Page 31 of I'd Never Date my Best Friend's Brother

I love my sister very much; we’ve always had a great relationship. But it’s been a bit superficial. For instance, I’ve never talked to my sister about feelings like the O’Connell siblings do. Jess and I have been friends but not best friends.

Our relationship consisted more of the “teasing siblings who tolerated each other” variety, which is why suddenly having her in all facets of my life feels completely weird.

Don’t get me wrong. I love Sean and Jessica together—they fit, and I wouldn’t want them to be with anyone else. But I sometimes feel like I lost my best friend in the process.

A horn interrupts my thoughts, and I rush to the kitchen to grab a protein shake. I grab my keys, slip on boots, and put on a hat and jacket.

I step on the porch to see that we’ve gotten a few more inches of snow overnight, and the sun’s reflection has me squinting my eyes a bit.

I slip into Sean’s car and notice him eyeing me with a smirk.

“Did Jessica pick out your outfit?” He shakes his head, laughing. “There are times when I think there is no way you two can be related; then you walk out in an outfit like that, looking completely disheveled, and I realize there’s no way you couldn’t be related.”

I force a smile and gently punch him on the shoulder. “Shut up and drive. I feel completely out of my element right now.” I hesitate for a moment—I don’t want him to think that I’m too keen on this—but my curiosity gets the better of me. “No Jessica today?”

“She’ll be meeting us at the salon.” Sean looks forward as he pulls away from the house, snow crunching under the car.

“What?! No one said anything about a salon! My hair is fine.” The grin on his face has me completely understanding why my sister complained about Sean O’Connell all those years. He can be an overbearing meddler, and he’s way too happy while acting that way.

“You’ll love it.” He waves a hand dismissively as he glances in my direction and smiles that famous Sean O’Connell smile that makes women worldwide want to do whatever he says. “I promise.”

I feel a scowl on my face and cross my arms, staring straight ahead.

I hear a chuckle. “You know, I always wondered when you’d feel this way.” He teases. “You always went after women who were completely superficial.”

“Hey.” I try to act insulted. “That’s not completely true!”

“Barbie? Tiffani? Marcy? Need I continue?” Sean laughs. I try to deepen my scowl, but I can’t.

A smile stretches across my face as he says those names. “Okay, okay. So, I picked women I knew wouldn’t ask much of me. I just wasn’t ready.”

“Are you ready now?” The tone of his voice hardens a bit. “This is my sister we’re talking about. Not only that, it’s Evie. Evie deserves—”

“Sean,” I interrupt. “Why do you think I ended things when I left?”

He doesn’t respond. We sit in silence for a bit, and I run a shaky hand through my hair. Hair that might just be getting chopped off. I shake my head at the left turn my thoughts took and sigh.

I knew I wasn’t the man for Evie. At least not the man she deserved. But what I know now is that I want to be. Being away from her made me realize how perfect she is. And not just for me, because Evelyn O’Connell is perfect.

She’s beautiful, witty, and kind—I mean, she’s put up with Jessica all these years. Need I say more?

Evie is everything a man could want. But most importantly, she gets me in a way no one besides Sean does. She always has. I just never noticed it before.

When things started changing, it was seamless. We fell into it so easily that I didn’t even know I was falling for her until after I left.

Would I have ended things if I had realized I was in love with her? Probably. I know how that sounds, and I agree that it’s bad. But it’s Evie, and marriage wasn’t even on my radar.

I groan. “I know I’ve only made things harder this way, but I needed to do what I did to know what I know now. I know Evie is the woman I want. She makes me better.”

“I’m glad to hear it. But you know if you hurt her…” He growls.

“I have no intention of hurting her again, but if I do, I give you permission to smack me as often as you want.” I raise my hands in surrender. Sean laughs and puts on Don’t Go Breaking My Heart by Elton John and Kiki Dee, belting out the lyrics.

“This is nice.” I yell over the music.

“What, hanging out?” Sean asks, turning down the music.

“You know I love my sister, but I kind of feel like I’ve lost my best friend a bit with the two of you together.”

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