This Time Around

Blake-
I thought I was done with love. One night with the wrong guy was all it took to unravel me—proof that I’m not as tough as I seem. So I swore off men, convinced I needed to work on myself. Heal myself. But life has a twisted sense of humor. Just when I settle on solitude, I crash—literally—into Luke.

My best friend’s older brother. The one I’ve always wanted but never let myself peruse. He’s everything I told myself was off-limits: older, accomplished, heartbreakingly unattainable. And worse—he sees right through me. Every time I try to keep my distance, he looks at me like I’m the one thing he’s been waiting for.

But crossing that line could cost me everything. Even if not crossing it is already tearing me apart.

Luke-
I didn’t spend years pining after Blake. That’s not how it happened.

Back then, she was just my sister’s best friend. A little wild, always around, always laughing too loud. I had a wife, a life I thought made sense.

Quietly, slowly,my marriage was crumbling around me; over long before I admitted it out loud. And somewhere in that silence, there she was—Blake. Not trying. Not even looking at me that way. Just… being her.

And suddenly, I couldn’t stop seeing her.

It wasn’t some big romantic moment. It was a tangle of small ones.

Now five years later, she’s here. Still trying to pretend we’re just friends. Still keeping me at arm’s length. But I’ve already lived through loving the wrong person. I know what that feels like.

This—what’s between us—it’s the first thing that’s felt real in a long time.

And I’m not walking away from it.