You knew it was wrong, and he knew it too. Those lingering glances, those smiles, those stolen touches… they were anything but casual. Just like your feelings for him.

Oh, those feelings you had tried to smother so many times. Every time the butterflies in your stomach betrayed you, you would force yourself to believe it was just friendship. But deep down, you knew it wasn’t.

You couldn’t do that, not to Taylor, not to your best friend. You never meant for it to happen, but it did. And now, every time you and Alex were alone, guilt wrapped around your heart like a vice.

Falling for your best friend’s boyfriend was wrong in every possible way. You had met Alex at Taylor’s birthday party, and from the very first conversation, you’d discovered you had so much in common, especially your shared love for music.

That night, you’d joked about playing together sometime. And you did. What started as casual evenings playing a few songs on guitar turned into entire nights in the studio, writing music, laughing, sharing secrets, and enjoying each other’s company.

Those nights felt… intimate. You told yourself you should stop, for Taylor’s sake, but the comfort you found with him was far too tempting to let go.

Tonight was no different. You walked to the studio door, hesitated for a moment, then pushed it open. There he was, sitting on the sofa, guitar in hand, fingers strumming slow, soothing chords in that effortless way only he could. And god… he looked good doing it.

He must have felt your presence, because he looked up, meeting your gaze. A small smile tugged at his lips. “Hey, you’re late,” he said, not annoyed, just matter of fact, like it was the most natural thing in the world for you to be there.