Page 17 of Dating Her Brother's Best Friend

He shrugs, staring at me levelly. “Since I threatened to hunt her down if she didn’t help me convince you to give me a chance,” he says. “She agreed on the condition that I help her with Asa. Guess she thinks it’s time your brother settles his big ass down.”

I place a hand over my mouth, trying to stifle a laugh. “Um, does she have any idea what she’s getting into with him? He’s basically a madman, Jeremy. He terrorizes the whole town. It’s going to take a saint to deal with him!”

“That’s her problem.” He shrugs again, grinning. “I agreed to help convince him to hear her out. I did not agree to help rein him in.”

Laughter burbles from between my lips. “You’re terrible!”

“She called me a jerkwad and refused to help me.” His brows pull down, a scowl overtaking his face. “I spent a whole day in hell without you talking to me, sweets. If he gives her a little bit of it back, it serves her right.”

My heart flutters, my expression softening. “You really missed me that much, huh?”

“No,” he says seriously. “I missed you more. I was worried as fuck you were never going to talk to me again. I was in hell, Caroline.” He exhales a rueful chuckle. “I actually bribed Simon to smuggle my letters into the school just to make sure you’d read them.”

“I read all of your texts,” I whisper, only to pause when the waitress stops by the table to take our order. We both pick steak with asparagus and loaded potatoes with a local beer. Once she leaves the table, I turn back to Jeremy. “I obsessed over them.”

“Yeah?” He smirks, running the back of his fingers along my cheek. “You missed me, didn’t you?”

“Like crazy,” I admit, my mouth dry. “I missed you as soon as I kicked you off the porch.”

He tips his head down, brushing his lips across mine. Heat unfurls inside me, turning me inside out. Lord, I want to kiss him all day, every day. Which is basically what I did all day today. We didn’t even leave his bed until noon. We just cuddled and fucked and talked and laughed. It was everything I imagined, only ten thousand times better. There was nothing awkward about it. It felt exactly right.

“I’m glad you missed me, baby,” he breathes against my lips. “Means you knew that kiss was meant for you.”

“I wanted it to be mine so freaking bad.”

He smiles, stroking my cheek again, and then he clears his throat. “Have you talked to your brothers?”

“Briefly. Why?”

“Because you should know they both know how I feel about you.” He holds my gaze, his serious. “Apparently, they’ve always known.”

“Asa has his moments,” I murmur, not really surprised. “And Aidan is very perceptive.” My gaze flits across Jeremy’s face. “Asa isn’t mad about it. I don’t think Aidan is, either.”

“No,” he says slowly. “Aidan did threaten to break my arms and shove them up my ass if I make you cry again. Asa was less kind with his threats.”

“At least he threatened you,” I mutter. “When I texted him, he was all flippant and cool about it. So annoying.”

“What the fuck, Caroline?” Jeremy narrows his eyes on me. “You’re not supposed to want him to murder me.”

“I don’t. I just wanted him to threaten you a little. I was mad.” I shrug. “It was a whole thing. If it helps, I’m over it now.”

“Kiss me before I decide to spank you right here in this restaurant.”

I giggle, leaning forward to press my lips to his.

“Stop kissing my sister, fucker.”

I jerk back, shocked when I hear Aidan’s voice… only to groan when I glance up and see him and Asa both standing beside our table, wearing matching little boy grins. “What the heck?”

Asa pulls out a chair across from us, taking a seat. “Fancy seeing the two of you here.”

“Motherfucker,” Jeremy mutters, scowling daggers at his best friend. “You aren’t supposed to be here.”

“Says who? It’s a free country.” Asa leans back in the chair, crossing his arms behind his head with a shit-eating grin.

Aidan chuckles, crossing his massive arms. “He’s not wrong. We can eat wherever we want.”

“No way,” I growl, scowling at my brothers. “You can’t eat here. Not tonight. Go away.”

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