Crystal sighed and burrowed into the heat source she was snuggled against. When her arm roamed upwards and landed on a firm surface instead of the down pillow she usually slept with, her eyes shot open.
Her head was snuggled against Brendon’s chest and her hands had somehow slid beneath his shirt and were caressing his washboard abs. Once she recognized what she was doing, she quickly snatched her hands away and lifted her eyes, hoping that Brendon was still asleep.
Brown orbs filled with laughter met her gaze. Brendon’s full lips were tilted up in a smirk. Groaning, Crystal lifted off of Brendon and glanced around. Sunlight from one of the windows filtered in through the blinds.
“Liked what you felt, huh?” Brendon whispered in her ear. Crystal jumped, then turned to face him.
She shrugged. “They were alright, I’ve seen and felt better,” she said, lying through her teeth.
Brendon’s body was a work of art. In high school, she’d loved watching him play in those tight football pants that delineated every single muscle in his legs. When he got to college, he’d put on more muscle and the way his ass looked in those same football tights was sinful. She hadn’t thought perfection could be improved on, but then he went pro. His arms filled out more, his chest seemed broader, he went from a six-pack to an eight-pack, and his thighs and hamstrings bulged, not obscenely so, but enough to make her drool. Too many nights her fantasy had consisted of him in those same football pants, but with no cup on, and slung low on his hips, his Adonis belt prominent.
“Yeah right,” he scoffed around a yawn. He stood up and stretched, his black T-shirt with the gym’s emblem emblazoned in gold across the front rose up and revealed those same abs she’d been molesting in her sleep.
Crystal moaned, but when Brendon’s eyes snapped towards her, she covered it with a yawn and a stretch.
“Come on, let me go shower and change, then I’ll take you out to breakfast,” he said, reaching out to pull her up.
Once she was on her feet, she stretched, working the kinks out of her back. Her sectional was comfortable for watching movies and taking a short nap, but not for sleeping all night.
“Sounds like a plan. I need to freshen up myself,” she murmured, not wanting him to catch a whiff of her morning dragon breath.
“I was wondering what that rank smell was,” he teased, tugging on a curl.
She swatted his hand away, heat creeping up her neck. “That was your musty underarms. That’s why I woke up, the smell pulled me from a deep sleep.”
“Umm hmm, that’s why you were feeling me up, because I was musty?” he taunted, his eyes laughing at her.
Crystal narrowed her eyes. “I wasn’t feeling you up. I was trying to lift myself away from that wretched smell before I gagged.”
The laughter drained from Brendon’s eyes, and Crystal swore she saw heat enter his gaze before he lowered his eyelids.
He cleared his throat and shifted on his feet. “Yeah, uh, tell yourself anything. I’m going to head to the shower. See you in about twenty minutes?”
She nodded her confirmation and watched as he walked towards the guest room he’d long ago claimed as his, her head tilting to the side as her gaze locked onto his ass in his basketball shorts. While the shorts didn’t outline his assets like the football pants, they still offered her the opportunity to look her fill.
She shook her head and glanced back at the couch, her mind going back to last night. This wasn’t the first time Brendon had come over and they’d fallen asleep on the sectional during their movie night. That was one of the reasons Brendon had his own room with a few clothes and toiletries at her house. After the first time it had happened, she told him to bring some clothes over so that if it happened again, he wouldn’t have to worry about driving home with stank breath in yesterday’s clothing and funk. She also had a room filled with clothes and toiletries at his house for the same reason since they alternated between her place and his for dinner and movie nights.
She hurried to her bedroom on the ground floor so that she could shower and change. It was during her shower when she let her mind drift back to that moment when she thought she felt his erection under her last night when he was tickling her. He’d shifted her seamlessly and acted as if nothing had happened, so she wasn’t sure if she imagined his erection or if it had been real. Then this morning, she’d thought she saw heat in his eyes, but again, wasn’t sure because who gets excited about body odor?
“Ugh!” she huffed, getting out of the shower. Quickly brushing her teeth and washing her face, she moved into her closet to get dressed.
Five minutes later, she walked out of her bedroom just as Brendon walked down the stairs. Her eyes roved over his pecs outlined by the grey dri-FIT shirt he wore. She recalled how taut his abs felt under her fingertips earlier. Her gaze dropped down to the black athletic jogging pants that, while not tight, were slim fitting. Her mouth watered and her heartbeat kicked up.
“Good, I’m glad you dressed down. I was thinking we could go to that new restaurant on the river, Brunchin Babineauxs. You game?” he asked her striding towards her.
Crystal wrapped one of her arms around his as they headed toward the front door. On the way, she grabbed her purse from where she’d thrown it on the couch. “I’ve been wanting to try them out since they opened, but can we hold off until next week? I want to be able to take pictures and post them to my social media along with a restaurant review.”
Brendon groaned. “Come on, Crys, not everything that you do has to be for social media. Let’s just enjoy this Saturday morning and hang out.”
Crystal stopped and framed her hips with her hands. “Excuse you, not everything that I do is for social media. I don’t put my workouts with you on social media.”
