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Instead of getting into all of that, I looked into her green eyes and settled on: “Thank you.”

Bri nodded and finished setting up her spread. A plate of delicately cut and arranged fruit was laid out next to fresh eggs, bacon, and some pastries.

“Where did the pastries come from?” I gawked.

A mischievous smile took over Bri’s face. “I just drove to Dee’s and grabbed some. You’d been sleeping for a bit, and it rounds out a brunch.”

I peeked up at the clock over the stove: it was nearing 10:30. In a couple hours, I’d have to go pick up the kids from Jason’s house and start another week.

But for now, it was just me and Bri in my freshly cleaned house.

She passed me a dish and gestured for me to build a plate for myself. So I stood from my stool and started dishing. It was hard not to take all of it.

As I walked down the line of food, I could feel the fabric of Bri’s flannel grazing my ass. When I peeked over my shoulder, Bri’s eyes were glued to the spot where my cheeks poked out from underneath her shirt. She licked her lips, somehow still not satiated.

“Do you like it?” I teased, knowing full-well what the answer was.

Bri shrugged. “My high school crush in my shirt with her ass hanging out… yeah, I’d say I like it.” With a flat palm, she gave my cheeks a light slap. Luckily, I managed to hold back the light whimper that rose to my lips.

By the time I passed through the entire spread, my plate was overflowing.

Just as I was starting to feel self-conscious about how much I took, Bri pressed her hand against my back. The firm pressure immediately sent a wave of relief through my body.

She lowered her voice to a sultry whisper. “I’ll cook you more if you’re still hungry.”

It shouldn’t have been as hot as it was. But I could feel my center pulse with anticipation.

Taking her hand from my back, she walked over to the dining room table and set her own plate down. “I see you found my shirt.”

“I thought it was mine.” I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

Bri looked up at me. “It can be.”

Shaking my head, I looked at my plate of food and started in on the fresh fruit. It was cold, fresh from the fridge. Everything Bri was doing felt just right. I wasn’t sure what I had done to deserve so much attention, but I wasn’t about to turn it down.

After a few bites, Bri set her fork down and smiled at me. “So, I just wanted to say, I don’t want you to feel any sort of pressure from me to like… date. I obviously would like to keep seeing you. But I know you’ve not really been able to date around, well, ever. I just don’t want you to feel pressured if this was just for fun, or if it wasn’tjustfun but you still want to explore.”

I couldn’t stop myself from smiling at her. “Are you sure? Because I don’t want to string you along.”

Bri reached out her hand and grabbed mine, lightly rubbing her thumb against the back of it. “Sarah, I’ve watched you put everyone else’s needs before yours since we were kids. I’ll be here for you as long as you’ll have me.”

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” I put more pastry in my mouth.

“What?” Bri smiled.

Shrugging, I looked around. “That you’ve been there for all of it, and now here you are: sitting in my house, making me breakfast after spending the night in my bed.”

A part of me couldn’t believe it, but I also felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

Bri chuckled. “It is. But, Sarah, I’ve been waiting for this since the day I first laid eyes on you.”

Meeting her gaze, I knew she was right. And deep down, I knew I had been waiting for her too, even if I hadn’t known it yet.I still wasn’t sure what it all meant but sitting here with her felt more right than I could explain.

We kept eating, chatting between bites. Somehow after all these years, I’d forgotten just how funny Bri was and how easy it was for her to make me cackle. It wasn’t a sexy laugh but it was a real one.

After a while Bri stood up and cleaned up the last few dishes from brunch. I insisted that she didn’t need to, but she replied, “I’m not going to cook you breakfast and then leave a mess for you to handle.”

And that was the end of my argument.