When Best Friends Cross the Line

I slept with my best friend.

Early the next morning, Dakota Lomax crawled out of bed wrapped in the comforter, looked at the underwear scattered all over the floor, and calmly lit a cigarette.

When she'd finished smoking, she got up, got dressed, and even turned back to glance at me. "Jake Perry, haul your ass out of bed, now!" Along with the words came my navyblue boxers.

I pulled them on under the covers like a man granted a pardon.

Then came the part I didn't see coming—her icecold words. "Jake Perry, listen carefully." "If a third person ever finds out about this, I will kill you." Chapter 1 I liked Dakota Lomax.

I'd liked her since college. I'll admit that when I first made friends with her, I did have some ulterior motives.

But somehow, those motives slowly turned into a rideordie "bro bond." Don't ask me. I don't know where along the way it went wrong either.

It got to the point where my roommate, Tyler, said that when it came to romance, I was all show and no go. "To get a girl, you gotta be shameless.

First you hold hands, then you kiss, and after the kiss you start rounding the bases," Tyler, the selfproclaimed love guru, lectured me. "If you had any guts, you and Dakota Lomax would have a kid by now." "Get lost." I didn't waste words.

Dakota Lomax wasn't that kind of girl, and I knew it. She was from Montana, and she had a wild, untamable streak in her bones.

If she really wanted to do something, you didn't have to say a thing.

Ask her out for a drink, and all you'd get was one word: "Let's go." If it was something she didn't want to do, you could talk till you were blue in the face, and not even God himself could make her.

After graduation, we went our separate ways, but we kept in touch on and off. This time, the occasion was Tyler's wedding, and it brought her and me back to Minneapolis.

My flight had been delayed, but she insisted on waiting for me so we could have a few drinks.

I couldn't hold my liquor anywhere near as well as she could, but this time, to my surprise, she was the one who got drunk first. A lot had happened since graduation.

She'd fallen for her boss. That married scumbag had wasted no time conning her out of her virginity.

It was the exact playbook Tyler had described. "Jake Perry, tell me—why am I so stupid?

He lied to me, and I still can't stop thinking about him?" "Jake Perry, are all you men just garbage?" "Jake Perry, say something, Jake Perry." The alcohol had her going completely wild, and she hung off me like a koala.

I didn't dare look at her. She was so close—her fragrant breath, the clean scent of her hair, those full, tempting red lips.

Then Dakota cupped my face in her hands. "Jake Perry, do you want to sleep with me?" At the wedding, Tyler, dressed up like a respectable human being for once, stood in the glittering gold ballroom and watched his beautiful bride come slowly down the aisle.

With the wedding march booming loud enough to deafen us, the whole thing actually stirred up a flicker of emotion in me that I had no business feeling.

Next to me, Dakota was crying her eyes out. "It's not like you're the one getting married.

Is all that really necessary?" "Are you coldblooded or something?" Dakota punched me. "Watching Tyler get married is like finally marrying off my problem child of a son.

I'm so relieved." "Ha ha ha." A problem child of a son. That comparison was deadon. I looked at her quietly.

Last night we'd done that, and yet this morning we'd both kept it unspoken, joking around like we always had.

Everything was exactly the same as always, and still, something didn't sit right with me. Chapter 2 When she was leaving, I took her to the airport.

The whole way there, we barely said a word. As we got close to security, I finally couldn't hold back and pulled her suitcase back toward me. I wanted to tell her: Come with me.

I'll take care of you for the rest of my life. But before I could open my mouth, Dakota gave me a warm smile. "Hands off my damn bag.

Is this how you see off your dear old mom?" "I…" "You what?" Dakota yanked her suitcase back. "Get lost. My most trusted friend—see you when I see you." My most trusted friend.

I froze. She rolled her suitcase through security without looking back. That one word—"friend"—had shut my mouth for good. Dakota Lomax, who's the coldblooded one here?

I've liked you for six damn years! Then Tyler called. "I heard you slept with Dakota Lomax?" "Holy shit, how do you know?" "Duh.

It's not just me—everybody from school who was at the wedding knows." Tyler sounded like he was enjoying this. "Everyone watched you carry Dakota back to your room.

