Zane (The Bad Boys of Saddle Creek #1)

by Kat Baxter

Daniel is my speed. We are a lot alike.”

“You have a lot in common with Zane, too,” Lily says. “You can’t forget that.”

“He’s my very favorite person in the world besides you. But we’re not like that. He’s only doing this to get me comfortable with ...

But I think the best option is to call off this fake dating, couple training thing with Zane.” “Don’t be too hasty.”

“I don’t want to screw up my best relationship just because I had a wild hair idea about maybe having a boyfriend.”

I cannot afford to have feelings like this about my best friend. I should never have suggested to him he be the one to teach me these things. Thank goodness he had enough sense to start with a date rather than us jumping into bed. I’d be a complete goner.

It is for the best—both for my heart and the preservation of our friendship—that we stick to just being friends.

“Hey, Starfish,” I say. She doesn’t say anything. She just pushes past me into the shop.

She shakes her head. Something is clearly bothering her, but if I rush her, it will just make things worse. “Okay if I sit?” I ask.

“I really appreciate last night and everything you did. But it’s obvious that you don’t find me physically attractive enough.

“The sex things. There’s no reason to put you in a position where you need to force yourself to touch me. I respect you too much as a friend to make you do something you clearly don’t want to do.”

“Starfish, please just trust me when I say, the very opposite is true. I want you more than you can possibly know.”

I take off my clothes, one piece at a time and wait for her to see what’s plainly hidden in my tattoos and call me on it. She’ll know for sure how I feel about her once she sees them.

Her full curves press to my side and her head rests on my shoulder. I breathe in her hair and I want so badly to tell her that I’m in love with her. But I know instinctively she’s not ready to hear those words.

Since we’ve never had a sleepover before, I didn’t know his sleeping habits. Like the fact that he’s a snuggler but gave me room to choose when or if I wanted to be snuggled. Further proof that he knows me better than anyone.

I go into the breakroom first to get some hot tea. I didn’t want to take the time or make the noise to do it at home since I didn’t want to wake up Lily. She’d want to know all the details about last night and I’m not sure I’m ready to tell her.

I squeal and hug my brother again. Because JD’s always been the very best. Aside from Zane, he's the guy that knew that I didn't like crowds or loud noises or any number of other things. He took care of me. He protected me.

Then the office door bursts open and in walks Zane, breathing heavily and looking rather harried.

I come to my feet. “Zane? What’s the matter?” “The matter is that I woke up alone in bed this morning. There was no sign of you. No note. No text.”

My cheeks heat because he’s saying all of this in front ...

“Sorry to intrude. I need to borrow Emmaline for a bit.” Without waiting for a response, he picks me up, fireman style, and leaves the office.

I hear Hayes laughing as Zane makes his way to the elevator.

“No talking yet, Starfish. We’re gonna talk. Well, I’m gonna talk and you’re gonna listen. But firs...

I don’t speak to her the entire drive to my house. Once we get there, I help her out of the car and hold her hand until we get inside. Then I press her against the door and kiss the hell out of her.

I nod. “I wanted to do that, too. I didn’t like waking up without you in my bed.” “Well, you’re going to have to get used to it. I don’t want to have any more lessons,” she says.

Her words slice into me. “Is that what last night was for you? A lesson?” The question is torn from me and my words come out harsher than I mean them to, in a tone I’ve never used with her.

She flinches, taking another step back from me, her eyes wide and hurt. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was ab...

Emmy, I’m sorry.” Her back is to me and she peers over her shoulder at me. “You’ve never yelled at me.”

And I have never yelled at Emmy, because she hates loud noises and…

That I pushed too hard, asked for too much from her, and ruined everything between us. Destroyed everything that’s good and perfect in my life.

turn away and pace to the far side of the room, trying to get my emotions under control.

“Are you mad at me?” she asks in that same small voice.

“No, I’m not mad at you. I could never be mad at you. If anything, I’m mad at myself.

Emmy, I’m in love with you.”

She shakes her head. “No, you’re not. You’re just saying that because you’re my best frien...

“I’m not going anywhere, Starfish. You want some water?”

She swallows visibly. “Do you know what happened today? I bet you can’t even guess.”

“Daniel asked me out on a date.”

“I told him no!” She throws up her arms. “I can’t imagine any other man touching me or kissing me but you.”

Our high school wasn’t that big, so of course I’d seen her around school before, but we didn’t exactly roll with the same crowd. She was in all the advanced classes, some of them so advanced she had to take them online for college credit.

“You started calling me ‘Starfish’ right after that,” she says wistfully, but then shakes her head. “I never understood that.” “Why I called you Starfish?”

“No. Why you just… befriended me. People didn’t do that to me back in high school. They didn’t really talk to me much or want to be with me. And then all of a sudden you were just there in my life. This guy that everyone thought was the coolest guy in school and you wanted to spend time with me.”

I point to the starfish. Originally it was there all alone, now it’s blended into the coral reef I have on that sleeve.

The tattoo on my chest, runes for earth, air, fire, and water from The 5th Element, with the negative space between them forming a star shape.

But each blossom is actually a starfish.

But look at the stars.”

It’s so subtle no one has ever even noticed. Only Ian knows and he laughed his ass off the whole time he did the tattoo—and

She leans closer, squinting. “Are the stars …” She looks up at me. “Are each of those stars a starfish?” “Yeah,...

“This one I did last week when you asked me to teach you how to be in a relatio...

She still hasn’t caught up to me yet. I sit back on the sofa and lift her into my lap. “Yes. I’m your best friend. And yes, I love you like that.” I squeeze her hips. “But the truth is, I’m your best friend, Emmy, because I’m in love with you.”