Page 1 of I'd Never Date my Brother's Best Friend

Chapter 1

Sean

“Ava Norris has just broken up with her fiancé after seven years of dating! This is huge news, considering the fact that he just proposed to her last week, and they have been relationship goals for the longest time. And people, we have reasons to believe that this breakup was inspired by– ” The presenter adjusts her glasses, deliberately heightening the tension. She coughs and then dramatically clears her throat, “None other than the most eligible bachelor in the industry, Sean O’Connell.” She winks at the camera. “This is causing quite a stir, as fans of both actors have clashed in their bid to defend their stars. However, the insane chemistry between Sean and Ava cannot be overlooked. Her poor ex-fiancé! But who would blame Ava? I would do the same. Sean is delectable, handsome, rich…”

The presenter’s passionate musings stop as the TV blinks off. I turn away from the screen to see my manager, Warren, and the rest of the team staring at me. “Why did you turn it off?” I ask with a roll of my eyes. “I was enjoying that.”

“What?” Warren’s mouth falls open, his eyes narrowing into a glare. “Did you hear what she was saying?”

I fold my arms behind my head and lean back, letting a smile grace my face. “She said I am delectable, handsome, rich–”

“Sean!”

“What?” It’s my turn to glare, but it doesn’t last. Glaring is kind of Warren’s thing, not mine. I’ve been told my glare makes people laugh, which is annoying, by the way.

“Sir–” Franca, the young college student who is my assistant and also manages my social media accounts, starts. “Uhm–I envy your ability to find humor in everything, but this is serious.” The intensity in her eyes communicates just how serious it is. “Ava is also a big star, and although her fan base might not be as large as yours, it’s large enough to cause a commotion. They’ve been attacking your reputation as a ladies’ man.”

“I thought being a ladies’ man was a compliment,” I tell her.

“That depends on the situation. This isn’t the situation, sir.”

The “sir” sounds like a petty jab, and I narrow my eyes at the Gen-Z social media manager to let her know I caught that. She immediately lowers her eyes. Coward!

The truth is, I know. I know what is going on and that it’s more severe than my team is letting on. I also secretly have access to my accounts—don’t tell Franca, she has accused me of micromanaging sometimes—and I see the comments and messages I get from Ava’s fans. They’re not pretty. At first, this entire debacle started as a joke. One random user posted that I was the cause of Ava and Will’s breakup. Next thing, the internet was running with it.

Sometimes, I wonder who the “internet” is. Are they actual beings or just automated bots? I go with the latter because most of them have no brains of their own.

The biggest movie of the year is Web of Love, where I starred as the lead alongside Ava. It was a romantic show, and as always, I put in my best. Apparently, my best was “too much” because the entire world now believes my chemistry with Ava could not be contained on screen and must have bled into our personal lives. It was funny when a few hardcore fans posted slow motion edits of us at press events to prove our chemistry extended beyond the screen, but then it got out of hand. As an unfortunate coincidence, Ava breaks up with Will, her boyfriend of seven years, just weeks after the movie comes out. The breakup cemented their herd belief, and they agreed that I was the cause of it.

I’ve been called several names by random Ava fans in the past few weeks, the funniest one being “handsome turd.” It sucks being called a turd, but at least I’m a handsome one. I blame Ava. With all the speculations and rumors surrounding our “chemistry,” couldn’t she wait a few more months to break up with Will? I’m just kidding. Ava has been the sweetest in this trying time.

“Why are you smiling?” Warren asks, leaning his forearms across the table.

“I was just thinking of Ava.”

When their mouths collectively fall open, I realize my wrong word choice. “Not that way,” I quickly correct. “I’m not helping matters, am I?”

“No.” Marie, my publicist, shakes her head. She’s been quiet since this meeting started, but now she looks like she has a lot to say. “Can I say something?”

I knew it. “Please, go ahead, Marie.” I smile.

“I understand that you have absolutely nothing going on with Ava Norris; you’re just super talented.”

“Thank you.” I clap and stare pointedly at Warren, who does think I might have something going on with Ava. If he wasn’t my manager, I have a feeling he’d be leading the internet mob against me. Warren rolls his eyes, a hint of a smile in his eyes.

“But I also think–” Marie continues, “We should take this very seriously. It’s not dying anytime soon because you’re still making appearances. You should lay low for a while.”

A frown mars my face, and I sit up. “I’m low-key, you know that. Or do you have any special idea in mind for laying low?”

Marie and Warren exchange glances and my blood runs cold. Individually, they’re overbearing and “too much”; if they team up, they’d be insufferable. The shared gaze is disconcerting.

“I’m waiting…” I probe, holding their gazes.

“Okay.” Warren takes up the conversation. “Your next major project doesn’t start filming until July.” He whips out his tablet and starts scrolling. “Before then, you have a series of appearances, interviews, and the like, nothing serious.”

Nothing serious? My eyes narrow.

“Sean… ” Warren looks up at me again. “I’ll suggest you keep things low key and stay out of the public radar until your next project. The internet will move on to something else very soon.”

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