Page 9 of The Beast

I tilt my head back to look at him. The movie’s credits are rolling now, casting shifting patterns of light across his face. He’s handsome. Not in the sharp, dangerous way Gabriel was handsome—all edges and intensity, strength and power—but in a softer way. Warm. Safe.

He’s the brother I never had—hell, he even looks the part with our similar pale skin and light brown hair that looks golden under the sun. Even our eyes support the illusion, with his emerald green eyes matching my left eye, and my right sky-blue eye left out of the party.

“You are earning so many friend points,” I tell him. “I mean, you must have a zillion stacked up. And I know it must be a downer for me to keep moaning about Gabe every time you turn around.”

“The man you loved died horribly, and now you’re being trotted around as the glowing bride. I think some melancholy is allowed.”

“Yeah, well, I still appreciate it.”

“All part of the David Mercer Best Friend Kit. You need me, I’m there for you.”

“Even if what I need is to marry you while I’m still in love with someone else?” I wince. Tears and wine are a bad combination. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to toss our parents’ bullshit arrangement back in both our faces. Honestly, if we have to play the medieval sell-the-bride thing, then I’m glad I’m being pawned off on you.”

“Pawned off,” he repeats. “I promise you, Bella, that’s not how I feel. I mean, come on. You and Harper are my two best friends.”

“That works out well, then, because you two are my besties.”

He nods at the television, now scrolling credits. “Another movie?”

I shrug. “Honestly, right now I just want more cookies, but I’m going to force myself not to have any.”

He laughs as I shift on the couch to face him more directly. “Remember Lori?” he asks.

“Sure. That’s been a while. What’s she up to?”

“No idea. It’s just that was the last time I…you know.”

I grimace. “Yeah, I have you beat by what? A year and a half?

“Fair enough. The thing is, I have a weird confession.”

I shift to sit up straighter. “Yeah? What?”

He shifts away. “Actually, never mind.”

“Oh, no, no, no. You started this.”

“It’s—well, okay. Do you ever miss it? Not Gabriel. Sex.”

My cheeks heat. “Awkward, much?”

“Oh, come on. It’s us,” he says. Then he catches my eye, and we both start laughing. Not because it’s funny, but because this conversation is just too weird.

“You, my friend, are drunk.”

He nods. “I have definitely slid over into tipsy. But I’m serious. “Do you ever think about it? Us. Taking the edge off?”

“Not unless ever includes forty seconds ago.”

He drags his fingers through his hair. “Why is the idea so verboten? I mean, Friends With Benefits, right?” Emphasis on the friends. I mean, it’s a thing.”

I laugh. We both do. Because—O.M.G.

But also weirdly tempting. Being held. Being touched. The release. Letting the crap of the day fall away under the force of pure pleasure.

Maybe it’s not such a freakish idea…

I hug a throw pillow to my chest, then shake my head to clear it. “This is one of our more bizarre conversations.”