Free One Night (Friends #0.5) by Monica Murphy Page A

bench, my gaze fixed on all the stars. She leans her head against my shoulder and stares up at the stars too. “The sky is clearer out here,” I say.
    “I know,” she says softly. “Not as many city lights blocking the stars. Though the moon is pretty bright so we can’t see as many.”
    “There’s still a lot up there.”
    She turns to look at me, her eyes wide and she’s wearing a pretty smile. “Not as many as there would be if the moon was smaller. Right after a full moon, the sky is full of so many stars, no way could you ever count them all.”
    “Have you ever tried?”
    Slowly she shakes her head, her smile fading, but not her happiness. No, she looks pleased by my question, by my willingness to sit out here with her and stare at the sky. “I figured it was impossible,” she admits.
    “Nothing’s impossible,” I say firmly. “Unless you don’t try.”
    “Are you saying we should try?”
    “Hell yeah, we should.”
    The smile is back, fleeting but there, and then she’s kissing my cheek, her lips lingering close to my jaw. I swear I hear her inhale and I wonder if she’s trying to smell me. God knows I’m trying my hardest to smell her. “I like you, Cannon,” she murmurs against my skin.
    “Oh, yeah?” I’m afraid if I move, I’ll ruin the moment so I stay completely still, desperate to keep her close.
    Em nods. “Yeah. But don’t let it get around. I don’t want to ruin my reputation.”
    Her careless, supposedly joking words are like a punch to the gut. I back away from her, frowning. “Why you always gotta bash yourself like that?”
    “What do you mean?” She scowls.
    “You don’t want anyone to know that you like me because it’ll ruin your reputation?” I ask incredulously.
    She looks away, bracing her hands on the edge of the bench seat, offering up a little shrug. I’d bet money she’s gonna bolt any second, but luckily she remains in place.
    “Don’t act like that with me, Emily,” I tell her, talking to the back of her head. I don’t need to see her face as long as she’s listening to my words. “You’re more than a hook up in the back seat of some asshole’s car. And you’re more than the flirty girl in geometry class who pretends it’s okay when the guys make hand gestures at her. Like it’s funny they’re pretending to ask for a hand job when that shit isn’t funny at all.”
    Her shoulders flinch at my reminder. I’d seen some guys in the class we had together do that to her time and again and she always laughed. Brushed it off. At first I thought she was cool. Then I thought the guys were jerks.
    Then I pulled them aside one day after class and told them to stop with the crude gestures or I’d beat the shit out of them. They never gestured at her again.
    She has no idea I made that stop.
    “You don’t know me,” she says quietly, still facing away from me. “So don’t act like you do.”
    “I’d like to get to know you.”
    She glances over her shoulder, her gaze meeting mine, and I swear her eyes are damp with unshed tears. “Please. You just want to feel me up in the hopes I’ll fall to my knees for you.”
    Okay, now I’m sorta pissed. “When did I ever say that? When did I even act like that’s all I want from you?” When she says nothing, I forge on, anger making my voice thunderous. “I’ve been nothing but a gentleman toward you all damn night so at least give me some credit.”
    “Why? In the hopes it might score you a blow job?” She leaps to her feet, her hands resting on her hips. “Please. I’m not falling for your shit, Cannon.”
    “It’s not shit.” I rise to my feet too, standing above her, my anger fading quickly. I wish I could pull her into my arms and give her a hug. I’m thinking she really needs one right about now. “I’m being completely honest with you, Em.”
    “You’re a player.” She flings the words at me like an accusation. “You’ve gone out with so many girls I’ve lost count.”
    It’s