My Best Friend's Brother: A Standalone Friends to Lovers Romance (Soulmates Series Book 2) (27 page)

Chapter 49: Andi

I’d
finally accepted the fact that I’d be spending the night alone when I heard a
knock at the door.

I
hopped towards it while pulling on a pair of thick chenille socks.
"Coming!"

Izzy's
face looked spoon shaped in the peephole.

"Hi,"
I said, opening the door.

"I'm
sorry about the way I spoke to you earlier." She shifted her overnight bag
on her shoulder and lifted the hand that held a wine shaped brown bag.
"Can I come in?"

"Of
course." I took a step back, relieved that I hadn't quite given up and put
my pajamas on considering how put together she always looked. "I'll get
some cups."

She
closed the door and set her stuff down while I went to retrieve the last two
clean wine glasses from the kitchen cupboard.

"Is
it a twist off?" I asked, opening the cutlery drawer with my free hand.

"You
know it."

I
closed the drawer with my hip and met her by the couch.

She
waited until I was in the room to sit down.

Then
she opened the wine and poured two generous glasses before sliding one towards
me.

"So."
I lifted the glass and put a bent leg on the couch between us. "Your thing
got out early?"

"Yeah."
She took a quick sip and set her glass down again. "I think my professor
thought he would be playing a bigger role in the pre-screening commentary. He
blatantly got cut off. I imagine he's pretty embarrassed."

"
Mmm
."

"I
think he'll probably still give me extra credit, though, for not telling anyone
how totally underwhelming his speech was."

I
nodded. "And then you got cold?"

"Yeah.
I figured I'd swing by the house and grab a sweater from my bag before I met up
with you guys again."

I
swallowed.

"So."
She pursued her red lips. "I guess you're fucking my brother."

My
throat solidified.

"Sorry."
She scrunched her face. “I didn’t mean for that to sound so accusatory. I'm
just still trying to get used to the idea."

I
took a sip of wine.

"Which
I guess is the only thing to do since Shane pretty much told me in no uncertain
terms that he's completely smitten and doesn't really care whether or not I
give you guys my blessing."

"I
do," I said. "I care."

"No
you don't. Or you would've mentioned it before you passed go and collected two
hundred dollars."

"I
still care, Izzy." I took a deep breath. "I spent the last fifteen
years trying to convince myself there was nothing more between us than
friendship because I didn't want to mess up what the three of us had, what we
still have-"

"So
what changed?"

I
shrugged. "I think it has something to do with the completely crap string
of relationships I've gotten myself into over the last few years."

She
slipped her flats off and pulled her feet up on the couch. "Go on."

"I
mean, take Mike for example."

"Sure."

"I
was physically afraid of him."

Her
face drooped, and I saw real pain in her eyes, pain that told me she still
cared.

"And
that fear turned me into someone I didn't recognize, someone who told lies and
acted like a doormat. I started apologizing for everything until I was blue in
the face."

"I
noticed that last habit for sure. It was pretty annoying."

"It
all sort of came to a head one night in his stairwell. I nearly knocked my
teeth out trying to get away from him. And I went to Shane for help because I
didn't know where else to go, and I knew I could trust him."

"Of
course."

"Not
that I can't trust you, but he was here and-"

"I
understand. Please continue."

"Anyway,
I felt safe with him, and knowing I could trust him was like finding water in
the desert or something- like way after I'd forgotten how to drink, if that
makes sense.”

She
narrowed her eyes at me over her glass.

"And
then he kissed my busted lip really gently, and not only did I feel for the
first time in ages like there was light at the end of the dark tunnel of shit I
was in, but I felt pretty and feminine and desirable in a way I hadn't felt in
years."

"Uh-huh."

"And
the next time he kissed me wasn't that gentle, but it was just as
wond
-"

"Moving
on," she said. "Was the lying to me about it just a reflex then since
you'd been telling so many lies recently?"

I
cast my eyes into my glass before looking back at her.

She
raised her eyebrows. “Well?”

"No.
It was because when he kissed me, it opened the flood gates on all these
feelings that I'd been trying to suppress for so long, and even I didn't know
what to make of them, what to label them, what to do with them-"

"Besides
investigate?"

I
nodded.

"And
now that you've thoroughly-” She cleared her throat. “Investigated, what
conclusions have you drawn?"

"I
want to be with him, Izzy."

She
didn't blink.

"And
I think he wants to be with me, too."

"He
does."

I
raised my eyebrows.

"He's
crazy about you."

One
side of my mouth curled up.

"He
always has been."

I
took a sip of wine.

"And
I should've known. Or not been in denial. I just didn't want things to change,
ya
know?"

"I
wouldn’t say he's always been crazy about me."

