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July 10 - July 11, 2025
Falling for your best friend was always dangerous, but this was the first time I thought my feelings for Paige might actually kill me.
Technically, that was true. I loved everything about Paige, even her crappy muffins. Apparently, love wasn’t just blind, it also had no sense of taste.
I couldn’t help it that every time she looked at me time seemed to slow, and I was briefly transported to an alternate universe, where my deep and secret feelings for my best friend weren’t completely one-sided.
She was the girl I wanted in my life forever, and even if that was only as a friend, it would have to be enough for me.
Sometimes being best friends with Grayson was like befriending a brick wall. Strong, reliable, and perfect, if you needed something sturdy to lean on. But also, totally immovable and completely stubborn.
All I could think was that I’d happily put up with terrible cooking every night for the rest of my life if it meant I could be with Paige.
I was always more relaxed when Grayson was near.
“You’ve been in love with her for years.” “No, we’ve been friends for years.” “Friends?” Reed shook his head at me. “You don’t look at her like she’s just a friend.” “Of course I do.” “No, Grayson. You look at her like her like she’s everything.”
I know you feel more for her than you’re letting on. It’s time you did something.”
“Maybe I like things how they are,” I said. “Maybe I don’t want things to change.”
Gray: Just wear what you had on at the game. You looked perfect. Me: I was wearing your jersey. Gray: Like I said . . . perfect.
I didn’t like trying to be something I wasn’t. I wanted someone to kiss me because they liked me just as I was.
I would rather eat another batch of Paige’s poisonous muffins than watch her kiss another guy. Surely death would be less painful than the suffering I was enduring at the mere thought of her with someone else.
My heart was breaking for her, and in my mind I was practically screaming that I wanted her. I’d always wanted her.
“Clearly, you don’t know how perfect you really are.”
“I don’t have to say anything,” I whispered. “Except tell you how beautiful you look tonight.”
“And I know you feel like you failed tonight, but you’ve got a guy standing right here who wants to listen to all your bad pickup lines and loves your nervous giggles.”
“But do you know what I want the most?” Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, and her hushed reply was barely audible. “What?” “You, Paige. I want you.”
I didn’t want to be the practice guy. I wanted to be the guy.
“Is your pretty face the distraction?” I asked. If it was, then I had to admit, it was seriously working. His smile lifted a little more. “You think I’m pretty?”
“You know, you don’t really need help, right? And you don’t need to change anything. You’re perfect just as you are.” When he said things like that, I had to wonder how some girl hadn’t already fallen madly in love with him.
“If Parker’s such a pro, why didn’t you ask him for help?” I turned back to look at Grayson, surprised by his question. “Because I trust you,” I said. “I feel comfortable with you. There’s no one else I could do this with.”
Gray pulled me upright and grasped my face in his hands. “Are you okay?” Nothing was hurt, but I was shivering from the adrenaline pulsing through me. “Just a little shaken. You?” “I’m fine.” “The puck didn’t hit you?” “No. It missed us both.” “You reacted so fast.” “I told you I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you.” My heart was still racing, but when he stared at me like that and said those words, I wasn’t a hundred percent certain it was just because of the puck.
“I can’t handle the thought of something bad happening to you, Paige.”
I’d do just about anything if it meant having Paige nearby.
“Sometimes, when you stop looking ahead and focus on what’s right in front of you, that thing you’ve been looking for all along finds you.”
“Seeing something they want and knowing they can’t have it.” The way he was staring into my eyes had me wondering what it would feel like to be wanted by Grayson. And not just in a dream. He spoke like he was talking from experience, and I considered who the girl might be, whether he still wanted her, and if I had the skills to get away with murder. A surprising sense of possessiveness took hold of me. I didn’t want Gray to look at anyone that way.
Gray’s smiles were so hard to come by, it always left me on a high when I finally brought one to the surface.
“I want to do everything with you, Pidge.”
“You could wear a paper bag, and I still wouldn’t think you needed a makeover.”
I hated when the weather got above 75 degrees.
“I think if you wear that dress for a second longer, I’m going to forget we’re just friends.”
You’re seventeen. It’s okay if you don’t have everything figured out. You’ve got your whole life for that.”
I swallowed a heavy lump in my throat, wishing I could believe in myself as much as he believed in me, and wondering how I could be so lucky to have someone like Grayson in my life. I honestly wasn’t sure I deserved him.
Gray kept looking at me like I was something special.
“I don’t want you to be afraid.” “I’m never afraid when I’m with you.”
Gray was my friend. Just my friend. So why was I starting to feel like he was more than that?
Grayson really was gorgeous and sweet and kind. It was a miracle I hadn’t felt this way before.
“Though I can’t really picture you as a baby. I’m not convinced you ever were one.” “That’s because I actually arrived in this world six-foot-four and scowling.”
“If I need your moves to win her over, then she isn’t the girl for me.”
“I guess, you just get to a point where you wake up, look over at the girl lying next to you, and it just clicks. Nothing else seems to matter but her . . .”
His unrestrained smiles made my knees go weak. They always had.
now, I was beginning to realize that most friends didn’t make you weak at the knees. Most friends didn’t make your heart race. And most friends didn’t make your skin sizzle with a simple glance.
His smile was broad and so full of light, my breath hitched as our eyes met. I was looking at the same guy who had been my best friend for so long, but something had truly shifted. I couldn’t tell if it had happened slowly, or all at once, with just one smile, or a thousand heartbeats. But I knew everything had changed. Just when I thought I’d realized the true extent of my feelings for Grayson, I fell deeper. The way I yearned for his smiles, how I relished his scowls, how I admired his strength of heart, and how I adored his quiet kindness. It was clear I’d fallen for Grayson Darling,
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I was in love with Grayson. I loved him. And I had desperately wanted to lean in and kiss him.
I didn’t want him to think it was great. I wanted him to tell me to forget Damien because there was only one guy I should be with, and he was right here in front of me.
She looked beautiful this morning, and the way she was smiling pierced the heavy clouds surrounding my heart. There was nothing I loved more than seeing her happy.
I had a whole group chat dedicated to my feelings for her.
“The way you’re looking at me . . .” I murmured. “You have no idea how it makes me feel.” Her throat bobbed. “So, tell me.” “I can’t,” I replied. “But you’re dangerously close to making me break all my rules.”
“Maybe your rules are worth breaking?”
