Best-Friends with Issues

Chapter 8- Happiness and Other Fleeting Emotions

~Selena~

"You so cheated."

Conner scowled at me, but I could see the playful glint in his eyes. "Did not! That was all skill, baby cakes."

I made a face at him, which made him smirk. "Oh god, never call me that again."

He rolled his eyes and tugged me closer to his side. I didn't protest- despite my continued pouting- I merely curled into my boyfriend and silently marveled at how well my chin fit in the crook of his shoulder.

It was very hard being mad at him when he was so close, even if it was just pretend, and I could feel my resolve slipping. So instead, I accepted the fact that I was a hypocrite and continued to pout, all the while nuzzling my face closer to his neck.

Snuggled on the sofa with my most important person, I felt a familiar surge of happiness jolt in my stomach. And while I was caught looking into his emerald gaze, that was so full of affection and mirth, I momentarily forgot what we had been arguing about.

Most likely noticing the enraptured look on my face, Conner's smirk grew larger.

"What was I saying again?" I heard myself mutter vacantly. Then out of the corner of my eyes, I saw our abandoned game of Go Fish on the table in front of us. "Right! Don't let it get to your head. I totally let you win."

His head tilted as if he were thinking, and I shivered as his cheek brushed the top of my head. "So what was it, did I cheat, or did you let me win?"

"Both, god dammit."

He laughed, and the butterflies in my stomach made a reappearance. It was strange that after all theses years of knowing him, Conner still managed to give me butterflies like it was our first date.

"Sooooo..." Conner said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. "What should we do next?"

I rolled my eyes. "You're such a pervert."

"How long have you known me?" He winked.

He winced when I elbowed him in the gut, but the smile was still on his lips. He craned his neck down until our lips were a breath apart, and my eyes went wide as shivers attacked my body. "I can't help it if my girlfriend's beautiful."

I was seriously having trouble thinking with his face so close to mine, but that didn't stop me from blushing like a tomato. "Uhhh, Conner?"

"Yeah?"

"Your hand's on my ass." I informed him, unfortunately still blushing.

"I know." He smirked again, his eyes hooded. "That was my intention."

On any other occasion, I would have rolled my eyes and possible smacked him upside the head. But  with him being so close that I could feel the warmth radiating off of his skin, and his eyes darkened so deliciously, all common sense pretty much flew out of the window.

I instantly gave up any chance of keeping my pride and coming up with a witty response, and instead smashed my lips to his.

He moaned as I licked at his bottom lip, and his arms tightened around my waist. All of the sudden, I was pushed down onto the couch and he was growling against my lips, his arms holding himself up on either side of my head.

I couldn't hold back the whimpers and shivers as he kissed me senseless, and my hands traveled up to tangle in his dark hair, as if they were afraid of him pulling back. And god, it felt good to kiss him again after all these weeks of longing to.

He pulled back slightly to look at me, and my head instinctively tried to follow him up and reattach our lips. He chuckled- a low, husky sound that did things to me that I didn't think were possible. "God I missed doing that." He echoed my thoughts, his eyes slightly glazed over.

My breaths were already coming out in pants, and the need to be close to him again was almost unbearable. "No talking." I choked out, before realigning our lips. He happily obliged.

~

"Wow." Conner remarked with amusement. "Our first time alone together in weeks, and you immediately jump me."

I reached over to smack his shoulder, turning my face away so that he couldn't see the blush on my cheeks. "Shut up."

He only laughed, rolling over on his side to face me. We had moved to the bedroom shortly after making out on the couch. (The guest bedroom, of course; using my deceased grandparents' bedroom would have been horrifyingly gross.) 

He didn't say any more, just continued to stare at me. I shifted uncomfortably under his scrutiny, even though I was under the sheets and pretty much covered. I watched as his gaze lazily traveled over me, and I suddenly felt extremely self-conscious, even though he has certainly seen much more than what was exposed now, in the past. His eyes lingered over the parts of my skin that were exposed, and a slight shiver raked up my spine.

"Well then." I cleared my throat and sat up, hugging the sheets close to my chest. "I'm hungry." 

He groaned as I stole the covers and stood up, wrapped in a cocoon of cotton. He laid there on his back, fully exposed without a care, and I quickly ripped my gaze away. I didn't have to see his face to know that he was smirking again. 

Instead, I hurriedly picked up my underwear from the floor, and slipped them on under the sheets. Without glancing back at his chuckling face, I scurried out of the room and went to the kitchen.

When I got there, I found that I wasn't very hungry at all. I sat on the kitchen table, frowning. I was never really self-conscious around Conner before, so I found it perplexing that I was now. After all, before we had started dating we had been friends with benefits, and I cound't even count how many occasions he had seen me naked.

I suppose that it was because he was my boyfriend now, and strings were very much attached. I had much more to lose, this time around. If things went wrong, not only would I be losing my boyfriend, but my best friend as well. My fists clenched around my sheets. This time, there's so much at stake.

Just then, Conner walked in- luckily wearing his sweatpants- and gave me a brilliant smile, the dimple in his cheek making a rare appearance. 

I sighed and relaxed the tension from my body, realizing that I was probably worrying over nothing. Besides, at this point it was impossible to go back to being 'just friends' again, not when I was so goddamn in love with the guy. 

I watched affectionately as he bustled around the kitchen, only half listening as he criticized all of the crappy food that was in the cupboards. 

And watching as he held up a box of wheat bran and complained about it being barn animal feed, I knew that yes, this was definitely a guy who was worth the risk of being shattered beyond repair.

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Sorry it's short!

What did ya think? Too mushy?