by Brandy Blake
“You can tell me what’s going on. I’m worried about you,” he said kindly and firmly. “You’re not okay.”
She shook her head. “No, I’m really not.”
“Okay… well, what’s going on?” he repeated, watching her closely.
She sighed. “It’s Michael. We were together and he called out the name of the teenage girl he’s taking care of.”
Aaron’s mouth fell open and he stared at her. “You’re kidding,” he began, but then he waved his hand dismissively. “I’m sorry. It’s very obvious that you’re not kidding.” He leaned back into the sofa and raised his eyebrows. “Wow. That’s… disgusting.”
Raina nodded. “It really is. On every level.”
He looked back at her. “Well, now I can see why you aren’t doing so well. What happened with the two of you?”
She shook her head. “I accused him of being in love with her, and he denied it at first and then admitted it, and we had a nasty fight. I told him he ought to be in prison and he left. We haven’t spoken since. I guess she’s turning eighteen in about a week or less, and that means she will be legal for him. He was just using me to distract himself from wanting her until she was old enough for him to have.”
Aaron covered his mouth with his hand, nearly gagging. “Does she want him like that?” he asked, his eyes wide with horror.
Raina shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything at all about her side of it. I don’t know if she realizes that he’s in love with her, I don’t know if she has any feelings for him, but having seen the way that she is with him, playful and adoring, I would guess that it wouldn’t be a far jump to suppose that she could have a teenage crush on him.
“If and when he takes advantage of that, it’s going to hurt the hell out of her when she’s older and realizes what a piece of trash he is. I don’t know if she’s waiting until she turns eighteen so she can be with him, too… or if she even likes him like that at all. He might be springing it on her when she isn’t expecting it.
“All I know is that he’s a monster. He’s been grooming her for the last two years, getting her interested in the things he’s interested in and showing her that she needs to rely on him, that she needs him, that he’s there to spoil her and give her whatever she wants, and that he’s the only one who will take care of her. It’s sick.”
“That it is,” Aaron admitted, raking his hand through the slight tangle of blonde hair at the side of his head. “I have to tell you, I feel totally responsible for this. I do. I’m the one who suggested to you that you find someone… that you have someone in your life like that.
I don’t think you’d have even thought of it or come up with it on your own if I hadn’t said something to encourage you. I’m so sorry, Raina. I never wanted you to be hurt. I just wanted you to be happy… taken care of. Lacking for nothing.” He sighed and planted his elbows on his knees, resting his forehead in his hands.
She gave him a weak smile and reached her hand to his shoulder, giving it a gentle rub. “This is not your fault. None of this is your fault,” she told him earnestly.
He sat up and looked at her intently. “I just wanted you to be happy. I love you… all I want is your happiness.” He reached his hand up to touch her cheek, and as he did, warmth spread through her and a light realization that had never occurred to her before, struck her.
For the first time ever, as she watched him, she realized what it was that he was really saying to her. “You do love me…” she said quietly, and everything in her seemed to slow to a halt. “Aaron…” she spoke in a low voice, “how do you love me?” she asked, her eyes locked on him.
He looked away from her and shrugged. “I love you, you know… we’ve loved each other for years… we just…” He trailed off and she closed her hand around his shoulder.
“Look at me please,” she requested gently.
He took a breath and looked up at her. His eyes were shining. “Do you love me… romantically?” she asked him, just above a whisper.
Her heart began to pound at the realization and the prospect. It had never occurred to her, not once in all of the years that they had been friends. Best friends, and nothing more, ever. She had never dreamed that he might feel something more for her than friendship.
He seemed to choke on his words and his emotion as he stared back at her. There was a stillness in the silence between them and finally, an eternity later, he drew in a breath and answered her in a quiet voice. “Yes, Raina. I do care about you that way. I do love you romantically. I always have.”
She gasped and stared at him, unable even to blink. “You’ve never said a word… you’ve never acted like you had even the slightest notion of love for me, other than a friend…” She trailed off, shaking her head slightly.
He sighed and shrugged, looking down at his hands. “I fell in love with you in college, pretty much right away. You came in for that audition… and… I just fell, watching you speak, seeing your confidence and your joy, your intelligence and your humor… you made me laugh, you made me feel alive… I just wanted to walk right up to you there on the stage and kiss you, but… I knew I couldn’t do that.
“I knew full well that I couldn’t put you in the role you were auditioning for. There’s no way I could have survived having you acting for me for six weeks and been able to keep my distance from you. It would have been torture for me. I’ll be honest; that’s why you didn’t get the role.” He pointed his finger in the air as he punctuated his statement.
“I went to you to tell you that you didn’t get the role, and I was going to tell you how I felt then, but you were dating that guy… Ryan, or whatever his name was, and I knew that I never had a chance. I knew that the only way that I could be with you would be if we were friends. Then I could have you… I could be around you. I could keep you, and it would be safe. You were always happy to just be friends, and I knew that I was going to have to satisfy myself with that, because I’d rather have you as a friend and be in love with you, than have nothing at all with you.
“It was a sacrifice. You got kind of serious with one of the guys that you were dating, and I knew that I was never going to have you. Cathy was after me then, and I thought I might as well be with her since I couldn’t be with the woman I loved, and I gave in and dated her. She tried to get me to love her like she wanted me to, but I couldn’t.