You think we're all stupid or blind?" A chill crept up my spine. Okay.

I could start picking out how I wanted to die. "Bro, strike while the iron's hot and lock her down!" Tyler said excitedly over the phone. "This is a gift from heaven, man.

Blow it and you won't get another shot!" "I'll think about it." "Think about it, my ass! I've got a hundred bucks riding on you, you know?

Hey, don't hang up, don't hang up on—" I let out a long breath.

These past few days, it wasn't like I hadn't tried to get in touch with Dakota, but our conversations kept dying midstream.

We'd be texting back and forth, and then she'd just stop replying.

The explanation was always the same: "Busy with work." I looked up a ton of explanations online for this kind of situation, and the answers were always the same too: "She's keeping you on the bench as a backup." She wasn't the type to keep a backup.

I was sure of it. Dakota's looks were the eyeofthebeholder kind. People who thought she was pretty thought she was stunning.

People who thought she was average thought she was really, really average. Just my luck, I was the first kind. Even so, back in college, plenty of guys went after Dakota.

There was a state senator's son who drove a Cadillac, a student body president who was all polish on the outside, a smoothtalking TA—but without exception, Dakota turned every one of them down.

The student body president got it worst: Dakota pinned him down on the street south of campus and beat the crap out of him.

Dakota would often throw an arm around my shoulders. "I'm not looking for anybody, and neither are you. You and me, we're real comradesinarms." Comradesinarms, my ass.

It's because I like you, you idiot, I grumbled to myself. But it was exactly that cowardice that kept me from ever making a real confession.

Only a few times, after we'd been drinking, had I dropped hints. "Dakota, look, you're single, I'm single—why don't we just settle for each other?" I figured any girl would get a hint like that.

I was the one holding out the olive branch. But Dakota's reaction was explosive. "Settle? Why the hell should I settle?

This woman does not settle!" Dakota threw another fit. "Jake Perry, do you look down on me? Do you look down on me? Huh?" Great. Another beating for nothing.

I hesitated for a long time, but in the end I made my decision: no matter what, I owed it to myself to be brave for once. Dakota was in Denver. Then I'd go to Denver.

I called my boss. Chapter 3 "Boss, you mentioned before that the Denver branch needed a department manager.

Is that still on the table…" I deliberately didn't tell Dakota ahead of time that I was coming to Denver.

I wanted to land at Denver International Airport and then casually give her a call. "Hey, Dakota Lomax, yours truly just landed in Denver.

You buying me dinner or what?" I was sure that in that moment, Dakota would be over the moon. But the reality wasn't quite what I'd expected. "You… you're in Denver?

Why didn't you tell me ahead of time…" There was some reproach in her voice, and she hemmed and hawed for a long time. "I've got something today.

How about… another day?" "Dakota Lomax, isn't this a bit much?

I came all this way, and you won't even buy me a welcome dinner?" "It's… not that I won't." Dakota's voice got quieter and quieter, and finally she sighed. "Fine, fine, come on over.

I'll send you the restaurant's location." An hour later, after dropping off my bags, I got to the restaurant. I'd assumed this would be a private dinner between me and Dakota.

I never expected three people to be sitting in the private room.

Dakota stood up, perfectly at ease, and clapped me on the shoulder. "Look at you, ambushing me!" I gave a slightly awkward smile. "And these are…" "This pretty girl here is Karli.

Cute, right? She's a new grad our company just hired. And the other one…" Dakota's eyes darted away. "He's Greg Blackwell." Greg Blackwell?

The Greg Blackwell who'd conned Dakota out of her virginity? My body went a little weak. A wave of helplessness surged from the soles of my feet up to my brain.

I dragged Dakota out of the room. "Are you insane? Did you forget how he played you? And you're still talking to him?" Dakota, who was always so fiery, actually had nothing to say.

She kept her head down, twisting her hands together. "It's not… We're not back together.

It's just dinner." "You've really lost your mind." Furious at her for knowing better and doing it anyway, I poked her in the head.

When love rivals meet, sparks fly, and I wasn't about to lose face. Since it had come to this, all I could do was tough it out.

I put on a different face and made myself look calm and collected. I led Dakota back into the room by the hand. Dakota and I sat side by side, with Karli and Greg across from us.