He crossed his brawny arms across his chest and stood with his feet braced apart. “That’s because my gym has a no filming policy in place.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever, you know that I make my money from posting on social media. This isn’t new news.”
He stepped into her personal space and tugged her hands off her hips and loosely held them. “I get that, but sometimes I want to just hang out with my best friend, no cameras, no work, just us, chilling.”
Her heart sank at him calling her his best friend. Yes, technically they were best friends, but her heart craved more. “We hung out last night.”
A heavy sigh escaped his lips and he dropped her hands and turned to the front door. “Sure, that’s fine.” He unlocked the front door and held it open for her.
“But…?” She trailed off.
“It’s all good, Crys. Where do you want to go for brunch?” Brendon asked, his jovial tone from earlier gone.
Crystal’s shoulders slumped and she looked at the floor. She understood his disappointment because this wasn’t the first time they’d had a conversation revolving around her wanting to post their activities on social media. Private moments she didn’t post, but whenever they went somewhere new or did something new, she snapped pictures or recorded a short video and posted it, always making sure to keep him out of the footage to ensure his privacy.
“Let’s go to Brunchin Babineauxs. I can go back later and take pics,” she told him, giving him a hug.
“Crys, don’t get me wrong. I’m proud as hell of your career, and you know I’m your number one supporter, but sometimes I want to hang out with my friend, without the pictures and you checking your phone every time it goes off. Be in the moment with me sometimes, disconnect from your gadgets sometimes. I understand that you have to work and you want to grow your business, just make sure you make time to decompress. CEOs don’t work all day every day, and they don’t pick up the phone every time it goes off. You can take, and you deserve, a break.” He spoke quietly, his eyes intense as they bored into hers.
She gulped and nodded her head in understanding. She did tend to constantly check her social media. She’d done so last night during the movie several times. The only time she didn’t check was during her workouts.
“I’ll do better, promise,” she told him, meaning it.
After she set her alarm and locked the house, they got into his black Yukon Denali and headed towards the river. Crystal vowed then and there to limit her social media posting with him. Whenever they hung out, he always gave her his full attention, never checking his phone or emails. She’d asked him about that once and his response was, “If it’s an emergency, whoever it is will leave a message. You’re important to me, and I don’t want you to think that I take our time spent together for granted.”
She made a silent promise to herself and Brendon to treat him the way he treated her.
Was I too hard on her? Brendon thought as he drove them to brunch.
It wasn’t like Crystal was his girlfriend, but he enjoyed them hanging out, minus her social media updates and checking her phone.
Her small, soft hand squeezed the hand he had on the center console. His heart skipped a beat before settling into an even rhythm. Brendon glanced at her with an eyebrow raised and she smiled a beautiful smile, which lit up her eyes.
“Everything okay? You’re quiet.” She squeezed his hand again.
He returned the squeeze, loving the feel of her hand. “I’m good. Hey, listen, I was too hard on you earlier about your job. I’m sorry.”
From his peripheral he saw her brown curls swinging as she shook her head.
“No, you were right. I guess I never noticed how much I checked my notifications, not just with you, but when I’m with anyone, really. It’s second nature, I guess.”
He switched lanes, passing by their old high school. “Checking social media and posting to it is your job, and I need to be understanding about that.”
“But you were right when you said that CEOs don’t work all day. Others may not consider me to be a CEO, but that’s what I am. I’m a business, a brand. Yes, I want to grow it, but truthfully, the argument can be made that with a million followers, it’s already grown. I have endorsements, too. It won’t kill me to put the phone down.”
Brendon smiled and laid a hand on her thigh, squeezing gently. “Perhaps you can come up with some sort of schedule. I can’t believe you haven’t done so already, to be honest.”
Crystal patted his hand. “I’ve thought about it, and when I was in college, I tried to do a schedule, but it’s like I’m addicted to answering my phone when my notifications chime. It’s hard not to look at my phone when I hear that sound, and you know I hate seeing notification icons at the top of my bar.”
He pulled into the parking lot and parked close to the river. Brunchin Babineauxs was a large warehouse-styled restaurant ideally placed alongside the Seraphina River to capitalize on the beautiful scenery.
Opening his door, he got out and walked around to open her door, extending a hand to help her out. As they walked on the cement to the walkway entrance, he placed a hand at the small of her back. She shivered.
“You cold? I can go grab a jacket out the truck,” he told her.
“N-no, I’m good, just caught a small chill, that’s all,” she said, looking straight ahead.
Brendon frowned but didn’t push her and walked up the stone steps that led to a red brick building with the restaurant’s name scrawled in white cursive script on the front. He opened one of the large glass doors and ushered Crystal inside.
The interior was a wide open space with exposed metal beams and white ductwork hanging from the ceiling. The walls were brick, except for the back wall, which was all windows, allowing customers to get an unfiltered view of the river and lush greenery surrounding the Seraphina.
Crystal gasped, and Brendon turned his head, allowing a small smile to grace his lips. Her eyes were wide, taking in the view. She’d unconsciously taken hold of his hand at some point, while the other rested on her chest.
