Page 2 of Dating Her Brother's Best Friend

He starts to hand it over, then seems to think better of it and pauses, his hand hovering in the air. “I didn’t mean to be a dis-brup-tive PITA,” he says, his blue eyes wide. “Please don’t call my dad.”

I bite my lip. Poor kid. He rarely means to be a disruptive PITA, but I think it runs in his genes. Since school started a few weeks ago, he’s been in my office every week. Last week, he started a mini-riot in his class over recess being canceled. The week before, he set off a stink bomb in the bathroom. We nearly had to evacuate an entire wing of the school because the smell was so awful.

The year just started, and I think his teacher, Harmony, is already considering murdering his dad, Sawyer. It’s not ideal. It’s her first year teaching!

“I’ll make you a deal,” I say. “If you tell me what you did this time, I’ll consider not calling your dad.”

Simon’s eyes widen. “Really?”

“Really.” The odds of me not having to call his dad are slim to none, but I can’t kill the kid’s sense of hope. What kind of guidance counselor would I be if I did that? A terrible one, that’s what kind.

“It’s Show and Tell, so I brought my dad’s new drone to show everyone. I didn’t mean to make it fly in the classroom! But then I couldn’t make it stop flying. It accidentally broke the light, and then it hit Roger’s habitat and broke it.” His eyes well up as he relays the news about the gerbil’s habitat. “Now, Miss Riser is grumpy,” he says, the story bursting from his lips in an unbroken train.

I hesitate for a full five seconds after he finishes, mildly alarmed. His dad owns some sort of aviation company. They work with freaking NASA. Jeremy’s father gives him so much shit because his brother is this big wig, but Jeremy decided to go into the Army instead, as if that made him somehow inferior to Sawyer. “Simon, does your dad know you brought his new drone?”

His shoulders slump.

“Simon,” I groan, rubbing my forehead. “You can’t just bring his stuff to school without talking to him about it.”

“But it’s really cool, Miss Steele!” Excitement fires in his eyes. “It has night vision and everything.”

“Hand over the note.” I motion for it and then wait for him to hand it over before skimming it. Harmony’s account of events more or less matches his. He broke one of the overhead lights in the classroom and his dad’s drone. Great. I do not want to call his dad. He’s going to lose his mind about this.

My gaze flickers to my email. Maybe I should have Jeremy deliver the news that Simon stole his brother’s drone and killed it. He can soften the blow because I’m guessing the thing cost a whole lot of money.

“Am I in trouble?” Simon asks, his voice soft… worried. “I didn’t mean to hurt Roger! I promise, I didn’t.”

“I know you didn’t, but I think so, buddy,” I say softly.

His shoulders droop, his bottom lip quivering. And that breaks my heart. He’s a good kid. He’s just… feral. His mom has never been in his life, leaving Sawyer to raise him alone. It’s been tough on him.

“Tell you what,” I say, taking pity on him when the bell rings, signaling the end of the day. “I’ll talk to Miss Riser for you to see if I can help. But it’d probably help if you wrote an apology tonight to bring to her in the morning.” I meet his gaze. “You should also talk to your dad about the drone, Simon.”

“He’s not going to be happy.”

“No, he’s not,” I agree. “But you did the crime, kiddo. That means you gotta do the time.”

“Should I write him an apology, too?”

“You can try.” I offer him an encouraging smile. “It’ll be okay. But you can’t take things without asking. Especially things for his work.”

“Okay,” he whispers, scrubbing at his eyes.

“Hurry before you miss your bus.”

He nods and darts out of my office.

I sigh, dropping the note onto my desk. And then I laugh quietly. Harmony is right. He is a disruptive PITA. But he means well. It’s hard to stay mad when he never means to do any of the damage he causes. He’s just an unstoppable force of nature… exactly like my brother, Asa.

Asa causes chaos wherever he goes. Jeremy is a stabilizing force in his life. I think he’s probably the reason my brother survivedthe Rangers. He’s strong, dependable, and protective. He’s exactly the type of guy you want around in an emergency. Asa could be the same way, but he tends to act first and think later.

The only time I’ve ever seen Jeremy act first and think later was when I got hit by a drunk driver. He was so freaking mad. I thought he was going to kill the guy with his bare hands. The only reason he didn’t was because I started crying. As soon as he heard me sobbing, he just stopped. He took me to the hospital and insisted they look me over. He didn’t leave my side, not even after Asa and Aiden got there to take over.

I think that’s the day I realized I was in love with him. I was nineteen. It’s been five years, and the feeling has only grown stronger. He’s the only man I’ve ever felt this way about. I gave up fighting it a long time ago. He’s it for me. My person. My one.

I glance back at my email, chewing on my bottom lip. If he doesn’t feel the same way, it’s going to crush me. But I’ve waited long enough.

Before I can talk myself out of it, I quickly hit send, a ball of anxiety in my stomach. Within seconds, the email is out of my hands, winging its way through cyberspace to him.

---