Page 44 of Falling For My Best Friend's Brother

Nina

“How the fuck do you know where I live?” My tone carried the exact amount of bark I wanted it to. He was the last person I expected to see at my door.

“Nice to see you, too.” He smiled in that boyish manner that used to drive me crazy. Now I knew that there was nothing boyish or adorable about Michael Taylor. He was cunning and devious. I thought I’d healed from what he did to me, but now I could feel that the urge to snap his neck still existed.

“Answer my question,” I snapped.

Michael shrugged. “A mutual friend heard it from Lindsay. She’s in Boston now, isn’t she?”

My eyes narrowed with suspicion. “How do you know that? And what mutual friend? None of my friends would be friends with the likes of you.”

Michael laughed. The assholelaughed, as if what I’d said was funny. “Aren’t you going to let me in?”

“No.”

“Come on, Nina. I know you’re pissed off at me, and rightly so, but I didn’t come here to make trouble. I just want to talk.”

I glared at him for a few seconds, wondering what he might want to talk about. He couldn’t have come all the way here just to look at my face, would he? Plus, I had some things I never got the chance to say that I wanted to tell him myself.

“Ten minutes, that’s it.”

Without looking back, I stalked back into the living room, taking the sofa furthest away from the door. Michael closed the door behind us before following me. When I saw he was approaching where I was sitting, I sent him an icy glare, which he immediately decoded because he sat his ass down on the sofa opposite me.

I took the time to study him. The last time I saw him was about two years ago before his graduation, but there was little difference from back then. Sandy blonde hair that was now cropped low at the sides and longer in the middle, and he’d beefed up a little more. Straight nose and baby blue eyes thathad played a huge role in getting me to do his bidding. Thin lips that had kissed me into submission.

He was handsome, and he knew it, with an air of boyish innocence that he no doubt weaved into a weapon against unsuspecting women. Fucking asshole.

“Speak,” I ordered, crossing one leg over the other and my arms across my chest.

Michael cleared his throat. “Right. First off, I wanted to say thank you.” When I narrowed my eyes at him, he continued, looking a lot less sure of himself than he’d been seconds ago. “…For helping me back then.”

I scoffed. “You mean, running to your aid whenever you needed money and conveniently forgot to pay me back? Or for getting me to pay off your debt, then breaking up with me over a text?”

I watched him squirm under the force of my gaze.Good.It was obvious that guilt brought him here. So, he had a conscience after all.

“That’s why I’m here, Nina. I wanted to… apologize for doing all of that. I was young and stupid and…” He visibly swallowed. “…and broke. I thought I hit the jackpot when you told me you liked me. I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you like that. I’m sorry.”

“You can go fuck yourself, Michael. You and your fucking apology.”

“Nina—”

“You’re two years too late.”

“I know—” He made to stand up, but I held him back with a hand. “I know, and that’s on me. But would it be crazy if I told you I haven’t stopped thinking about you? That there’s not a day that goes by where you don’t cross my mind? That I’ve felt like shit for using you?”

My heart was hammering like a fucking drum inside my chest. I didn’t want to believe him, but he actually looked apologetic. But like I said, he was too late. If he’d told me all this back then, I would have forgiven him in a heartbeat.

That Nina was long gone.

“I would be a fool to believe anything you say to me ever again. Even if I believed you, you’re too late.” I sighed then, suddenly tired. “What do you want from me, Michael? Why did you come here? Everything you’ve just said could have been said over a text. Isn’t that how you told me you didn’t want me anymore?”

“But that’s the thing, Nina. Back then, I knew I had to break up with you. My conscience wouldn’t let me keep seeing you every day knowing what I’d done, but the truth remains that—” he jumped to his feet and sat next to me before I could react, taking my hand in his “—I still want you. I always have.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “There’s no need to go there – it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“I’m serious. That’s why I came back after graduation to see you. I wanted you to know that it was real for me too.”

I stared at him, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. “…What?”

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