Page 13 of Messing With My Brother's Best Friends

“Fine?” I hadn’t meant to let that out, blinking when I realised what I’d said. It was worth it, though, because Kendall’s focus shifted to me, her eyes narrowing slightly before she forced herself to smile.

“It’s fine.” She shrugged nonchalantly, but I saw through that act. There was tension in her shoulders that I longed to massage out. “You want to buy me top-shelf tequila, move my stuff—”

“And put your furniture back together,” I said, unable to let that go. Connor might’ve bought her something to drink, but I was a dab hand at flatpack construction.

“Furniture…” Her eyes narrowed, and that wasn’t a happy expression, but if her eyes were on me, I didn’t care. “You want to put my bed together?” I nodded. She snorted as she looked at me and then Connor. “And give me somewhere to live? What, are you gonna put my granny panties away for me as well?”

“Ye—” I had that part of the way out before I even thought about what I was saying, falling face first into her trap, but Connor cut me off.

“Granny panties?” He looked her up and down slowly, something that had girls sidling closer when he shot them that look at the pub. “Only if you’ll model them for us first.”

“Shut up.” Her hand shot out and she shoved him, or at least she tried to. Right then I was jealous as fuck. I knew what that palm felt like against my skin, and by Connor’s look when he stared down at her hand, he was feeling just like I had. His feet planted hard against the car park asphalt, and he didn’t move an inch. She snatched her hand away, frowning at him right before both hands went to her hips. “You know I’m not going to go back to Finn and tell him you looked after his little sister.” Her frown deepened. “I can’t tell him about any of this.”

And there it was, the reason why we never said anything about what we felt back when we were kids and why we wouldn’t be saying anything now. Finn was her brother and our best mate, and a bloke didn’t strip another bloke’s sister bare and do all the things we’d been fantasising about. For the first time since Kendall walked in through our door, my heart sank.

“We know.” I smiled hastily as Connor just stared. “We won’t say anything either.” His gaze grew more intense, boring into mine and making it clear he needed me to shut the fuck up. “Finn would just about shit if he knew you were living with us.”

That seemed to do the trick. All expression smoothed away. Calm was regained, so why did something inside me break when I saw the light in her eyes die?

“Right, but this is just a temporary thing, so you won’t have to say anything to my brother.”

“Good fucking going…” Connor hissed at me as she strode off in front of us, back to the van.

“What?”

“Think before you start flapping your fucking gums,” he growled. “That’s all I ask. Just think for a second, because…” His focus shifted back to the van, his hand pressing on the fob to unlock the car when she tried the door. “We’re this close to getting what we’ve always wanted, so…” I nearly flinched when he jerked his eyes back to meet mine. “Do not fuck this up.”

I didn’t want to. Getting back in the van only to find Kendall sitting between us, it wasn’t hard to see it. Not her sitting uncomfortably on the bench seat, but on a much softer surface as we pushed that thin cotton top off her shoulders and— My train of thought was brought to an abrupt end as Connor turned the engine over and then eased the van back out onto the street.

Yeah, it turns out nothing changed. I was sitting beside the girl in a van, the fantasies my mind was determined to manufacture a fourth entity sitting there with us. I could almost feel their presence, forcing my heart to beat faster and my body to tense as I was hit with a startling realisation. I wanted Kendall just as much as I had when I was a dumb kid, the years not dulling the knife of desire but sharpening it. And me, I just leaned into the blade, bleeding everywhere but unable to pull away from its vicious kiss.

I was pretty sure Kendall wanted to punish the lot of us for what we’d put her through, but she didn’t understand that just being around her hurt more than any punishment she could possibly devise.

Chapter 9

Kendall

This was weird, right?

The sight of the house hit me as we pulled up front, my eyes taking in the beautiful facade while my brain struggled to accept this would be the place I would call home for a while. I shoved that to one side as the doors to the van opened and I slid out, right as a regular clunking sound let me know that Gage and Barbie had arrived. I blinked and then joined the guys at the back of the van, ready to start hauling boxes inside.

“No,” Gage said, appearing by my side.

“What?” I reached for the handle of the back of the van, about to open it, but Connor beat me to it, claiming it as his.

“Head out to the pool.” His spare hand offered me the house keys. “You and your friend can cool off, and we’ll get this sorted.”

“Oh, I like the sound of that,” my bestie said, looking Connor over more closely.

“Then I’ll make the margaritas.” I went to take the bag of bottles from Van’s hand, but his grip on them tightened.

“Nope.” He grinned to soften his words. “You don’t know where the ice or the blender is.” Then he said the words every woman wants to hear. “We’ve got this.”

Every woman but me.

Leaving home was a… moment for me. My dad was irritating as hell and didn’t do a thing to stop the boys terrorising me, but I hadn’t realised just how much he’d done for me until I moved out. I’d had to move my gear up three flights of stairs, get my car serviced, even learn how to replace a fuse in the ancient fuse box of the first place I’d rented, I’d worked it out and found myself growing stronger as I developed new skills. That feeling of competency that I clung to every day I was alive didn’t like being told no at all.

“C’mon, Fanta Pants.” The guys’ eyebrows shot up as Barbie wrapped her hand around my arm and dragged me away. “You can fight the good fight for female self-determination on a day that is less sweltering. Pool, girl.” Her voice took on the slightly manic tone pet owners used with their dogs. “Cool, splashy, wet, but most of all, cool.”

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