Read One Night (Friends #0.5) for Free Online Page B

completely clueless. He shoots Brianne a kind smile. “Yeah, Bri. Finish your story.”
    “I’ll tell you about it some other time.” Her smile is brittle. She won’t even look in my direction. “I’ll talk to you later, Dustin.”
    “Yeah, bye.” He tightens his arm around mine, turning to face me the minute she’s gone. “What was up with that?”
    Oh. Maybe he’s not so clueless after all. I decide to go for clueless instead. “What do you mean?”
    “Why did I get such hostile vibes between you two?” He smirks. Like he doesn’t know why. Ha.
    “Um, because she’s hot for you and hates me.”
    He laughs. “She is not.”
    “Yeah. She so is.”
    One dark brow lifts. “So? What’s the big deal?”
    I don’t want to look like a jealous shrew but… “She’s trying to move in on you.”
    “And you have a problem with that?” He sends me a pointed look and remains silent. So do I. For way too long.
    Reality check. It’s hard for me to admit exactly how I feel about Dustin when I’m not one hundred percent sure. He’s been my friend for so long, and I don’t want to damage our friendship by falling into a relationship. That’s serious. I don’t know if I’m ready. And sometimes I think he wants serious more than anything.
    It’s kind of scary.
    I decide to keep it light. “I can share you,” I tease. “But I don’t think Brianne likes me very much.”
    “You’d share me?” Dustin sounds incredulous.
    My cheeks go hot. “You know what I mean. I’m your friend. She wants…more.”
    “You’re not just my friend, Livvy.” His voice drops lower and I swear I feel it reverberate throughout my body. “You’re my best friend. My closest friend. No one knows me better than you.”
    “Right.” I nod, hating how shaky I feel at the thought of him with someone else. With Brianne.
    “If I start dating Brianne, she’ll have to get used to you in my life. We’re a package deal, you and me. And Em,” he says, his tone deathly serious.
    My mouth drops open and I quickly snap it shut. He’s really considering going out with Brianne? Gross. She would never get used to me in his life. She’d shut Em and I out and never think twice about it.
    “You wouldn’t care if I went out with Brianne, right Livvy?” His voice is soft, and when I lift my gaze to his, he’s watching me closely. And standing extra close too. When did that happen? And how did my hand end up in his?
    “If you want to date Brianne, I guess that would be fine. I can’t tell you what to do.” The bitterness is so obvious in my tone. I hope he doesn’t notice. “I had no idea you liked her like that, Dustin.”
    “Like what?” he asks innocently.
    “Like…you know.” I shrug, feeling stupid. “You want to go out with her.”
    “She’s cute. And persistent.” It’s his turn to shrug. “I’m flattered that she seems to want me so bad.”
    “Don’t let it go to your head.” I reach out to lightly smack his chest but he grabs hold of my wrist, stopping me. His fingers curl tight, his thumb brushing the inside of my wrist, making me shiver.
    “I’m just messing with you,” he says, his rumbly voice so low, I have to lean in closer to hear him. His thumb still strokes my skin and I want to ask him to stop. Beg him to keep touching me. How can he touch me like that if he likes Brianne? “I don’t want to go out with her.”
    Oh. Wait. He doesn’t? See, this is what drives me crazy about Dustin. We send each other mixed signals all the time. I don’t know why we do that but…we do. It’s like we play head games with each other. We flirt, we fight, I treat him like my brother, I yell at him, make fun of him, he yells at me, makes fun of me…
    And then we end up hugging and sometimes kissing and on those very rare occasions, we end up touching each other and it feels so good, I never want it to stop. Until it’s over and I feel guilty and weird over what we’ve done, and I almost want to wish those