Abby sat on the floor of her bedroom, legs crossed, picking at the frayed hem of her sweatpants as she tried to focus on the movie playing on her laptop. It was supposed to be a fun girls’ night—just the two of them, like always—but her mind was nowhere near the screen. Instead, it was on her.

She was sitting right next to Abby, their shoulders barely brushing. It was nothing, just a small, casual touch, but Abby felt like her entire body was on fire. She could hear the quiet sounds of her breathing, see the way the dim glow from the screen softened her features, made her look even more—ugh, stop.

“You okay?” her voice broke Abby out of her thoughts. She was looking at her now, head tilted slightly, concern in her eyes.

Abby forced a smirk. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You just seem kinda… distracted.”

Abby let out a fake laugh, shaking her head. “Pfft, no. I’m just—this movie is so bad, it’s actually painful.” She grabbed a handful of popcorn and shoved some in her mouth to avoid saying anything else.

Her crush laughed, nudging Abby playfully. “You’re the one who picked it!”

Abby rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t help the small smile tugging at her lips. If only she knew. If only she had any idea how hard it was to sit here, pretending to be just a friend, when all Abby wanted to do was reach over and—

Nope. Not happening.

Instead, she grabbed a pillow and threw it at her. “Okay, but you have the next pick. And if it’s worse than this, I’m never letting you live it down.”

She laughed, catching the pillow, and for a moment, everything felt normal. Easy. But as their laughter faded, Abby couldn’t ignore the way her heart was still racing—like some cruel reminder that she was falling for her best friend, and there was nothing she could do about it.