Gluttony

chest, feeling like she had come home. Adam wrapped her into a tight bear hug, his cheek pressed against the top of her head.

“I really did miss you,” she murmured, thinking it would be too soft for him to hear.

“I know,” he whispered back. Then, louder, in a more teasing voice, “You know you can’t live without me.”

No, she couldn’t.

When they finally broke from the hug, he didn’t release her just loosened his arms enough that she could lean away from his body and look up at him. The Vegas night was lit by enough neon to see every chiseled feature of his face in sharp relief, from his squarish, dimpled chin to his regal brow line and deep-set eyes. But Harper barely noticed any of that; he wasn’t an assemblage of perfect pieces. He was just her best friend. “Adam, I-”

He kissed her.

Not on the forehead, not on the cheek. On the lips.

And not slowly, not gently, but hard, desperate, hungry. She closed her eyes and sucked his lower lip, nearly gasping as his tongue crept past her teeth and met hers, his breathing sped up, hers nearly stopped, and she drank him in. He tasted the same.

And then it was over, and just as roughly as he’d grabbed her, he pushed her away.

“What was-?” Harper, still stunned-and already missing his touch-tried to catch her breath.

“I don’t know. I don’t know.” Adam was panting, leaning his fists against the wall. “I’m sorry, I don’t-”

“You said you didn’t want that. This,” Harper reminded him. “You said friends.” He couldn’t trust her enough for a relationship, he’d told her. Things would get too messy, and they would lose each other again.

“I know what I said!” he snapped. Then he pressed a hand to his forehead. “I’m sorry. I don’t… you were there, and it just felt…”

“Yeah.” She wanted to touch him, but-she didn’t want to touch him, not if it meant scaring him away. “We can just… forget it. If you want.” No, no, no, she pleaded silently. Say no.

“Maybe. But…”

“But?” She tried to keep the tinge of hope out of her voice.

Harper leaned against the wall next to him, their faces once again only inches apart.

“If we did this-I mean, if we were going to do this, we’d have to decide,” Adam said. “You know? It can’t be…”

“Casual.”

He took her hand, then dropped it a moment later and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I missed you too, Gracie. And I-I miss you. But when we were together, like that, it just…”

“I know.”

“Everything got so fucked up.”

Because of me, Harper thought. Adam was kind enough not to say it; but she knew he was thinking it too. He had to be. “Maybe we should just… forget it. Or, take some time.”

“Yeah.” He nodded to himself. “Maybe. That would be good. But…” He took her hand again, and this time, he pressed it to his chest, then tugged her toward him. Their lips nearly met when, with all the strength she could muster, Harper pushed him away. It nearly wasn’t enough.

“No,” she said firmly. “You should go.”

“This could be the right thing,” Adam told her. “Maybe I was wrong before, and this-maybe it could work.”

She wanted to stay-she wanted to kiss him again, to make him remember what he was missing and convince him that he needed it as much as she did. But if he wasn’t sure yet, then she couldn’t risk it. If she let him back in and he changed his mind again-it would be too hard. For both of them.

Restraint wasn’t in Harper’s repertoire. But she could try. “You need to know,” she told him. “You need to be sure.”

“What if I told you I was sure?”

“Then you’d be lying.”

He let out a pained laugh. “I hate that you know me like this.”

“You love it.”

“Yeah.” He reached over and twisted his finger through her hair. “What time is it?”

She checked her cell. “Almost nine.” Strange, it seemed later.

“Okay. You think. I’ll think. And we’ll meet later-”

“At midnight,” Harper suggested. “But before you go, there’s something… you need to know…” She wanted to tell him her secret-to tell him the truth about Kaia, and the accident. He deserved to know who she really was, and he deserved the chance to push her away.

And maybe… he deserved the chance to forgive.

“What?” he asked, after a long pause.

But she couldn’t do it. She would, she promised herself, but only when she knew what was at stake. If he decided that he needed her as much as she needed him, then she would know she could trust him to keep her secret. Maybe she could even trust him not to leave her. But it was too soon-he was still unsure of what he wanted. So she couldn’t take the risk. “Nothing,” she said quickly. “Save it for midnight.”

“Where?”

Harper scanned the skyline, and her gaze stumbled over the towering replica of the Empire State Building. It reminded her of some movie-some lame romantic comedy, probably, but certainly one with a happy ending. And she could use that kind of luck. She pointed. “Up there, on the roof. Whatever you decide.”

“I’ll be there,” he promised. “And Harper…” He gripped her shoulders. “Whatever happens next, we need to make it work. Because this friendship-you…”

“I know,” she assured him. “You don’t have to say it.”

“Yes, I do.” He hugged her again, his strong arms locking her into the embrace. “This friendship is everything, Gracie. I’m not losing you again.”

Miranda finished the meal still hungry, so she allowed Jackson to talk her into dessert: a massive ice-cream sundae with three scoops of chocolate chip ice cream, a hearty helping of chocolate hazelnut sauce topped by two cherries, all piled atop a freshly baked double fudge brownie. Miranda had promised herself she would only have a couple bites-but it was already half gone.

“This is amazing,” she moaned as another gulp of icy sweetness slid down her throat. And she wasn’t just talking about the food. Kane’s bizarre interruptions aside, the night had gone remarkably well. It was the kind of date other people had: normal, pleasant, engrossing and, hopefully, all leading up to a good night kiss. Or more.

This wasn’t the way Miranda’s life usually went, but it was, after all, almost her birthday. Maybe the universe was giving her a present.

“You’re amazing.” Jackson told her, and scooped his spoon into the heaping sundae, then brought it to her lips. She sucked down another mouthful and, smiling at him, licked her lips. When Harper did that kind of thing, she always made it look incredibly sexy. Miranda suspected she just looked like a messy eater-but then, that’s what she was, so it couldn’t be helped. “Uh, you’ve still got a little on your face…”