Only then did I have a chance to size up the scumbag in front of me. He looked under thirty, his eyebrows neatly groomed.

He wore a black leather jacket, and on the bridge of his nose sat a pair of brown retro glasses, standard issue for scumbags.

He looked refined—probably what they meant by a polished creep. "Jake, right? Dakota talks about you all the time.

Here's to you." Greg stood up with a smile, and I looked him over with a smile that wasn't quite a smile. "Greg! Oh, wow, your reputation precedes you.

So what do you do for a living? You a sailor? The girlineveryport kind?" Thunk. Dakota kicked me under the table. I gritted my teeth to keep from crying out.

Greg's face twitched, but he quickly recovered. "Looks like Jake has the wrong idea about me.

Tell you what—I'll drink this one down, and we'll call it my apology." The rest of the evening had a very strange undercurrent.

Dakota, usually so talkative, went quiet instead, while Greg and Karli kept chatting about funny things at the office. I was the assassin lurking in the shadows.

Every time the conversation was really going, I'd slip in a couple of stabs. "Mr. Blackwell, a charming guy like you must have plenty of young girls crushing on you, huh?" "Mr.

Blackwell, you manage your schedule so well. Must take real skill to fit everyone in." Chapter 4 "Mr.

Blackwell, juggling work and your love life without dropping either one—brilliant. Truly brilliant." Of course, the scumbag was no pushover either.

He had an answer for everything and deftly brushed off every shot I took. On that front, I had to hand it to him. After dinner, Karli suggested we all go do karaoke.

I had nothing better to do, so I went along. At the karaoke place, using a bathroom break as cover, Dakota pulled me aside. "Could you please not go after him like that?" "Me?

I'm going after him? I'm not." "You're still saying you're not? Keep this up and I'm gonna get mad at you." I froze. The deadserious look on Dakota's face was hard to believe.

Six years of friendship, and you're going to turn on me over a guy who hurt you like that? "Fine.

Do whatever you want." I stormed off back to the karaoke room, only this time the seating arrangement had changed: Karli sat right up against me, and Dakota and Greg sat together.

While the songs played, they whispered to each other one minute and laughed together the next. Jealousy burned inside me.

Karli, on the other hand, was very attentive to me. "Dakota said your family has a mansion—is that true?" "What do you do now?

You're already a department manager at your age?" I answered all these questions halfheartedly, but my eyes kept landing on the pair nearby.

They hadn't done anything out of line yet, but the affection between them was written all over their faces.

I kept dragging Greg into clinking glasses and drinking, breaking up their rhythm.

In the end, Greg caught on to something too, and he patted my shoulder. "Smoke outside?" "Let's go." We headed out to the entrance without needing to say more, and he lit my cigarette for me. "I know what you're thinking, but don't worry.

This time, I'll treat her right." "And what's your guarantee?" I gave him a cold smile. "I know you like Dakota Lomax.

We're both men—nobody's fooling anybody." He shot me a contemptuous look, like a jockey who'd just won the race. "But she's mine." "Don't count on it." I wasn't backing down. "We'll see." He put his cigarette out early and went back inside.

Once he was back in the room, he pulled Dakota into his arms. Dakota flinched slightly, but she didn't pull away. In that moment, I felt my heart bleeding.

Out of spite, I grabbed Karli's hand.

Karli let out a little cry, and her body fell willingly into my arms… I wanted Dakota to look this way, just once, and see my socalled "childish rebellion." But she didn't.

Her eyes never once rested on me. It felt like a knife twisting in my heart. I started drinking blindly, trying to numb myself with alcohol.

Seeing that, everyone else kept pace with me, glass for glass, until it was one in the morning and we were stumbling out of the karaoke place, holding each other up. "I'll take you home," Greg said to Dakota. "In your dreams." I shoved Greg away, my finger almost touching the tip of his nose. "Whatever anybody says tonight, I'm not letting you take her home." "Move!" Greg's temper flared too.

He grabbed my collar with one hand and reached for Dakota with the other, and we went at it, pulling and shoving like maniacs. Just then, Dakota spoke. "Jake Perry, let go of him