Page 52 of Falling For My Best Friend's Brother

“Is she here?” Knox whispered, his glaring distress clear with each passing second.

I nodded, biting my lip. Our fear was understandable. We’d just had sex, and the entire place smelled like it. And knowing Lindsay, she would figure out that something had happened in an instant.

I had to think fast. “Give me a second, Lin. I’m in the toilet.” I cut the call immediately, halting her protests. Thank God Knox and I always locked the door when we were both home, or shewould have walked in and caught us wrapped up in each other’s embrace.

“Fucking hell,” Knox whisper-yelled, tugging at the long strands on his head as he began to pace. “She can’t know about us, Nina. We can’t do that to her.”

“Of course I know that,” I snapped. “You think I want to lose my best friend?”

Knox was freaking out. It was weird.

“So, what do we do?” he asked, panicked.

“I have no idea, but we can’t leave her out there any longer or she’ll know something’s up.”

“Shit. You’re right,” he mumbled. “Okay. You get the door and I’ll be in my room. Just tell her you haven’t seen me today.”

“Knox—” I opened my mouth to protest but he cut me off.

“Just go, Nina.”

And then he bolted into the hallway, leaving me standing there trying to remember why Lindsay couldn’t find out that I was her brother’s fuck buddy.

Oh, right. Because she’s my best friend and she would most likely delete me out of her life.

Lovely.

Sucking in a breath, I gathered some morale along with my clothes, and headed to the door, counting to three in my mind and letting out the breath before opening the door.

Instantly, I was attacked by two weirdly strong arms around my neck, causing me to stagger backward in an attempt to find balance, even as a quick laugh escaped me.

“Neens!” Lindsay cried, breathing into my neck. “Oh, how I’ve missed you.”

Tears stung at my eyes, and I shut them, inhaling her familiar scent. Everything else faded into a blur as an overpowering feeling of happiness washed over me. It’d been too long since I held her, and I didn’t know how much I missed her until now.

“I missed you too, Lin,” I murmured as the hug ended and we pulled away to smile at each other. “Jesus, how are you here right now? And why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

Her hazel eyes danced over my face. “First off, a work event and a few important meetings to attend. I’m in town with my boss for the next two weeks. And second, I wanted to surprise you!” She looked around, as if searching for something. Or someone. “Both of you, actually. Is my brother here?”

At the mention of Knox, everything came crashing back to me. I swallowed a thick ball of saliva, wetting my lips. I didn’t want to lie to my best friend, but Knox was right; she couldn’t find outabout us. Not only would it hurt to know that her best friend was fucking her brother, but she also already had too much on her plate to worry about us.

“I actually have no idea,” I forced out. “I haven't seen him all day.”

She frowned, looking back at me. “But it’s Saturday.”

I shrugged, trying to seem like the guilt I was feeling wasn’t about to swallow me whole. I hated this.

Eventually, Lindsay’s smile returned, and she closed the door behind her and drew me into the house. “I’ll call him later. Now come on, tell me everything that has happened since I’ve been away. And don’t leave one thing out!”

***

I spent the next hour catching Lindsay up on the recent happenings of my life: finishing my painting and putting it up for sale, which, by the way, had received an offer from someone willing to buy, but I declined because it just didn’t feel right. Then I told her about the house party Knox and I had gone to, and how Knox had been an asshole to Cindy and her husband, Penn, as well as the event Uncle Dean had hosted.

Lindsay listened with her full attention, laughing and frowning when she should and offering commentary at the appropriatetimes. It was just like old times, and I couldn’t believe she was back.

The only issue was that I left something out: my relationship—or rather, situationship—with her brother.

Ever since that night Michael showed up full of regret and apologies, things between Knox and I had shifted. We’d had a moment when he told me he had feelings for me—can someone say “swoon?”—and even though he didn’t let me say it back, I continued to think about it. So many questions arose after that night, questions I was terrified of asking.

---