we could.

When I woke up that morning, she wasn’t in the apartment and did not come back until it was time to change and leave for the resort.

We had exchanged wary good mornings and walked together to join everyone else for the day’s excursions. It hurt that we couldn’t talk about it but her words still hurt. She had spoken as though I was a piece of meat to be used and then discarded.

Her words had been like a blow and to be honest, I was tired of being the one who wanted more. The one who had dreams about our relationship. If what she wanted was cock without emotions, I could give her that too.

After all, I was the one who had perfected that game. I could fuck and not give a fuck. I would play by her rules, no problem and when we returned to New York, we would move on with our lives.

We walked around the aquarium in small groups. I was with a couple of the guys and ahead of us were Amelia and Jack, holding hands and whispering into each other’s ear.

It made me lonely for Brooke.

I looked behind and met her stare. She was with my mom and my aunty. She gave me a tentative smile and then looked away. Was she remembering the time when we had gone to an aquarium center with my family?

We’d been about seven years old. It had seemed like an enchanted place as Brooke and I walked around the aquarium surrounded by tanks of water and huge swimming sea animals. It had been our first time in an aquarium center. I wished she was with me to reminisce about that first visit.

Caleb dragged us to a huge tank to look at a sea dragon and then proceeded to rattle off facts about it.

“Remember our first visit to the aquarium back home?” a voice whispered in my ear.

I threw my head back and laughed. It felt like weeks since I’d heard Brooke’s voice. “I was just thinking about that,” I said to her.

She slipped her hand into mine as we stood in front of the massive glass and stared at the sea dragon flapping its leaf like body.

“I’ve never seen one of these,” she whispered.

I felt so relieved to push our issues under the rug. I was emotionally wrung out and at that moment, I just wanted to have a good time with my best friend, not fight with my lover.

The day which had seemed dull, changed and my spirits lifted. We made stupid jokes about some of the sea creatures.

Amelia shook her head at us as she went past.

As always, Brooke and I had fun together like we always did, when we didn’t have any emotional crap bogging us down.

I had been so sure that we were right for each other but when I got my best friend back, I had to question myself on whether I wanted to lose Brooke my friend over a relationship that might not work. I had called Brooke a cold bitch, albeit in my mind, but I wondered if she had been right.

Maybe we were not cut out to be more than friends. Sometimes, knowing each other so well wasn’t a good thing. At least, not for relationships.

It would be tough to forget that side of our relationship because hands down, Brooke was the most sensual lover I’d ever had,