Page 18 of The Winning Ticket

“Not us, man. We’re not far off starting to look for our own place. Will and Lis might be a go, though. You should ask them tomorrow night.”

I could get on board with this. “Yeah, that’s a great idea. Are you guys still good for tomorrow night as well?”

“Yep.”

He hands back the documents and gives me an overview of what’s in them. Thankfully, the rest of the rules all seem fine.

“Oh, wait. Was there anything in there about pets?”

“Just that they only allow pets under 10kg. Why?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Bri asked if it was okay to bring Maddie tomorrow night. Didn’t want her to get the third degree in the elevator if there’s an issue with pets in the building.”

Chris pauses for a moment before answering. “I didn’t realise you and Bri had been in contact. Is there something going on I should know? Morgan mentioned she saw Bri come out of your room on Sunday morning.”

His big brother voice is starting to come out now.

I shake my head with a laugh. “Nothing happened. She wanted to go to sleep early, and with Kylie being drunk, I didn’t think it would be fair to make her share a room with them, so she slept in with me. I didn’t go to bed til hours after her anyway, and the bed is massive, so there was no touching.”

From the messages we exchanged this week, I get the feeling Brianna hasn’t mentioned anything to anyone about the spooning that had occurred in our sleep. When I’d awoken to find myself wrapped around her, I’d been both shocked and thrilled. Stacey and I had never progressed to sleepovers, so it’s been a while since I shared a bed with anyone else, and waking up to a warm back pressed firmly to my chest had felt so good. I wasn’t sure if it was because I’d missed intimacy or because it was Bri. When she’d stirred, though, I’d moved away and immediately felt the loss of her touch. I’d messaged her to apologise the next day, but I wasn’t actually sorry. It had felt too right to feel like I’d done something wrong.

“Good. Keep it that way,” Chris says, sounding like an overprotective father, which pisses me off.

“Hold up, since when do you decide who I sleep with anyway?” I ask.

“Do you want to sleep with Bri?” He shoots back.

I’m unsure if we are entering dangerous territory with this conversation. “Mate, she just broke up with her boyfriend. Even if I did want to sleep with her, I’m not interested in being anyone’s rebound.”

I can tell this is the correct answer when Chris relaxes back into his seat a little.

“Good. Because aside from the fact that she’s Morgan’s little sister, with you being out west most of the time, I don’t think it would work. And Morgan would blow a gasket.”

I hold my hands up. “Honestly, I have no intention of making a move on her. We’re just friends.” I narrow my eyes while I give him a stern look. “Like we were back in school, remember?”

He finally relaxes fully, and I let out a breath. I’m not used to being on this side of Chris’ overprotective nature, and I don’t like it much.

“That was a bit full on, mate.”

Chris has the sense to realise he overreacted. “Sorry. She’s just pretty vulnerable at the moment. Morgan mentioned she’s refusing to cry or anything about her breakup, and I know full well how hot she is, so the last thing she needs is to be jumping into bed with anyone else.”

“You do realise it’s me you’re talking to, right? Since when have you ever known me to take advantage of anyone, much less Morgan’s little sister? I’ve known Bri since she was born, remember,” I say pointedly, although I feel my chest tighten a little at the idea that Bri is refusing to deal with her feelings.

She’s always been one to keep her feelings close to her chest, but from my observations and what Chris has just said, it’s clear that she’s withdrawn into herself even more over the years.

“True. Sorry man. I wasn’t thinking.” He runs a hand through his hair and gives me a slight grin.

“Damn right, you weren’t. Cut that bullshit out. I don’t want to have to kick your ass.” I grin back at him, glad that the shit part of the conversation is over now.

Chris rolls his eyes. “You could never kick my ass, asshole.”

“I can, and you know it. In fact, let’s settle this right now.”

I get up, and he looks at me with raised eyebrows, opening his mouth to speak until he sees me heading for the Nintendo Switch controllers and laughs. I throw him one and turn it on before returning to the couch, holding the second controller in front of me.

“Mario Kart. Prepare to be beaten, my friend.”

We play a few rounds, and I do, indeed, kick his ass. It shows I have far more time to play video games than he does. I’m pretty sure that’s not something I should be happy about, though.

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