“She thought maybe marrying me would make me love her more, but it didn’t. I was never in love with her, and she knew it. She finally left me for some woman, and more than anything, it’s been a big relief. Except that now she’s gone and I’m alone… and now… you know. You know the truth.
I just hope that you can forgive me for it all, for falling in love with you, for keeping it from you, for telling you now. I hope I haven’t done anything to ruin our friendship. You mean everything to me, and our friendship means everything to me, and I would never do anything to damage or destroy it.” A worried look came into his eyes.
Raina could barely breathe. She was completely astounded by him. He had managed to surprise her more than she had ever thought possible. “Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think that… that you could care about me that way. Not once. You kept that hidden so well that I never saw even a moment of it,” she whispered.
He sighed and shook his head. “I thought after Cathy left me and you and I were spending more time together and growing closer… I thought maybe there might be a chance, and I actually imagined that you were going to kiss me a few times, and I let myself kiss you, twice. I’m not sorry about that, but I hope it was okay, just those two times. I’d never do anything to risk losing what we have. Not in a million years. I can’t lose you, Raina. Not ever.”
She felt her throat tighten as tears flooded her eyes and she realized that in the blindness of the saltwater in her eyes, she could finally see the truth. “You can’t lose me, Aaron, because I love you, too. I didn’t know it until recently, and when we were in Seattle it just… it just felt so right
. I did want to kiss you then. I think I wanted more than that, even, but I wasn’t sure what I was feeling and what you were doing and feeling.
“Like you, I didn’t want to risk our friendship. Now I know what that feeling is. It’s so clear, so crystal clear that I can’t believe that I didn’t see it before. I love you, Aaron. I have loved you so much, for so long. You are my best friend, and my family, and if you ever wanted to be more, my heart would always be open to you.”
A single tear rolled down Aaron’s face and he gave his head another shake, just once, before reaching his hand up to cup it around her cheek. He gazed into her eyes, and she could finally see all of the love that he had for her. Slowly, he brought his mouth to hers, pressing his lips softly on hers and kissing her tenderly, moving his lips so gently that when she closed her eyes, she was sure that she must be dreaming.
That familiar heat rose up in her and flooded through her, and the butterflies in her belly began to dance wildly. She could taste tears in their kiss, and she wasn’t sure if they were hers or his, but as he parted her lips and tasted her, gliding his tongue over and around hers, she knew that both of their tears were healing, and that love had found them both at last.
She kissed him in return, taking her time in discovering him as she slid her fingers up into his locks of blonde hair. He closed his arms around her and held her to him tightly as their kisses grew stronger, and everything in her began to burn and ache for him.
Breathlessly he lifted his mouth from hers and looked into her dark eyes. “Is it… is it too soon to make love with you?” he asked in a whisper.
She could see the desire in him and it mirrored everything that she was feeling.
“It’s long past overdue,” she answered with a smile, standing up and taking his hand in hers.
She walked with him to her bedroom, feeling lighter than air, knowing that she was at last going to feel the love that she had always wanted to feel, in the arms of the right man, at the right time.
Aaron took his time taking her clothes from her body. He gazed at her, taking in the view of her as if he was looking at a priceless piece of art, his fingers brushing gently over the skin that he revealed piece by piece until she was bare before him, and he was bare before her.
Lifting her chin with his finger, he met her eyes with his. “I love you. I have wanted this with you since I fell in love with you, all those years ago, and it means everything to me. You are so precious to me, and I love you.” He brought his lips to hers again and she kissed him breathlessly, smiling as she held him close.
“I love you, too.” she answered, meaning it with more than all of her heart.
They laid back together in her bed, and as he entered her, she felt everything in her ignite as it never had, and she was drawn to him, body, heart, soul, and mind, like a magnet. They moved together in perfect tandem, holding one another, caressing each other, kissing and loving in their impassioned embrace until their love was full, and they clung to each other as their releases bound them together, consuming them with pleasure and love.
They lay still with one another afterward, holding each other, touching each other gently. They laughed softly and smiled in earnest, discovering a love that was going to last them both a lifetime.
Aaron stared into her eyes and kissed her fingertips. “Raina… when we are able to, will you marry me? Will you let me love you for the rest of my life, and be my wife? Please… please say yes.” He stroked her cheek gently.
She thought her heart might swell so much that it could explode. “I’d be honored to be your wife,” she answered him. “Nothing would make me happier.”
Aaron was so thrilled that he laughed and kissed her, gazing at her and then kissing her again. “I can’t believe this. This is the happiest day I have ever known, and I owe all of that to you. I’m going to give you a life you could only dream of. We might have good days, and a few hard days, but I am always going to love you, I’m always going to be by your side, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of every day of my life with you, forever.”
“That sounds like a promise to me, and I’ll make you the same promise. I love you, Aaron. Thank you for telling me, and for giving us this chance. You’re the one who has made this love come alive, and it’s going to last always.” She kissed him, and he took her in his arms to make love with her again.
THE END
Authors Personal Message:
Hey!!
So I really hope you enjoyed my novel and if you did want to see my other releases just head over to my Amazon.com page here or search my name “Brandy Blake” on the store that is local to you. :)
See you next time
Brandy x x
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