Bad Thoughts

She wondered what it would be like to kiss him. Wondered if it would burn. She knew that he tended to flame up whenever he got emotional. He wasn't known as a hothead for no reason. So, she wondered what might happen in certain emotional moments like, say, a make-out session. When he was still dating the Ice Princess, she sometimes showed up in school with first-degree burns in the most interesting places. Once, in the girls' locker room, Layla saw a red patch of skin on her thigh in the shape of a hand. She found that she couldn't look him in the face for a whole week without blushing as she imagined how that mark came to be there.

That incident, unfortunately, made her start obsessing about his hands. The way they looked in those gloves. When they were wreathed in flames. How he held those books he was always reading. Hell, even when they were just bussing tables at the Paper Lantern. It was bad enough before when she sometimes caught herself staring at his mouth, but when she began to find even his hands sexy, then she knew that she was really in trouble.

How could she have missed the fact that Warren Peace, her best friend, was hotness itself?

Of course, all the other girls in school had noticed. Even Magenta had grudgingly admitted that he cleaned up nice when he wore that tux during homecoming of their freshman year. But Layla had been too blinded by Will then to actually see him. Well, she saw him now. And, boy, did she like what she saw.

Except that she really couldn't do anything about it. He was her best friend, yes, but they weren't such best best friends that she could slam him against the wall and kiss the crap out of him then laugh it off and expect him to continue bringing her free fortune cookies. Then there was Will. Sure, they had broken up ages ago and had remained pals, but he was also Warren's friend, and she knew that it would create all sorts of awkwardness if she ever actually did the slamming against the wall and kissing the crap out of Warren bit.

So, she kept the attraction she felt her deepest, darkest secret and, as long as she didn't stare too much at his hands, or his mouth, then she could make it through junior year and he would graduate at the end of the term then go off to college and no one would ever, ever find out that she had a major case of lust for Warren Peace.

Of course, this resolution just drove her crazy. In spite of her superheroic struggles, she couldn't stop fantasizing about him. For example, they would all be hanging out at Will's house. Warren would always get there last since he was just like that. Then Magenta and Zach would absolutely insist on going out to get pizza though they could just have it delivered, but ever since the two of them became a couple, they were always making the lamest excuses so they could sneak off together for some alone time. And Will would get a call to save the world that he just had to take because the Commander and Jetstream were vacationing in Fiji. Ethan would tag along with Will like he always did, and she would stay at the house to protect it or something and wait till Warren showed up. The minutes, or maybe hours, would pass and she would doze off on the couch and finally, Warren would arrive to find everybody else gone. Then he would wake her up and she'd say hi and pull him close to kiss him. He'd be shocked at first but then he'd start to respond till he's on the couch too, lying on top of her, crushing her deliciously. And it would be incredibly, incredibly hot and she couldn't get enough of his mouth. She had to have more, have it all. They'd both be so into the kiss that they would fall off the couch finally and crash into the coffee table, shattering it into pieces, and Layla would open her eyes -

And find herself staring right at Warren. She was straddling him. They were both breathing fast.

"Did all that actually just happen?" she asked.

It took him several seconds before he could answer. "Yeah." His voice sounded deeper and huskier than normal.

She got to her feet hurriedly. "Oh, God! I thought I was just -" He got to his feet, too, and waited for what she had to say. "Dreaming," she whispered faintly. She couldn't believe what had just happened.

"Well, you were sleeping when I got here," he said. "Must have been some dream." His expression was unreadable.

She only stared at him.

"Hey, we're back!" Ethan bounded into the room. "Zach and Magenta aren't back with the pizza yet? Sheesh!"

Will was right behind him. "Nice. You're here," he said to Warren. Then he frowned. "Guys, what happened to the coffee table?"

the end