I Fell in Love With my Best Friend

Jackson POV 5

"Jacky," Sophe exclaimed, teasing me. "Who have you been talking to so much? Is it a girl? A pretty girl?"

I shrugged and grinned. "Sophe, how much longer before we get there?"

She looked at her watch. "Probably about 20 minutes or so? Why?"

I smiled as I looked out the car window. "I need to see her."

I grabbed my phone and texted her, Hey, Kitten. What are you doing?

Kitten: I'm at the book store waiting on Lilly and Jason. We're going to go to the cafe and have lunch in about half an hour or so. Why? Did you want to call again?

I grinned. No. I'm a little busy. I just missed you.

It was a full month since I last saw her. I missed her gorgeous eyes so much. Kitten: Do you know when you're going to be home again?

I smiled. Soon.

"Sophe, will you drop me off at the cafe?"

She side eyed me. "Why?"

I shrugged. "no reason."

~30 minutes later, at the cafe~

I saw Lilly first and pressed my finger to my lips. I followed her to her table and was shocked to see that Lilah had dyed her hair while I was gone. She had dyed it an orchid and turquoise ombre and I just wanted to run straight to her. I pulled out my phone and turned the notification off before sending her a text saying, Hey Kitten.

Kitten: Hey! I was just thinking about you!

I grinned. Well, maybe you should stop thinking about me and turn around.

Even though she was facing away from me, I could still tell when she perked up. She whirled around in her seat and grinned when she saw me. I shoved my hands in my pockets and shrugged a little as she asked me why I didn't tell her I was back. Truth is, I was worried about overstepping her boundaries. We hadn't seen each other in a month, yet I had only grown to love her even more. I wanted to show her how much I felt for her, but I was afraid of scaring her away. I also wasn't sure if she truly saw me for me and not for Alexei.

She hugged me tight and I relaxed instantly, being enveloped by her gentle aroma, I hugged her back. I murmured against her temple, "Kitten, I have to get back to my house soon. I can't stay long."

She buried her face in my chest and whispered into me, "Did you just get back?"

I nodded. "I came straight here to see you." I gently tugged at a loose strand of her hair as I said, "This is gorgeous on you by the way. It really makes your eyes pop."

She looked up at me and I could see the pink on her cheeks from her blushing. "Thank you, Jacks."

I smiled at her and kissed her temple as my phone rang with Sophia's ringtone. "I have to go, Kitten. Walk with me for a minute?" She blushed and nodded. We were a decent ways down the street when I finally decided we were far enough away. "Lilah, I-"

She cut me off by pulling me down and kissing me gently. She pulled away and whispered, "I told you it would be waiting when you got back."

I groaned. "Lilah, I don't think I can keep doing this."

The second the words left my mouth, I knew exactly how much I had messed up. "Oh. Okay. You're right. I just assumed. I probably shouldn't have though."

She went to walk away and I gently grabbed her wrist. I pulled her in close and kissed her, gently expressing all of my emotions to her. I breathed against her lips, "Li, I'm usually not this much of a babbling i***t. I want to keep whatever this is between us going, but Li, I can't keep playing second fiddle. I need you to understand that I'm not Alexei and no matter how much I remind you of him, I will never be him. I need to know that when you hug me and when we kiss, it's me that you're seeing. Not him." I pressed my forehead against hers. "This is killing me to say, Kitten. I can't stand the thought of losing you and don't for even a second think I'm abandoning you, but I can't see you like this again until you can give me a straight answer."

She whimpered as I gently let her go and walked away.