Page 5 of I'd Never Date my Best Friend's Brother

What is Jamie going to think about me in this new sweater? Will he think I did this for him? Will he care?

“You didn’t do this because of Jamie,” I say to my reflection firmly. “And it doesn’t matter what he thinks. He’s no longer of any importance to you.”

I turn from the mirror and glance at my watch. It’s ten past seven. Jess is going to kill me. I grab my coat and my keys and hurry out of the house, taking deep breaths to help slow the rapid beat of my heart.

Jessica asked if I could be at her house early to help set up. She’s not going to be too happy with me being late, but she’s the least of my worries. My thoughts stray back to Jamie, and my stomach drops. Knowing I’ll be seeing him again has my body hot, cold, and jittery, and my thoughts are running around my head like an obstacle course. I take my hundredth deep breath of the day and command my body to relax.

“It’s only Jamie.” I reprimand myself. A lump forms in my throat, and I swallow it to push past it, willing my heart to relax. But it’s not only Jamie, I sigh. It’s never been only Jamie, but it wasn’t until we were helping Sean get the speed dating event together that something shifted. I don’t know how or when exactly, but suddenly, he wasn’t just Jessica’s brother or Sean’s best friend.

I pull up to the curb in front of Jess and Sean’s houses and shake myself back to the present. When Sean came home last year, Jamie had him rent the house next to Jessica because he knew it would annoy her. I wonder if he still would’ve done it if he had known the can of worms it would’ve opened.

I chuckle at the thought and then blow out a shaky breath. I pull down the sun visor and look at my reflection in the mirror. I smooth back my hair and check my mascara before looking myself firmly in the eyes.

“You can do this,” I command myself. “This is nothing that you haven’t done a hundred thousand times before. It’s just game night.”

It’s just game night. Hah.

There is nothing normal about tonight, but I’m going to put my best face on and not let anyone see how much being in the same space with Jamie affects me. Especially Jamie.

I force my face into a very Evie-like smile, and then I slam the sun visor closed. I can do this. I will do this. My mouth goes dry as I grab my purse and the box of red velvet cupcakes from the passenger seat. I get out of the car and walk up to Jess’s house, taking one more deep breath.

When I walk into Jessica’s house, I can’t help but smirk. Jessica has always loved Christmas, but with Sean’s influence, walking into her house is like walking into a winter wonderland. There are twinkle lights all over the place, garland wrapped around the banisters, and Christmas music playing from the rafters.

My brother’s touch is all over this place. The chill that I’ve been carrying around finally drains from my body as the warmth of Jess’s house envelops me.

“Hey Jess, I’m here. Sorry, I’m late,” I call out, not seeing my best friend anywhere. I take off my coat and put the cupcakes on the dessert table.

“Hey, Evie,” Jessica’s voice rings out from upstairs. “I’ll be down in a minute. Can you check the hors d'oeuvres? They should be done any minute.”

“Sure.” I hang my coat in the closet and head into the kitchen just as the timer goes off. Turning it off, I grab the oven mitts. When I open the oven, I laugh out loud. This is the first big event that Jessica is hosting and she cooked like she was going to have a hundred people over. I’m not sure how we’re going to eat all the pigs in a blanket she made.

“At least she has food.” I laugh to myself as I remember the last time Jess had us over. She had one small bag of chips, a pitcher of iced tea, and three cupcakes. I find myself smiling as I remember the look on Jamie’s face when he walked in.

“You said we were eating,” he had said, looking over the stuff on the table.

“We are,” Jess had exclaimed. “This is what I eat.”

A laugh escapes me as I remember the relief on Jamie’s face when his mom walked in carrying a platter. His mom knew exactly what Jessica’s idea of ‘eating’ was and came prepared.

“Hopefully, no one brings anything extra,” I mumble as I put the next tray full of cheese puffs in the oven. “Anything else you want me to do while I’m in the kitchen?” I call out as I hear Jessica heading down the stairs.

“That’s it.” She looks around at the trays cooling off, and she gasps. “Is it too much?”

“Well, it’s better than not enough,” I tease. I smile over my shoulder at her as she heads to the fridge to pull out some shrimp cocktail and a veggie platter. My eyes widen in surprise, and I whistle. “You went all out, girl. I’m proud of you, Jess. You are officially a grown-up.”

“Evie,” she groans, walking over to the cabinet and pulling out some platters. “I just want everything to be…OOOOHHH, your sweater!” Her eyes gleam, and a smile crosses her face.

Under her scrutiny, I feel self-conscious and regret my decision to buy a new one. I run my hands down my sides and meet her gaze sheepishly. “Is it too much?”

“It’s hideous.” She throws her head back and laughs. “And utterly perfect. I love it!”

I blow out a breath, and my stomach feels jittery again. I smile weakly at her, but she doesn’t seem to notice as she walks over to me and gently stretches the sweater out, trying to get a closer look.

Finally, she looks up at me, her eyes twinkling with mischief, and I laugh for real. “Where did you find this monstrosity?”

“If I tell you, I’d have to kill you,” I joke, smacking her hands away and turning back to fill the platters. The front door opens, and I hear laughter. My heart clenches, and my stomach drops.

“Hey, babe! Sorry, I’m late.”

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