My Best Friend's Brother: A Standalone Friends to Lovers Romance (Soulmates Series Book 2) (17 page)

Chapter 30: Shane

My
face was still
smushed
into my pillow when I heard
the door swing open and bang against the wall.

Please
don't jump on me. Please don't jump on me.

"Who
the fuck is she?"

Chloe.
I blinked my eyes open and yawned.  

"Well?"
she asked, ripping the covers on the other side of the bed down.

I
groaned and rolled over. "There's no one here."

"That
doesn't answer my question?" She was in a short blue jumpsuit with her
hands on her hips.

I
forced myself to sit up. "Sorry. What was your question again?"

"Who
is she?"

"Who
is who? What are you doing here?" I rubbed my eyes and looked at the
clock. It wasn’t even ten.

"The
girl you took to the barn dance."

I
reached for my boxers on the floor. "She's a friend. Chill out." I turned
sideways and pulled them on.

"The
kind of friend you disappear for hours with? And then I heard she had hay in
her hair when you got back to the-"

"Why
do you even know that?"

She
picked up a pillow from the other side of the bed and threw it at me.
"Because you were supposed to take me, asshole! So obviously all the girls
in my house noticed when you showed up with some nobody-"

"That's
enough," I said, getting up. I walked over to grab the jeans hanging over
my desk chair. "Do you have any idea how crazy you sound? I never told you
I'd take you to the dance."

She
stomped one strappy sandaled foot on the ground. "But we have a
thing!"

I
shook my head and pulled my jeans on. I thought Chi O's were supposed to be more
chilled out than this. So much for judging someone based on their collective
reputation.

"Do
you have any idea how embarrassing that is?"

I
could see all the white around her blue eyes.

"For
all the girls in my house to be getting ready and making sad eyes at me cause
you blew me off?!"

"I
told you straight up that I wasn't looking for anything serious-"

"Sounds
like whatever you had going on last night was pretty serious."

"Sorry.
What are you hoping to accomplish by repeatedly reminding me that you have a
team of conspicuous blonde spies running lose on campus? Because it's not
making me feel closer to you." I bent down to open my mini fridge and
pulled out a half empty blue Gatorade.

"I
didn't come here to listen to you be a jackass."

I
furrowed my brow and swallowed a huge gulp of the cold drink. "Why did you
come here then? To catch me with her?"

She
looked down at her entwined fingers and swallowed. "I was hoping you might
apologize. Or at least explain."

I
raised my eyebrows and set the open Gatorade on the desk. "Explain
what?"

"Why
you didn't ask me?"

I
sighed. "Look, you're a great girl, Chloe, and we've had a lot of fun
together, but I have feelings for someone else."

She
ran her hand through her thick blonde hair and swept it to the other side of
her head. "Hold the fuck up. Now you have feelings?"

I
walked over and closed the door behind her. If she was going to yell, I didn't
see why she should disturb a bunch of other innocent guys.

"Let
me get this straight. You just wanted to have sex with me- no strings. And then
some other girl comes along and you've got the audacity to have feelings for
her?"

I
leaned against the door. "Actually, I think I've always had feelings for
her."

Her
eyes flashed. "What?!"

"I
didn't know it when you and I were together, but-"

"You
are so much more of an ass than I thought." She shook her head.
"Everyone told me to give you a chance to explain, but you're obviously
just a commitment-
phobe
with no respect for
women."

I
squinted and scratched one side of my bed head.  

"I
thought we were going to get a place together when we graduated. I thought we
were going to give this a real go when-"

I raised
a palm between us. "Hold on a second. I never promised you any of that
stuff. I think you have me confused with someone else."

Her
whole face took on a red flush. "Are you accusing me of something now?
Because I'm not the one sleeping around."

I
craned my neck back. "So you don't hook up with that Sig anymore?"

Her
lips fell apart.

"And
your ex from high school? The one who still comes to visit you? You expect me
to believe you never give him a little something to keep him sweet?”