"No.
He has. I just refused to acknowledge it despite my inklings. But now it seems
so obvious."

I
shook my head. "I don't think there was anything to pick up on
before-"

"There
was." She leaned forward, grabbed the bottle, and topped up both our
glasses. "He used to treat you differently, talk about you differently. I
thought it was just because we'd all been so close for so long, but it was more
than that."

"I’m
not sure what you mean."

"Like
in fourth grade, for example. You know how he used to let you almost beat him
at tetherball because he liked playing with you more than anyone else?"

"He
didn't almost let me anything. I was good."

"Oh
please. No one in the school could even give him a run for his money. You think
you were ever really close?"

I
bit the inside of my cheek.

"And
when you busted your face falling off that skateboard-"

"Because
of your shitty bike riding."

She
nodded. "I accept that."

"Good."

"Anyway,
the way his face fell when he saw how badly you'd been hurt-" She shook
her head. "I should've realized that day something was up."

My
lips fell apart.

"He’d
get more upset when you got hurt than he ever got about anything."

"He
didn't like when you got hurt either."

"True,”
she said. “But that was more a sense of obligation than anything. With you
there was something else. He'd be, like, physically sick and unable to eat when
you were hurt- or even upset."

"But
both of you guys were like that."

She
shook her head. "No. Don't get me wrong, I love you like a sister-”

I
felt my chest loosen.

“But
he’s the one that used to bring extra socks when we went sledding because he
knew your feet always got cold. And he’s the one that used to save the blue and
pink sour gummy worms
cause
he knew they were your
favorite. He’s even the one that called the dentist to find out how soon you'd
be able to enjoy a milkshake after you got your wisdom teeth pulled.”

I
stared at her.

“It
was always him. He was always thinking about you, conscious of you, borderline
obsessed with your wellbeing."

I
swallowed.

"I
thought he was just a nice guy, but it was you all along."

"We
were just kids then, Izzy."

"Maybe
in the beginning. Until your Tiger Lily bikini came into the picture."

I
laughed.

"Seriously,
though. I mean, he stopped talking to Steven altogether after he asked you to
that dance."

"He
did?"

"And
he never even told me he asked you."

I
pursed my lips.

"Until
an hour ago. And neither did you."

"Maybe
we did know," I said. "Maybe all three of us were in denial."

"Perhaps.
But I should’ve picked up on it years before that. I should've known as soon as
he made up that game."

I
furrowed my brow. "What game?"

"That
Oreo thing you guys do."

"Oh
please. We were seven. Besides, I thought you guys picked that up at your old
school?"

"No,"
she said. "Shane made it up."

"He
did?"

“Probably
so he could get to know you better."

"When?"

She
smiled. "The day he found out Oreos were your favorite."

Chapter 50: Shane

I'd
lost track of how many times I'd forced myself to stop shaking my leg.

"Here,
honey," Brittney said, setting a beer down next to Kevin before draping a
hand over his shoulder. "You sure you guys don’t need anything?"

I
was the only one that lifted my eyes from the card table. "I'm good,
thanks."

She
bent down and gave Kevin a kiss on the cheek. "I'll call you when I'm done
with my thing."

"Sure,
babe. Sounds good," he said, glancing away from his cards for a moment to
offer her a quick smile.

"Things
seem to be going well with Brittney," I said after she left.

Kevin
nodded and played a card. "No shit. She wants me to meet her family over
Thanksgiving break."

I
raised my eyebrows. "That was quick."

He
shrugged. "That was my first reaction, too. And then I realized what a lucky
bastard I am that a girl like her would even give me the time of day."

I
laughed. "Oh c'mon. You don't smell that bad."

"Very
funny," he said, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. "What
about Andi?"

"What
about her?"

"How's
it going?"

I
glanced up at the other two guys. Fortunately, they were as cool as they were
introverted so I knew I could trust them. "I don't know."

"What
do you mean you don't know?"

I
pulled my phone out and checked it, but neither Izzy nor Andi had sent me
anything. All I had was a message about wheelchair basketball being moved a
half hour earlier the next day.

"Shane,"
Kevin said, dragging me back to the task at hand. "Put your fucking phone
away when we're playing cards."

"Sorry,
fuck." I laid my hand down. "I fold anyway."

"Answer
the damn question, too," he said, leaning back in his chair. "I
thought things were going well with you guys."

"They
were," I said. "Until this morning."

"What
happened?"

"Izzy
came to town."

He
looked at me. "Have you told her what's going on?"

"She
sort of discovered it for herself."

He
wrapped a hand around his forehead and groaned.

"I
know."

"You're
an idiot."

"The
biggest, yeah."

"Where
is she now?" he asked, laying his cards down and gesturing for the other
guys to play on.