He bumped her shoulder. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” he asked.
“Yes,” she breathed, not taking her eyes off the river.
He chuckled at her awe. “I’m assuming you want a seat with a view?”
“Uh, duh. In fact, don’t they have a patio? I’d love to sit out there by the river. It’s a pretty day,” she said, still focused on the view.
The hostess walked up and he told her their seating preference.
“That will be a twenty-minute wait, is that okay?” she asked.
Brendon turned to Crystal, who still hadn’t stopped looking at the river. “Crys, you okay with waiting twenty minutes?”
Finally, she tore her eyes away and looked at him. “Huh?”
A full laugh exploded from his throat as he shook his head. “You act like you’ve never seen the Seraphina before. We’ve come to the river for picnics plenty of times before.”
A sheepish grin claimed her face and she shrugged. “I know, but it’s been a while since we’ve been here, and this view is breathtaking. We usually go to the picnic area and we’ve never been this far down river before.”
He smiled and gave her a one-arm hug around her shoulders. “There’s a twenty-minute wait, you okay with that?”
She looked at the hostess, who had moved to a discreet distance away. “I’m sorry for holding you up. We can wait the twenty minutes.”
After giving his name to the hostess, they moved to the waiting area.
Turning to her, he picked up the conversation from the drive over. “I think you should give the scheduling a try. If you want, I can sit down and help.”
She tilted her head to the side and looked off in the distance, biting her lip. He put a finger under her chin to bring her gaze back to him.
“You already have a busy workday, plus it’s not that hard to put together a schedule,” she said.
“I’m never too busy to help out my best friend, you know that,” he chided, dropping his tingling finger.
She shrugged. “Just because you can make time for me doesn’t mean that I should take advantage of your generosity. Thanks for offering, but what kind of business person would I be if I couldn’t put together a schedule?”
He wanted to press but decided against it. “When was the last time you met with Aaron?” he asked, referring to their financial advisor.
Crystal crossed her legs, her golden toned thighs on display due to the short shorts she had on. Brendon quickly averted his eyes.
“We’re supposed to meet next week. It’s been about a month since we last spoke. My investments are doing well. By the way, thanks for letting me know about Janet Cosmetics going public. I bought a couple hundred shares and already the prices are skyrocketing. I’m thinking about buying some more,” she said, swinging her leg as she leaned back against the seat.
“Yeah, I heard some of my employees talking about it and thought you’d be interested. I’m glad it’s paying off,” he told her.
The pager went off, signaling their table was ready. They stood and walked along the concrete flooring toward the hostess, who led them through double glass doors to the outside patio.
The patio was on the side so that the patrons dining inside wouldn’t have their view obstructed. The wooden structure had six square wooden tables, and each one had black iron trim and a decorative lantern on top. The tables seated four and were spaced out, providing more privacy than the inside. Wooden rafters covered the patio, matched the wood of the tables, and offered shade.
Once they were seated, they perused the menu in silence. A waitress came by and they gave their orders. Crystal ordered air fried chicken and waffles, and Brendon ordered French toast with turkey bacon, scrambled egg whites, and fresh fruit. Both declined coffee and ordered a carafe of orange juice and glasses of iced water.
“So I wanted to discuss something with you that I’ve been thinking about for the last few months,” Brendon said once their waitress collected their menus and left.
“What’s up?” Crystal asked, leaning forward on the table, hands clasped in front of her.
“So, you remember when after my rookie year we talked about how we’d like to give back to our community one day by building a tiny home community for homeless veterans?”
Crystal’s eyes widened until the black of her pupils dilated and drowned out the brown of her irises. “Yeah, we haven’t talked about that since then, but I remember the conversation…what are you thinking?”
Brendon took a deep breath and exhaled. “You know that tract of land near Firestone Lane off the highway?”
Her brow furrowed. “You mean that vacant land right before you leave town?”
He nodded. “Yeah, it’s about five acres, but it’s enough for a tiny home community, complete with a few community gardens and a community center. We could build a slew of homes with a little yard for each one.”
“And the community center could have volunteer social workers who could help them access their benefits and help them find employment so they could re-enter society…” she murmured, a faraway look in her eyes.
“Exactly. The price for the land is sixty thousand, which is fair market value. I could purchase the land and we could go in together on the price of the buildings and furnishings.”
“I could pay my half of the land, B,” Crystal said, bringing her gaze back to him.
He waved her offer off. “I know you can, but—”
She pursed her lips and he stopped speaking.
“I’ll pay half, we can be equal partners,” she said firmly, staring him in the eyes.
He chuckled and shook his head. “You know it’s second nature for me to try to mitigate costs for you, even though I know you can afford to hold your own. My bad…so what do you say?”
She smiled at him. “I think it’s a great idea.”
Their food arrived and they spent the remainder of their brunch discussing plans and ideas for their tiny home community. By the time he dropped her back off at home, Brendon was in a great mood. He loved spending time with Crystal. They connected on so many levels. This was why his attraction to her was inconvenient. He didn’t want to mess up their friendship, but every day was getting harder and harder to ignore his growing romantic feelings for his best friend.