All Chapters of His Best Friend's Daughter: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

“Dude, every year you buy a new camera.”“I know. I think I have some bizarre camera fetish. Do you want one of my old ones? I’ve got about five, I think.”“Thanks, but I’m good. If I want a picture of something, I’ll just use my cell phone. I can’t deal with all those buttons and settings.”I wander across the kitchen to look out the window while I wait for him to put his boots on, and that’s when I see Kyra, Chloe, and Rayne sitting out by the pool, laughing like girls do.I have to force myself not to stare at Kyra in cut-off faded denim shorts, bright apple-red bikini top, sunglasses on top of her head pushing her hair off her face, and black motorcycle boots on her feet.It’s the little black leather boots that get to me the most and make my body twitch in ways it definitely shouldn’t.Fuck. I can’t escape this shit.She looks like she just stepped right out of one of Thalen’s biker chick calendars he’s got hanging in his work area.As hard as I try, my eyes disobey me and take i

“No, you have a rabbit that’s almost a hundred years old,” he glances over at Snuggles in her cage. “I travel too much to have a dog, and I don’t want you strapped down with another pet right now while you’re figuring out what you want to do next. I want you to be free to do whatever you want. You can go and love on Tor’s dog anytime you want.”What do I want to do next?I still have no idea.I snatch up my phone and my new shiny keyring and head downstairs with him right behind me. When we reach the foyer, I turn to face him and he practically slams right into me. He’s severely hovering.“Dad, I’ll be fine. Stop being a helicopter. I’ve been riding my bicycle to Tor’s house and all over town since I was eleven years old. I think the car is probably much safer. I’ll text you when I get there, and when I leave, and when I get home.”That gets me his famous smile.“Deal. I’ll be in the studio most of the day working some new vocals, so I’ll be able to focus better if I know you’re safe

“I didn’t kiss you, Kyra,” he finally says.I can’t see his eyes because he’s still leaning on his knees with his chin resting on his hands, so I’m left staring at the back of his head.“Yes, you did.”Does he think I imagined the most epic kiss of my life thus far?“It was an accident,” he says again, that emotionless tone totally foreign to me.“Are you kidding?” I say, my voice rising slightly.“No,” he says simply. “I’m not.”No way. I’m not going to let him put himself into denial over this.“How do you accidentally kiss someone, exactly?”Now I can hear him breathing, and he lets out a deep sigh.“I don’t want to talk about this.”He moves to stand, but I quickly grab his arm and pull him back down onto the bench.“Please don’t walk away.”He turns his face up to the sky and takes another deep breath, shaking his head.“Fine, Kyra. It never should have happened. It was a fucked-up, spur-of-the-moment thing because we were both all ramped up about saving the dog and we just kinda

It’s been a week since the talk we had in his backyard about the collision, and that night I changed his name in my contacts from Uncle Tor to Tor.I knew in my heart I was never going to call him my uncle again.Not after I knew what it felt like to be kissed by him, and not after the daydreams I’ve been having about him.Seeing the dream version of us was like looking into a crystal ball, and I saw our relationship in a new way that now I couldn’t forget.It also forced me to face several unexpected truths.I’m insanely attracted to him physically and mentally. I want to take care of him, and I want to be the person who makes him smile every day.I don’t want him to be any sort of uncle to me or be my dad’s best friend.I want him to be mine.Thinking back, I can’t deny that some of these feelings started to grow in me a very long time ago, like a seed that’s been slowly blossoming over the years, growing as we grew together.For as far back as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to

“Kyra, I'm sorry. I'm so fucking high on pills right now,” he says, running his hands through his hair. “You need to leave. Now.”“Wh - what? Why?” I’m still lost in the euphoria of his kiss, of feeling him so hard against me, my mind cloudy and humming, still wanting more of whatever just happened. I want a total head-on collision.“Please. Go.” He points to the door like I’m some kind of squatter who wandered into his house.“Tor...” I touch his arm, but he yanks away from me.“Kyra, you have to go. I mean it. I can’t be around you when I’m high as a fucking kite. I don’t know what the hell you’re doing to me.”I stand on wobbly legs, completely engulfed in confusion. “I’m sorry...” I stammer. “What about dinner?”I’m in a daze as he walks with me to the kitchen, where he scoops up my keys and hands them to me. “Don’t worry about dinner. And don’t be sorry. This isn’t your fault. It’s me, I’m messed up.”He practically pushes me to the front door, where I turn to look up at him, clu