One Step Away (A Bedford Falls Novel Book 1) Read Online Free

him.
    He saw the worry lines around her eyes. “You
think I need a stroke of confidence to make it through the day.
Well, I don’t need an ego boost. And I don’t need your pity.”
    “I don’t pity you. What’s wrong?”
    “You’re blind. Or maybe just ignoring what’s
right in front of you. Talking about a nice guy with a sense of
humor. A gentleman. I’m those things. And you say you can’t find
someone like that? I’m right here, Marisa. Right here! So where the
hell are you if you can’t see that?”
    She opened her mouth to speak as tears
immediately entered her eyes.
    Sensing that he’d finally gotten through to
her, Alexander didn’t want to lose her attention now that he had
it. “For two years, I’ve listened. I’ve tried to be supportive. But
I can’t do it anymore. Every single day in every single way, I’ve
shown you how much I care and how much I love you.”
    Marisa just stared at him, shocked.
    Alexander wanted to say more. He expected to
say more, but when that final statement had escaped his mouth, he
discovered that nothing could follow it.
    Having mentally prepared how he’d finally
admit his feelings thousands of times, he never imagined that he’d
shout his affection at her, rather than disclosing his deepest
secret over a bottle of wine while Sade played in the
background.
    “But we can’t.” Her eyes, which were always
controlled enough to never divulge her innermost feelings, released
confusion. “We’re best friends. I don’t want things to change.”
    “Who said change would ruin things? We’d
just be taking our relationship to another level. A better
level.”
    “But we’re co-workers. I’ve mixed both
things before, and they blew up in my face.” She shivered. “It
wasn’t pretty.”
    “But I’m not one of those other guys.”
    “I don’t want to risk it. I don’t want to
lose you.”
    “But you never had me.” Hearing the double
entendre repeat in his mind, Alexander wished he’d never uttered
those words.
    “You’re my best friend. Losing you would
just…crush me.” Deep sympathy lined her face. “God, it hurts to see
all that pain in your eyes.”
    All of this from someone who spent countless
hours laughing with him in the break room. Someone who treated him
to a Bulls game each year as a birthday present. Someone who stayed
up with him late in the night while watching action movies and
playing board games.
    “You want a perfect example?” she asked, her
voice quivering. “My parents. And look how that turned out.” She
shook her head, probably reliving the off-balanced give-and-take
nature of her parent’s relationship. “You’re the most important
person in my life, but I can’t love you that way.”
    Knowing that her mother had warped Marisa’s
kindness into a mass of contempt saddened him. Marisa never
disclosed much about her mother: only made glib comments before
switching the subject.
    “Alexander, please.” Tears spilled from her
eyes. “You’re already changing things.” A mountain of
self-condemnation dragged her shoulders downward as she shuffled
away.
    While his legs felt as flexible as a rubber,
his mind was clear for the first time since they met. He’d finally
revealed his feelings.
    But his heart was as desolate as a ghost
town with a lone wrapper floating through the streets, making no
sound as it skipped across the dust. The sensation made it
difficult for him to breathe.
    Nothing had ever hurt so badly: not touching
the scorching hot exhaust pipe of his father’s Harley as a
five-year-old, resulting in melting two of his left fingerprints
off; not flying over the handlebars of his Huffy bike and skidding
across the cement face first at the age of seven; and not even
breaking a finger while playing football in middle school, only to
have two ignorant ER doctors inject a ridiculously long needle into
his finger for no apparent reason. Those physical injuries paled in
comparison to the emotional turmoil that now