It's a new day today and I'm meeting with Emma today, ever since the party, things have been awkward and I don't want it to continue that way.
The tension between us had been palpable ever since that night at the club. But we'd agreed, unspoken yet mutual—we were just friends. I was determined to keep it that way. Friends, nothing more. And if there was something simmering underneath, well, we'd both been smart enough not to acknowledge it.
For now, anyway.
That's what I kept telling myself as I sat across from her, nursing a drink and listening to her laugh about something completely mundane. She had this way of making the simplest moments feel larger, more important. It annoyed me more than it should have, because it made it harder to keep the boundaries I'd set in place.
It had been a few weeks since that night at the club. A few weeks of pretending that moment of raw possessiveness hadn't happened, that I hadn't almost crossed a line. We'd been good since then—friends, colleagues, whatever the hell we were trying to be. She'd pulled back, and so had I.
But every time I saw her, every time she smiled at me like nothing had changed, I couldn't help but wonder if I was the only one still thinking about it.
"Alex," she said, interrupting my thoughts. "You okay? You've been kind of quiet."
I blinked, realizing I hadn't said a word in minutes. "I'm fine," I replied quickly, leaning back in my chair and forcing a casual smile. "Just thinking."
Emma raised an eyebrow, not buying it for a second. "About what?"
I hesitated, glancing down at the drink in my hand. I could feel her eyes on me, waiting for an answer, but I wasn't about to tell her the truth. That I'd been thinking about her, about us, and about how this whole "friends" thing was getting more complicated by the second.
"Work," I lied. "What else?"
She gave me a knowing look, but thankfully didn't press. Instead, she leaned forward, her elbows resting on the table. "Well, don't let it stress you out too much. We're supposed to be relaxing, remember?"
Relaxing. Sure. Easy for her to say.
But I nodded, forcing myself to lean into the ease of the conversation. It had been her idea to meet up outside of work, to try and build this 'friendship' thing. And against my better judgment, I'd agreed. After all, it wasn't like I could say no to her, not without raising more questions than I had answers for.
"You're right," I said finally, taking a sip of my drink and forcing a small smile. "No more work talk."
She grinned at that, and for a second, it felt easy again. Just two people, enjoying each other's company. No tension, no confusion, no unspoken words hanging between us.
But then she glanced down at her phone and sighed. "Celine and Serena keep asking when we're going out again. They think I'm avoiding them."
I smirked. "Are you?"
"Maybe a little," she admitted with a small laugh. "I needed a break after the last time."
I knew exactly why. She hadn't said it, but I could tell she'd been just as thrown off by what had happened as I was. It wasn't like we hadn't danced around the edge before—there'd always been something there between us, even before we called it 'friendship.' But that night had changed things, whether we wanted to admit it or not.
"So… when's the next party?" I asked, keeping my tone light.
She shot me a mischievous look. "Oh no. You're not getting out of it that easily. Next time, you're coming with us."
I shook my head, laughing despite myself. "Emma, I don't think that's a good idea."
"Oh, it's happening," she teased, eyes twinkling. "You owe me one, after all."
"For what?"
"For being my friend," she said with a grin, though there was something else in her tone. Something playful, but edged with a challenge. "And besides, I'm going to need you there to fend off all the random guys who think they can just walk up and start dancing with me."
My smile faded slightly at her words, the memory of that night flickering in the back of my mind. The way I'd felt when I saw her with him—how hard it had been to hold back. I wasn't proud of the way I'd reacted, but it had been impossible to stop the possessiveness that surged through me.
I couldn't let that happen again. Not if we were going to keep this whole friendship thing intact.
"I'll be there," I said, my voice quieter than before, the words slipping out before I could stop them. "If you need me."
She looked up at me then, something flickering in her eyes. For a second, the playful banter between us shifted, and I could see the same hesitation, the same question, lingering behind her gaze.
But just as quickly, she smiled, brushing it off like it was nothing. "Good. Because who else is going to make sure I don't end up in trouble?"
I chuckled, but the feeling of unease remained. We were friends now. Just friends. But no matter how hard I tried to convince myself of that, I knew the truth.
We were standing on the edge of something neither of us wanted to admit. And sooner or later, one of us was going to have to make a choice.
Or we were going to fall.