Page 163 of Never Not Friends

Juliet.

Or even what happens tomorrow.

I’m just sitting here with Emma cuddled beside me.

And it’s the most content I’ve felt in years.

EMMA

Sunlight is my alarm.

On a Saturday morning, I wish that wasn’t the case.

But one eye peeks open, and that’s all it takes for me to realize I’m cuddling against Vinny.

Now I’m aware of his arm wrapped around my body, hand resting loosely on my hip, and it means so much to me it hurts.

For twelve years, I’ve wanted Vinny Brooks in all the big, impossible ways.

And now he’s here.

Juliet drifts across my mind, specifically how much it would kill her if she saw us like this. I know because I lived it on the other side. But I’m done holding back my happiness for someone else, especially now that I’ve felt how good my life can be with Vinny in it. She’s moving on with her life, and I’m moving on with mine.

I close my eyes again, but this time, I focus on all things Vinny.

The soft rhythm of his breaths.

The steady beat of his heart.

How he smells.

How comforting it is to be this close.

He stirs, and that’s when I back up two cushion lengths because, although I liked waking up in Vinny’s arms, I’m not ready to full-on bask in it while he’s awake.

Going zero to sixty feels too fast. So we’re starting as friends.

His head turns, and his hand immediately goes to his neck as he struggles to keep his eyes open. He looks impossibly sleepy and cute. Messed-up hair with one piece dangling above his brow. Morning scruff I’ve never seen before but is quickly imprinting into my memory.

“Good morning.” His voice is all sexy—I mean, gravelly—from sleep.

“Hello.”

He rubs the side of his neck over and over. “I think I slept on my neck weird.”

“Sorry, I…” I wince, thinking about how I just saddled myself right up against him. “I didn’t mean to sleep on top of you.” The words immediately don’t sound right. “Not on top of you. Just, like, next to you.”

“Maybe my neck wouldn’t hurt so much if you had slept on top of me.”

My cheeks go blazing freaking red, and Vinny laughs.

“I always could make you blush.”

“It’s the fair skin.” My fingers automatically touch my cheeks. “Nothing about you.”

There’s a cocky undertone to his smile. “Well, I hope it’s a little bit about me.”

I bite back my smile. “Maybe, like, five percent.”