18. Darcy

CHAPTER 18

DARCY

"For Valentine's Day, you got me a pillow shaped like a man's chest?"

Hayden's eyes glitter with amusement. This is Hayden at peak handsome, smiling and relaxed, his long, toned limbs sprawled out across the sofa. "For cuddling. Do you like it?"

I make a strangled noise, but I start laughing. "No!"

On the box, an exuberant woman has the stuffed arm propped around her shoulder.

"Is this a message? Should I practice on inanimate objects first?"

He pretends to look concerned. "Did you want the one with chest hair instead?"

I whirl on him, unable to hold back my curiosity. "Was that an option?"

"Oh, yeah." His eyes sparkle. "I wasn't sure what your preference was." He lifts the stuffed man chest up and props it over his shoulder. "You can sit on the couch and watch TV with it."

I cringe. "It looks so small next to you."

He gives me a knowing, flirty smile, and I roll my eyes .

"Don't be weird."

I pray he doesn't take his shirt off and start flexing again. My skin still feels warm from when he did that earlier.

"Well." He tosses the man chest onto a nearby chair, sighing like he's disappointed. "I'm sorry you hate your present. I'm a terrible wingman." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a black velvet box. "I didn't have time to wrap this one."

"That's okay." I narrow my eyes at it with suspicion. "Too big to be an engagement ring, so that's good."

His smile falters, and I press my mouth tight. I always say the wrong thing.

"Sorry. Just thinking about earlier, I guess." I open the box, and all the weird feelings fall away.

The bracelet is beautiful. A delicate gold chain with tiny clusters of hexagons and glittering, clear stones. I run the pad of my thumb over them, memorizing the textures.

"Are those honeycombs?"

His gaze is easy and warm on me. "Mhm."

We hold eye contact for a long moment, and I wonder, does he remember? A few years ago, I went down a rabbit hole about bees. It was all I could talk about for weeks. Bees can count. Their hives are built in an organized, methodical, mathematical fashion. Even though they're just a tiny insect, bees work together to build strong, stable beehives with these hexagons.

It's what I love about math, the sheer wonder and awe of it. How it's everywhere in nature.

My eyes go to the sparkling gemstones. "Tell me those aren't diamonds, Hayden."

"Sure." A pleased grin spans his handsome features. "They're not diamonds."

"Hayden." I was trying to scold him, but it comes out softer than I meant.

"They're lab grown," he adds, watching me. "I know you. "

I'm speechless. Lab-grown diamonds, or synthetic diamonds, are the same composition as traditional diamonds—same hardness, structure, and sometimes better clarity—except they're grown using high heat and pressure rather than mined. They're another example of how math and science improve our world.

"I love it," I whisper, smiling up at Hayden, pleasure wrapping around my ribs in tight bands. "It's too much."

Hayden just smiles and shrugs, and my stomach flutters. No one sees me like he does, and I'm not sure what to do with that.

"Thank you." I reach for a hug, and he wraps his arms around me, pulling me into his hard chest.

"Happy to, Darce." His voice is low in my ear, making my skin prickle. Against me, his chest rises and falls with his steady breathing, and my mind flips to earlier, when he took his shirt off.

Muscles. Ridges. Smooth, golden skin. A light smattering of dark blond chest hair trailing from his defined pecs, down his abs, and into the waistband of his pants.

I wanted to count each of his muscles with my tongue. I wanted to press my lips to his collarbone and then skim them down each ab, feel them jump under my mouth as his breath catches.

An image filters into my head, of running my palms over his smooth chest while I'm on top of him, straddling his lean hips, working myself down his thick length. Arousal shocks through me.

My crush is stronger than ever, and I really, really want to fuck my best friend.

Against my fingertips, his t-shirt fabric is soft, and he's so warm. Hayden smells like a fresh, clean forest. I take a deep inhale and my scalp tingles. His scent does something to my brain, making my thoughts sharpen and focus on him and him alone.

The hug should have ended seconds ago, but he's still holding me tight.

I'm about to do something stupid.

"I do miss this part," I murmur against him.

His voice is low, his breath tickling my ear. "Which part?"

"Physical affection." Nerves tumble around me. I should stop talking. "Cuddling. I miss cuddling."

I miss sex, and every brain cell in my head wonders what it would be like with him.

Electricity snaps in the air, tense and sparking like the moments before a thunderstorm. He pulls back a few inches with a serious expression, his breathing uneven, and the hairs on the back of my neck rise. His entire thigh is pressed against mine, so solid and toned. His eyes are such a crushing blue I could fall right into them.

His jaw flexes and he swallows. "Then we should cuddle."