Page 16 of Finally a Bride: Best Friend's Brother

Shit. That kiss fucked me up.

I can’t think straight. Maybe I should leave. Since the wedding isn’t going to happen, I could just go back and enjoy a few German beers on my last days off.

But something is keeping me here. I want to make sure Mallory’s okay. She’s resilient, like our mother, and I know it’ll hurt. I’ve been cheated on. It sucks knowing you’re the last one to know and feeling like you’ve been duped, but it’s also a clear window into a person’s interior reflection. Better now than later is my thought.

As much as it’s my sister keeping me here…

It’s Ella that’s stealing my every thought.

It’s the curiosity of really seeing someone for the first time from a different angle. The angle of both attraction and interest. The woman is infinitely sexier than she knows. I could see her reluctance to accept my assessment that she’s gorgeous.

She is. Period.

I adjust my cock. Thinking about her starts a chain reaction that’s instant.

And Ella’s intelligence and honesty, they make her one in a…

Tap. Tap. Tap.

I sit up and grab a blanket to cover my lap. “Come in.”

I imagine it’s Mom and she doesn’t need or want to see this. But the head that peeks around the edge of the door brings on an instant smile.

“Hey,” I swear I sound like a fuckin’ teenager.

“Hey…” She does that biting of her lip and my issue below the blanket goes from semi to hard. The woman doesn’t know how sexy she is. It’s so natural. So beautiful.

She’s a new memory meeting an old memory and the crashing is happening in my heart.

“I… I was wondering if you’d like some company?” she asks, closing the door behind her slowly.

“I definitely want some company.” I scoot over on the queen bed, but she stays with her back against the door.

“I think I’ll stay here for a minute,” her voice shakes.

And it hits me. That kiss… so timid and so tense… and she didn’t touch me.

“Ella, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Are you a virgin?”

She smiles. “No. Are you?”

“No.”

“Yeah, I remember the girls talking about you in high school.”

I scoot back against the headboard, my below-the-belt situation gone. “And what did they say?”

“Well, when I was a freshman, I overheard Jamie Logan telling Britney Gallow that you were the best she’d ever had.”

I was gone for two years at that point. Ridiculous that they made up shit after I left, but I kinda like the smirk she has on face.

“What else?” I ask, my ego starting to inflate, even if it’s a lie.

“Then I heard that you had a threesome with a girl and guy from that school where you had to wear the mascot uniform.”

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