She can hear herself—she knows how crazy she sounds. She stares at him and his familiar eyes stare back. He’s been her friend for seven years. She’s terrified she’s about to lose his friendship, but she needs to tell him. She has to risk it all. ‘I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you.’

Silence falls.

She waits for alarm, but a little smile climbs onto his face.

‘You’re not surprised?’ She’d expected him to be floored by her declaration. Maybe even annoyed.

‘That kiss kind of changed everything, didn’t it?’

She’s missed his honesty. All their recent conversations have been behind a protective wall but revealing her feelings like this seems to have pulled it down.

‘I tried pretending it was nothing.’ He laughs at himself. ‘But all I’ve wanted to do since then is kiss you again.’

‘Really?’ It’s Darcy’s turn to be flattered. Heat rushes over her face as she grins back at him. ‘Why haven’t you?’ She steps closer, her body shuddering with hope.

‘I wasn’t sure whether you’d punch me in the face or not.’ He moves closer too, their bodies almost touching.

Darcy laughs. She can actually imagine herself doing that before she’d kissed him. But she’s the one who made the move and now she knows what it’s like to have his lips on hers. ‘I promise I won’t punch you.’

They both lean in. Darcy tingles, her body starting to float off the ground as he kisses her. It’s soft at first, a few precious moments as their lips delicately rediscover each other. But hunger and desire quickly take over. They grasp at each other frantically, needing to make up for lost time. They stumble to Ed’s bedroom, their lips barely leaving each other. He picks her up and her legs wrap around his waist. She feels lightheaded with anticipation. They yank at each other’s clothes, pulling and ripping them away until their bodies are bare. They fall into his bed and heat quickly radiates, sweat rising to the top of their skin. He pulls her closer still, his firmness causing Darcy to groan. She finds herself arching back with a pleasure she’s never felt before.

They lie there staring up at the ceiling, hearts still pounding, breaths unsteady.

‘Wow.’

‘Uh-huh …’

‘I was going to suggest we take things slow?’ She raises her eyebrows, amused.

‘Are you kidding me? There is no going back from what we just did.’

She laughs and takes a peek at Ed lying beside her. She greedily wants to stare, which feels weird, because Ed’s her best friend. He was her mate, but now all she wants to do is explore his body.