Page 10 of How to Kiss a Hawthorne Brother
“Flint was funny? That feels so weird because he’s such a serious actor now.”
“Right? I mean, he’s great at the serious stuff. But yeah. He’s also a really funny guy.”
“I can’t imagine having Flint Hawthorne as a brother,” Kristyn says. “Talk about pressure.”
“I don’t know. The rest of the Hawthornes hold their own. It isn’t fair, honestly. The amount of beauty and brains in that family is completely ridiculous.”
“Did you and Brody ever hook up?” She nudges my shoulder and raises her eyebrows, a teasing gleam in her eye.
“Is that what it’s always about with you?”
“Yes. Yes it is. I always want the dirty details, Kate. You know this about me.”
I roll my eyes. “I promise there are no dirty details with Brody.”
“Really? You never looked at him and thought making out might be fun?”
Something flickers low in my gut. “I mean, maybe? He has these amazing brown eyes, and sometimes, the way he looked at me made me feel like he could see all the way in, you know? A couple times, when he looked at me like that, I maybeconsideredthe possibility.”
Kristyn claps her hands giddily and smiles wide.
“Stop it,” I say. “I know what you’re thinking, and that’s not what’s happening here. I’m pretty sure Brody has always seen me more like a sister.”
“Uh, I know you don’t have any siblings, Kate, so you can’t know this from personal experience, but my brothersneverlook at me in ways that make me want to kiss them.”
“I didn’t say he looked at me tomake mewant to kiss him, I just said sometimes the thought popped in my head. That doesn’t mean he wanted it too.”
“Whatever. You’re missing the point.” She turns sideways and crosses her legs, her hands resting on either knee, and levels me with a glare that feels way too serious for the situation. “The point is, Brody sounds totally hot with brains to match.Andhe has a fantastic family,andhe has a steady job.”
She grows more and more excited the longer she talks, and I start to laugh. “What are you getting at?”
She shakes her hands like she’s just made some amazing discovery. “I’mgetting atBrody sounding like a first-class catch.” She lets out a gasp and reaches out to grab my knee. “Kate! You could have a friends-to-lovers romance!”
I roll my eyes. “With Brody?”
“Of course with Brody. You already know each other incredibly well. You’re here for the summer, he’s hot and brooding...”
“Brody does notbrood.And you read too many romance novels.”
“And all those novels have taught me a lot,” she says matter-of-factly. “In friends-to-lovers, the hard work is already done. You already know each other. You alreadyloveeach other. All you have to do is crank up the heat.”
“You’re completely ridiculous.” I toss my banana peel at her, and she smirks as she catches it.
“You say that now, but—”
Her words cut off when I reach over and grip her arm, my eyes locked on a pair of men climbing the hill below us. “Look. I think that’s them.”
The figures at the foot of the hill are too far away for us to see discernable facial features, but there’s still something familiar about the man in front. Familiar because... it’s Perry. I’m sure of it. The dark hair, the set of his shoulders. I haven’t seen any of the Hawthorne brothers in years, except Flint who I’ve at least seen in movies, but they all have a very distinct look.
Which means the guy behind Perry... cannot possibly be Brody.
The hair is right. Light brown, a little wavy. But he’s so...broad.He looks up, and my breath catches. ItisBrody.
Kristyn blows out a slow breath beside me. “Um, which one of those guys was gangly in high school?”
“The one in the back. It’s him. Oh my gosh, Kristyn, it’s him.”
I stand up and spin around, away from the trail. But it’s not like I can hide. I’m standing on top of a grassy mountain top. They call it abaldfor a reason. There isn’t a tree, bush, or boulder I could crouch behind if my life depended on it.
