Page 28 of Don't Fall For Your Best Friend

After a few searches, I come across something that looks enticing. Bondage play.

It doesn’t look too sexual in this scene. I’ll be dressed in a bodysuit and Paxton can cut the clothing off me as I’m tied up.

I trust him completely and feel this won’t break any of our agreed-upon rules.

I send a text to Paxton with my idea, and he agrees all too quickly. A zap travels through my body when I see the simple “yes” written in his text.

It doesn’t take me long to find the perfect outfit on an erotic website and purchase it. Now to wait and think about all the ways I want Paxton to cut this outfit from my body.

I slam my laptop shut, trying my best to push the images of Paxton’s green eyes deepening as he looked at me while controlling the vibrator. It was intense.

I know we agreed to stop if things got weird, but there’s no way I’m stopping now. I want to know what it would be like with him.

What having him desire me would be like.

I’m sure he was just caught up in the moment and didn’t get turned on by watching me. I’m being silly.

I push my laptop to the side and stand. I need to get out of here for the day. The Book, Spine, and Sinker bookstore is close to my house, so I hop on my bike and pedal my way there.

I love the smell of old books.

I love the smell of new books too.

I love the smell of all books. I’m not picky.

I pull up to the shop and park my bike on the sidewalk. This is one of my most favorite shops in all of Magnolia Ridge. The top half of the store is built with deep-red brick while the lower portion is a bulky, clunky forest-green wood. Through the paned-glass window I can see Millie inside her shop. I head inside, breathing in the smell of books.

“Hi, Hartford,” Millie Mason, the owner of the bookstore, says to me. Sunlight pours through the windows, casting an angel-like aura around her blonde head.

“Hey, Millie.” I’ve known Millie for a long time. She once dated Brock Atwood back in high school for like five minutes, and now she’s living out her dreams of owning her own bookshop. She grew up with books, since her mother owned the store before her, and she also hosts the Biddies Book Club.

She’s also the youngest member of the club. Which I can see that they’re all here in full force. There’s hardly a day that goes by where they’re not hanging out at Millie’s shop.

“Hartford, what were you doing out with Paxton the other night?” Helen Lark says. She’s a member of the Biddies Book Club and one of my mother’s best friends.

Even though my mother moved to Florida, she still gabs on the phone to her friends for hours.

I hold up my hands as the rest of the book club gathers around me. “We’re just friends,” I say.

Millie raises a thin brow at me. “You’ve been besties forever. Is he the reason you don’t date?”

I frown. “I date.” Don’t I? I try to think back to my last date.

It’s been a while.

“I tried to set you up with Jasper Moore, and you never showed up.” Millie’s blonde hair hangs down her shoulders.

“I’ve known Jasper for years. Sure, he’s good-looking and nice, but…” I let my words fall away, because Jasper may look perfect on paper, but he’s not Paxton. My eyes widen a bit at my realization.

Oh shit.

Have I not been interested in dating because I have a deep, unrequited love for my best friend?

I shake my head. No. Not true.

“You looked cozy,” Claire says, raising a brow.

As if Helen can read my thoughts, she places her hand over mine. “You’ve always cared for him.”