AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My arm feels way too good slung around her waist, and the boner I’m sporting is doing nothing to quell my inappropriate thoughts. August is drunk, and I’d never try anything, but God, does she feel fucking heavenly, and we’re both fully clothed.
“Good to hear. The guy seems like an idiot.” I snort.
“I only had a crush on one guy in high school.” She says.
Jealousy, hot and simmering, once again hits my gut. “Oh yeah, you ever do anything about it?”
Because I need to remind myself that she’s not for me.
August giggles. “No. He barely knew I existed.”
“What a moron. His loss.” I fish my keys out of my pocket as we step toward the front door.
August turns into me like she needs me to hold her up, and I instinctively wrap my arms tighter.
“That’s too funny. You saying that. Because, well …” She starts laughing like I’m a world-class comedian. “The thing is, we ended up as roommates. And you still have no idea how big of a crush I had on you.”
I nearly drop my keys when she says it. My heart drops to my toes. My eyes seem to grow impossibly wide as I turn to stare at her, her little giggle making her get the hiccups as she continues to laugh.
A sick feeling washes over me, not due to her confession, but because August would never be saying this if she wasn’t drunk right now. She’d probably be so embarrassed if she knew what she was telling me. And yet here I am, still holding on to her, wanting to ask a million questions.
Feeling fucking satisfied and cocky that I was the one she had a crush on, not that idiot at the bar.
“August …” I don’t even know where to start, but her eyes hold mine like she’s waiting for something.
“Yes?” She blinks, and her tongue darts out to lick her lips.
Fuck me, I’m going straight to hell. Our breaths mix, mingling like electricity that’s about to zap us both. She’s right there, so eager, so willing. I’m the same way, fueled by the information she just gave me.
It’s only with a heavy heart and my balls yelling silently at me that I push some distance between us. “We should go to bed; it’s late.”
She blinks, seeming to come out of the moment in disappointment, but shrugs. I doubt she knows what’s happening, which is why it can’t.
I help her up the stairs after we toe our shoes off, our socks making soft padding noises as we crest the top. August doesn’t bother to say anything as she heads for her room, and I think she’s just exhausted now that we’re out of the loud, energetic bar.
“August?”
She turns, her eyes droopy with impending sleep. “Hm?”
“I noticed you.”
With that, I turn and close my door quietly. She probably won’t even remember what she said, much less what I did. But I couldn’t let her go to bed, thinking I never knew she existed.
She looks like that, has wisdom beyond her years, and my family is obsessed with her? Yeah, it would be impossible to not know that August Percy exists.
Maybe, all this time, I wasn’t looking hard enough.
16
AUGUST
Walking into Lily is like wandering into a magical forest that smells like lavender and musk and has tiny bath bombs and singular batch coffee grounds everywhere.
The quietness of the shop settles onto my shoulders as I step into the dark space on my first morning as the manager. Alana gave me the rundown over the weekend about exactly what needed to be done in her local goods and wares store, and I told her I’d be there Monday morning to see to it.
These kind of small-town market shops—with all their trinkets, handmade goods, and locally-sourced products—always hold such charm. They draw the shopper in from the window, effortlessly calling out to people who want to take a piece of the sweet river town we live in.
I’m thankful to have a job here where I can put some of my skills to use more than when I’m working shifts at the restaurant. Here, I can practice the organizational side of any job I want—one where I have to keep on top of things. And lord knows this place needs a little TLC.
