BenValerie

After five years of silence, Anna Sliver James returns home for Thanksgiving, carrying a secret that shattered her life the night she left: she slept with her best friend kelvin Eli—thinking, in a haze of grief and wine, that she was falling into the arms of his older brother Josh, the boy she’d always loved.

But the fallout was swift and unforgiving. Anna disappeared without a word, changed her major, rebuilt her life, and tried to forget what happened. Her family never knew the truth, and kelvin never reached out. Now, she’s back in town with a new job offer in hand ready to finally move forward.

Until she finds out that the company offering her a fresh start has a familiar face at the top: kelvin is the CFO.

Thrown into close proximity, Anna and kelvin are forced to navigate a tangled mess of old wounds, unresolved desire, and the growing realization that maybe what happened that night wasn’t a mistake at all.

As the past collides with the present, Anna must finally face the question she’s been avoiding for years: Was she ever in love with the right brother?

Tense, sexy, and emotionally raw, "unwanted desires" is a story about love, guilt, redemption and what happens when running away no longer works.

falling for my best friend (unwanted desires)

Two months ago, I kissed her like my life depended on it. Two months ago, she kissed me back like she'd been starving. And then she pulled away like she regretted it the second her lips left mine.

I stopped showing up where she might be.

I stopped trying to read between her silences.

I stopped chasing someone who clearly wasn't ready to be caught.

She made her choice, and I made mine.

It's funny how pretending not to care can sometimes feel like self-preservation. Like armor. But even armor cracks under pressure, and I'm starting to feel every one of those damn fractures.

When she walks into the office wearing that shy smile like a shield, hair pinned back, eyes tired but still too soft. When she walks past me with a polite "Good morning" that tastes like ash in my mouth. When she laughs at something Mason says and I have to remind myself that I don't get to be jealous.

Because I'd rather feel nothing than risk her pushing me away again.

I'd rather be cold than bleed in front of her.

At first, I thought maybe she needed space. That she'd come around.

Now, I think she's trying to forget what happened. Like it was just a moment. Like I was just a mistake.

And that's the part that really f***s with me.

Because I've tried moving on. I've gone out. I've brought other women home. I've done everything I can to erase her from my system. But none of it works.

They don't fight me the way she does—in silence, in glances, in every little way that screams she still feels it.

Avoid the fifth-floor cafeteria unless I know she's not there.

Sit through board meetings without looking in her direction.

It's the only way I survive the day.

I tell myself I'm doing her a favor.

But at night, when the penthouse is quiet and the whiskey burns too fast going down, I lie awake and wonder:

Or am I just a ghost in her past, haunting a moment she wishes never happened?

Because if she asked me—if she looked me in the eye and said she wanted to forget—I'd let her.

But if she ever turned around and asked me to try again…

God help me, I don't think I'd survive loving her twice.

chapter 29