"How
dare you insinuate-"

"What?
That there's a reason we always got along so well? Because there was." I
crossed my arms. "But it's not because we want the same things in the long
run."

"So
you don't even feel bad?"

"For
what?"

"For
not asking me to the dance when everyone thought you were going to."

"No.
I don’t,” I said. “And I don't know who counts as everyone to you, but based on
this fit you’re throwing, I actually feel pretty good about the decision I
made."

"You're
going to regret this, Shane."

I
bit my tongue.

"I
thought you were smarter than this, but if you're one of those guys that needs
to lose something before he recognizes the value it holds for him, then
fine." Her eyes were like blue ice. "We'll see who comes crawling
back."

"Fine
by me, but don’t hold your breath."

"Prick,"
she said, huffing towards the door.

I
stepped away from it so she could let herself out.

"Good
luck finding someone who can deep throat like I can," she said, yanking
the door so hard I thought it might come off its hinges.

"I
already did!" I yelled, leaning into the hallway so she’d hear me as she
fled down the stairs.

I
felt bad as soon as I said it, but whatever. She always got a rise out of me.
That's why the sex was so good.

But
long term it was a recipe for disaster. After all, she was obviously more
unhinged than I realized.

I
walked back over to my Gatorade and finished it.

I'd
heard rumors of women imagining whole relationships that didn't exist, but it
was even more terrifying to witness it firsthand.

Still,
I was kind of grateful for Chloe's surprise visit. Because it reinforced the
idea that I was ready for something different.

Something
real.

Chapter 31: Andi

I woke
up just before noon, and my mind immediately began racing with flashbacks.

Shane's
hands on me, pulling me against him, his fingers churning my insides…

His
dick in my hand, pulsing against my palm until I put my mouth around him…

Mike's
hands around my neck, my heart beat in my bulging eyes. Shane's face when he
saw me.

Anything
to protect her.

I
reached for the glass of water on my nightstand so I could free my tongue from
the place where it had dried in my mouth.

Could
this really be happening? Me and Shane? After all this time? After all this
convincing myself it would never happen?

There's
a first time for everything.

I
set the water on my nightstand, opened the drawer below it, and pulled out the
photo he gave me for Secret Santa.

I
didn't usually keep it in the drawer, but I put it in there after the first
time he kissed me, as if not seeing him every day might make it easier to shut
all the "what ifs" out of my head.

Its
regular place was on a thin shelf above my desk next to a picture of me and
Izzy dressed as pirates and a photo of my parents on the Fourth of July. It was
taken two days after they found out my mom was pregnant.

She
once told me she wouldn't have been any happier if she'd won the lottery, and
my dad said, as far as he was concerned, they had. Because I was their greatest
treasure.

No
fucking pressure.

I
wondered what they'd think if they knew I was fooling around with the only guy
they ever seemed to like. Scratch that- they’d probably been hoping this would
happen the whole time, and I couldn’t blame them.

After
all, he was everything I never thought I could get. He was smart, handsome,
funny, and kind. I figured I'd be doing well to score two out of four, though lately
I'd been settling for one.

I
dragged two fingers along the outside of the frame and looked at the expression
on our faces.

We
looked deliriously happy. But that could've been down to youth, not chemistry,
right?

All
I knew for sure was that being with Shane made me feel empowered, made me feel
like I, too, had lots of lovely qualities.

And
that boost couldn't have come at a better time.

I'd
been letting myself be victimized for too long, and that wasn't me. I didn't
recognize myself in the scared and self-doubting role I'd assumed in my last
relationship.

And
I didn't want to either.

I
wanted to go back to being that girl that felt brave enough to try new things,
brave enough to live in a way that didn't require me to lie regularly to myself
and others.

And
I could have that with Shane.

Sure,
Shane could only pick me up so far. It was my responsibility to find myself
again in the noise.

But
I was determined to do it.

I
pulled the covers off, went to my overflowing dresser, and pulled some gym
clothes out of the bottom drawer.