"At
Andi's. Talking."

He
shook his head.

"And
it's kind of fucked up because Andi and I have barely made sense of things
ourselves- at least out loud."

"It's
hard to do that with your mouth full."

I
rolled my eyes.

"What
do you think will happen?"

I
shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is that it's the first time losing her
has crossed my mind since we first got together and it feels really bad."

He
nodded.

"Like
as bad as you felt last year when you got food poisoning at the Sig's
cookout."

He
clenched his jaw. "I'm still convinced that was a planned attack."

"I
think it was just a bad burger, buddy."

He
shuddered at the memory. "That is the sickest I've ever been by far."

"My
point exactly."

"What
are you going to do?" he asked.

"Give
them more time to talk it out, I guess."

"Right."

"Then
maybe show up with food."

"Can't
hurt."

"But
I want to do something more,” I said. “Assuming Izzy doesn't totally fuck
everything up."

"More?"

"I
want to do something to show Andi how serious I am about her."

"You
mean something to prove you’re not the serial dating womanizer you were before
she came along."

"I
wasn't that bad."

He
laughed. "You're the only guy who's hooked up with the Camden twins at the
same time, and you still can't tell them apart."

"That's
not true. One of them has a tattoo on her hip."

He
narrowed his eyes at me. "Which one?"

I
scrunched my face. "Chloe?"

He
shook his head. "You're an idiot."

"Claire?"

"If
you weren't my friend, I would hate your guts, you know that?"

"And
I wouldn't put up with your disgraceful beer pong skills," I said.
"But my point is, I'm not that guy anymore. And I want Andi to know that I
like the version of myself that I am with her, that I want us to go-"

"What
is this?" Brandon asked from across the table. "Dr. Fucking Phil? Do
you guys want to play cards or can you not concentrate when you're on your
periods?"

"Don’t
be a prick," I said, pushing my cards and chips across the table.

Kevin
did the same. "You guys can see that I'm obviously Dr. Phil in this case,
right? Not the head case on the couch?"

“All
I see is two soppy tampons,” Brandon said, looking back and forth between us.

I
tilted my head to the couch across the room, and we carried our beers over.

"Sorry
to gush," I said, sinking into the ancient three seater.

"You
aren't gushing," he said. "Trust me. I'd cut you off if you were
gushing."

"So
you think you'll go meet Brittney's family?"

He
nodded. "I'd wear thong underwear and blush if it would make that girl
happy."

I
laughed. "Looks like we left the table just in time."

“Whatever.
Brandon’s just bitter because he’s in love with Claire Camden.”

“Oh
shit. I didn’t realize.”

“She’s
the one with the tat, by the way.”

“Right.”
I scrunched my face and wished I felt guiltier for not giving a fuck.

“Anyway,
I guess Izzy didn't take the news well?"

I
took a sip of beer. "She nearly walked in on us, Kev. I don't know how I
could even let that happen. It's like love's made me
stupi
-"

"Whoa
whoa
whoa
."

"What?"

"Did
you say love?"

"Yeah."

"Now
you're gushing."

I
sighed. "I know. And I don't even care. It's like that scene in Elf
when-"

"Elf?"

"Yeah,
the Christmas movie."

"Let
me guess,” Kevin said. “That's Andi's favorite?"

"Actually,
she prefers the one with the Island of Misfit Toys."

He
smacked his forehead with his palm. "There is only one best Christmas
movie."

I
raised my eyebrows and tipped my beer against my lips.

"Home
Alone."

"What
are you five?"

"It's
a fact."

"Whatever,”
I said. “All I was going to say was that I like that part where Buddy the Elf
is jumping around being like, ‘I'm in love I'm in love and I don't care who
knows it!’"

"Of
course he's in love. Who wouldn’t fall for Zooey Deschanel? She's ridiculously
hot."

"You're
missing the point."

"No,
I'm not. I get it. I do. I get that we only had to make it one more year to
graduate as free men, and we've fucked it all up."

"Yeah.
That's about the size of it." And yet, I was looking forward to the future
more than ever now that I believed Andi might play a big part in it.

"Does
Andi know you've gone soft in the head?"

"I
don't think so," I said. "But only cause I've distracted her by being
so hard everywhere else."

Kevin
dropped his head on the back of the couch. "You’re so lame."

"You
would know," I said. "I saw you across the Quad last week."

He
lifted his head and furrowed his brow. "When?"

"Wednesday,"
I said. "Right after Brittney asked you to hold her purse."

He
groaned.  

"But
don't worry. I think you successfully managed to hold it far enough away from
your body that no one would've mistaken it for your bag."

"You're
a dick."

"I
don't think it's that black and white myself, but-”

And
then it hit me.