Page 34 of Sweet Twins For My Brother's Best Friend

He’s in one chair and I’m in the other.

It’s times like these I wish I had a living room with a big squishy couch so that I could sit next to him, wrap my arms around him, and close this gap between us when he so obviously needs it right now.

He runs a hand through his hair, his movements tense and agitated. "I... I ran into Julie today," he confesses, his voice laced with sorrow.

My heart sinks at the mention of his ex-girlfriend –ex-fiancée-knowing all too well the complicated emotions she stirs within him.

She stirs complicated emotions within me, too, one of them being guilt that I didn’t warn him she was in town.

This gutted feeling he’s having right now is my fault.

"I'm sorry, Chris," I murmur sympathetically, reaching out to place a comforting hand on his arm.

He glances up at me, his eyes filled with a mixture of pain and frustration.

“Oh,” he says, when he looks in my eyes. His soften, and I think again what teddy bear eyes he has, rimmed by long curly lashes.

“No, it’s not that. I mean, yes, it was hard to see her. But it’s something else.”

“Something else? What do you mean?”

She had seemed fine when I saw her last, happy even, excited about her new job and not nervous in the least to be back in the same town with her ex.

“I asked her about Noodle,” he continues, his voice barely above a whisper. “And she told me.”

Noodle. The sweet, energetic pup Chris had shared with Julie.

My heart clenches at the thought of her, knowing how much she meant to him.

The clench only gets tighter when I imagine them picking her out together, so in love, holding hands as they look in at sweet puppies whining behind glass walls.

I can see them now, Julie saying, ‘Aw, Chris, look at that one’ and Chris saying ‘She’s perfect.’

A shared look between them. It makes me sick. After the kiss we shared, I don’t want to think of any shared moments between him and anyone but me.

"Told you what?" I ask softly, dreading the answer. I stare at him as his head hangs between his knees.

Chris takes a deep breath, his gaze distant as he recounts Julie's words. "She... she got rid of her," he admits, his voice heavy with desolation.

“Got rid of her?”

His head snaps up and he narrows his eyes as he looks at me. "Yes. Just abandoned her like she meant nothing."

The news hits me like a punch to the gut, my empathy for him completely devastating, and I reach out to squeeze Chris's hand in silent solidarity.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Chris," I murmur, struggling to find the right words to comfort him.

"Thanks, Hannah," he says softly, his voice thick with emotion. "I just... I needed to be here. Is it okay?"

I nod in understanding. I stand up and cross to him to hug him, letting him rest his warm cheek against my stomach. "Of course, Chris," I reply, offering him a small smile. "I'm here for you, always."

"Thank you," he whispers, leaning into my touch as if seeking refuge from the storm raging within him. I rake my fingers through his curls, swirling them across his scalp.

In that moment, as we face the sorrow together in the quiet comfort of my office, I realize just how much Chris has come to mean to me.

As I hold him, my hands stroking his hair, the back of his neck, his shoulder blades, offering him whatever solace I can, I think about all the other ways I want to offer him solace.

The other day, in his apartment, I had wanted to lose my virginity to him.

---