Malik – first kiss.

“Remember the first time we kissed?”

She chuckled. “You mean the time you kissed me? Yeah, I remember.”

My head fell back as I belted out a laugh. She was right, I did kiss her, but she kissed me back, and that’s all that mattered.

She lay on her back, then turned her head looking directly at me. “What made you do it?”

While rubbing her scalp, I thought back to that day. We spent a good three months apart. She went straight to New York after graduating, and I went to Kentucky. She’d just moved into her first apartment and helping her move was the perfect time for us to spend time together. We spent the entire day shopping and unpacking. And I missed her. More than I ever had before. She looked different, like her time in the city caused her to mature faster. Her hair was cut short at the time, and she was heavy into makeup. She was no longer the girl I grew up with she was a woman.

We were sitting on her dining room floor because the table hadn’t been delivered yet. There were boxes of pizza, Chinese, and burger wrappers spread all around us cause we both were on strict diets but wanted to pig out. The whole trip I was geeked because I had a gift to congratulate her on signing with her dream agency. There was no perfect time than at that moment. She continued to overindulge in greasy foods, while I went to my duffle to pull out the gift, I bought her. I sat the blue suede box in front of her, and her eyes lit up. My heart was beating ferociously against chest every second that passed. She opened the box, and tears filled her eyes. With one hand over her mouth, she used the other to hold up the silver locket necklace. Inside the heart was a picture of us in first grade. My arm was thrown over her shoulder as she smiled innocently. The necklace was my way of telling her no matter where our careers took us, we’d always be tight.

 Without warning, she lunged toward me and wrapped her arms around my neck. Her hug was tight and heartfelt. When she pulled back, there was a look in her eyes. I grabbed the nape of her neck and kissed the corner of her mouth. She shuddered but didn’t pull away, so I took it a step further. I kissed her lips. It was light and innocent. Then, I took her bottom lip and sucked on it slowly. She was no longer nervous because she started kissing me back.

 We took turns nips and sucking on another’s lips. It became hot and heavy after a while, as we introduced our tongues to one another. Then, my hands went under her shirt. Her warm, soft skin was covered in chills. Just as I was ready to pull her shirt off, her mother called to check on us. We stared at each other. Her eyes showing hunger and curiosity. My chest rising and falling at rapid speed. I wanted her to determine the next move for us.

She went on to answer the call and I stepped out on her tiny balcony to collect my thoughts. I questioned whether I really meant to take it there with her. She was my best friend. If we would’ve crossed hat line, there was no going back and that thought alone scared the shit out of me.

Once she ended the call with her mother, she came outside me. We stood in silence neither of us were ready to talk about what just happened. She took the lead by grabbing my hand and leading us back inside. After that, we went back to eating like it never happened.

That day was the first time I felt a shift in our friendship. Maybe we were too young and naïve to admit our feelings for each other. So, we opted to act like it never happened.

“It just felt right,” I said after a moment.

She hummed then turned back to the TV, and I continued to rub her scalp. She was too into the movie to notice I was staring at her. Little did she know, I wanted to relive that day, now more than ever.

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Malik Thompson had it all. He was at the height of his basketball career, had every endorsement he sought after, and women vying for his love. Even with all the good in his life, the one thing he was missing and wanted more than anything was the woman he’d loved since childhood - his best friend, Selimah.

Selimah Wilkerson was a force to be reckoned with in the modeling industry. When she wasn’t storming the runway modeling the finest in couture designs, she was working with non-profits to help underprivileged girls. She, too, was at the height of her career and had no plans on slowing or settling down. That was until she surrendered to her ever-growing feelings for her best friend, Malik.

Since the tender age of five, they’d been the best of friends. Back then, the loved they shared was sweet and innocent, as they were unaware of how complex and complicated love could be. Now older, and well versed in relationships, they decide now was the time to give their love a chance. Their road to love would be anything but easy as they navigate through skeletons, rumors, and unrelenting exes.

Can Selimah and Malik put their pride aside and fight for love? Or will they continue to allow fear to keep them apart…