I
wasn't exactly disciplined about hitting the gym, but when I did, I hit it
hard, often punishing myself on the rowing machine.

I
liked that I couldn't watch TV or read while I rowed. Every single part of my
body was occupied by the activity.

It
was kind of like being around Shane.

Anyway,
I always felt strong when I was done, and that's what I wanted to feel now.

Plus,
I knew if I let myself wake up slowly, have a coffee, and chat to Steph, I’d
never make it, and I desperately needed to do something besides think about the
fact that I had my best friend's penis in my mouth last night.

I
was halfway to the gym when my phone rang, and my heart fluttered at the
thought that it might be him.

"Hi
Izzy!" I said too cheerfully.

"You
sound like you just woke up."

"No.
I just haven't really talked to anyone yet today. I'm on my way to the
gym."

"Time
for your seasonal fall workout?"

"Shut
up. Last fall I went at least twice."

She
laughed. "My sincere apologies."

"So
what's up? Did you sleep with your professor yet?"

"No,"
she said. "But you know me. I'm all about the chase. I'll probably lose interest
as soon as he actually learns my name."

I
furrowed my brow, my feet keeping a good pace below me. "What does he call
you?"

"
Isssabelle
."

"Italian?"

"Yeah."

"
Mmm
. I can see why
him
calling you
Izzy would suck."

"Speaking
of sucking, I'm calling to check on you."

My
heart froze in my chest. "Excuse me?"

"I
wanted to make sure you're properly on the rebound and not pining over
Mike?"

Did
she know about last night? "Why do you ask?"

"Because
it's my job," she said. "Besides, I can’t rely on Steph to encourage
you to fuck someone else as soon as possible."

"No.
I suppose not."

"Well?"

I
sighed and turned the corner, raising my eyes to make sure the gym was still at
the end of the street. "I'm definitely not pining."

"Promise?"

"Would
I lie to you?" Why the fuck did I say that?

"Right.
Well, good. That makes me really happy."

"Good."

"And
project rebound?"

I
scrunched my face. "I wouldn't say I'm making a project out of it."

"You
should," she said. "It's important to move on quickly in these
situations, especially because time is running out."

"What
do you mean?"

"I
mean when we graduate, it's going to become less socially acceptable to make
bad relationship decisions."

"And
you think whoever comes next will be a bad decision?"

"Only
because your choice in men lately hasn’t inspired much confidence."

"Thanks
for your honestly."

"Of
course,” she said. “So?”

“So
what?”

“So
tell me something good."

I
stepped into the street to make way for a cluster of joggers. "About
project rebound?"

"Yeah.
Who've you got your sights on?"

Oh
god she fucking knew. "Umm." I squeezed my eyes shut. "How do
you know if you're on the rebound or if you just genuinely like someone?"

"Theoretically,
I suppose both conditions could be met by the same person."

I
hopped back on the sidewalk. "Interesting."

"Why?
Who do you like?"

"No
one."

"Seriously,
Andi. If you don't at least find someone to crush on, I'm going to come over
there and pick someone for you."

"That
won't be necessary."

"Who’s
the hottest guy you have class with so I can creep him on Facebook?"

"You're
nuts."

"Do
you realize how difficult it is for me to micromanage your dating life
remotely?"

"Is
it more difficult than if you stopped caring?"

"I'll
never stop caring," she said. "And I don't mean to be obnoxious. I
just think even something casual might help distract you from the bullshit
relationship you just survived."

She
didn't even know the half of it.

"There
must be someone-"

"There's
a guy in one of my classes."

"Uh-huh."

"But
I don't know his name. He's… shy."

"Okay,
normally I would say the shy dope at the back of the class is a lousy target for
some slate clearing rebound action, but I'll let it slide since you threw me a
bone."

"Thanks."

"But
promise me you'll work on having sex with someone as soon as possible."

"Okay,"
I said, swiping my ID at the gym's front door. "I'll see what I can
do."