The beautiful naked creature next to me was Gwen. The taboo nature was that she was my sister's best friend. We had both crossed a line that we could never uncross, and I never would have wanted to even if I could. Did I think my sister would understand? No.
We didn't plan this. We had bumped into each other after work. I had started a new job unaware that Gwen worked in the same office block, although for a different company. She called out to me, and we hugged our hello. She felt comforted in my arms. The hug surprised me with its length and warmth.
Gwen had been my sister's best friend ever since primary school and like my sister was two years older than me. They were inseparable. I had always liked Gwen. She would make time for me whenever she visited my sister. At first, she would play with me then when we were teenagers she and I would talk like old friends. She comforted me when I caught my first girlfriend, Maddy Taylor, kissing my best friend, Dean Hargreaves, behind the sports hall after school when I was sixteen. She gave me advice on girls. I consoled her and told her she was still beautiful, at her lowest point, with her self-esteem destroyed, after a serious car crash, caused by a drunk driver, that lost her left leg below the knee and gave her a scar running across her cheek from her ear to her nose a few years later. I meant it too because I had a serious crush on her.
We had agreed to go for coffee. We enjoyed each other's company so much that coffee became dinner. The smiles we gave each other over the table betrayed a connection that offered more than friendship.
I drove Gwen home and walked her to her door. We meant to say goodbye, but our eyes and thumping hearts had decided that our night together was not yet over. They drew our lips together. Her kiss was gentle, her soft lips slowly opened, and our tongues caressed one another creating fireworks in my head.
Gwen broke off our kiss, opened her front door, and took my hand to lead me to her bedroom.
As I looked at Gwen, my brow furrowed with nerves before I gave her my confession,
"Gwen, I love....I love being with you," I stuttered clumsily almost giving away my true feelings.