Page 55 of Enemies with my Bestie’s Brother
“I’mjustreallynervous,you know. I could barely keep it together; how can I be expected to keep it together at my own birthday party?” I ask, looking to Landon for advice.
“You could try not getting plastered again,” Landon says, looking at me squarely.
I want to roll my eyes, but he is right. If I hadn’t been absolutely shit-faced, I never would have mistaken Whitney for Georgia Kelly King. After she told me what had happened, I had looked up pictures of the Australian model, and Whitney was right — their similarities ended at their height and their long blonde hair. Even their eye colors were different, with Whitney’s being the gorgeous blue that I love, and Georgia’s being a muted green.
“Great, now I have to police my BAC at my own birthday party. Just what I wanted.”
“Hey, don’t look at me. It’s your own fault for choosing not to tell everyone, which you really need to do, by the way. I don’t like being in this predicament of knowing, but having to hide it from everyone. It’s been difficult enough not to tell Hailey.”
“How is Hailey, by the way?” I ask innocently.
“She’s good, but don’t change the subject. You know that it’s wrong to hide this from everyone, especially Penny.”
I groan as I drop my head into my hands.
“Seriously, when do you plan to tell everyone? If you really love Whitney, then it’s only right for everyone to know. You do love her, don’t you?” Landon asks, raising an eyebrow in question.
Only a few short months ago, I would have balked at the idea of being in love with Whitney. But, my feelings have quickly grown stronger for her with every passing moment.
“I’m definitely falling for her.”
“Then why are you hiding your relationship with her?”
“Because it’s what she wants!” I burst out, unable to continue taking the blame for this situation. “It’s what she told me she wants. I’ve been championing for telling Penny this entire time, but she’s too scared.”
“She’s scared of Penny?”
“She’s scared of hurting Penny. She thinks Penny will be mad at us for lying for so long.”
“She probably will be. I mean, I would be,” Landon shrugs.
“Yeah, thanks man, that’s really helpful.”
“Just being honest.”
“Look, we’re planning on telling Penny after the birthday party. Whitney thinks that will be the best time, since most of Penny’s stresses will be over and she’ll be in a good mood.”
“Why don’t you guys tell her during the party? That’s when she’ll be happiest — the party coming to fruition, a little bit of drink. Seems like the perfect combination to me.”
I think over what Landon’s said. He’s right, Penny will be the most relaxed during the party. It makes complete sense to tell her during the party instead of after.
“Landon, you’re a genius. I’m seriously lucky to have you as a brother and a business partner!” I open my arms for a hug and he looks at me as if I’ve suddenly grown another head. “Come on, you know you want some of this hug action!”
I move closer to him and he shoots up out of his chair.
“Get away from me. You haven’t even showered this morning.”
I grin and take another step toward him.
“I’m warning you, Grayson. You’ll regret this,” he says as he moves backward towards the door.
I break into a sprint and he runs out of the room in response, leading us into a game of chase, just like when we were kids.
“Let’swatchamovieor something,” Whitney says as she plops down onto the couch. It’s been a long day of her remodeling the bedroom. She’s painted in there, even though she won’t even let me see the color. Right now, I’m sleeping in one of the guest rooms. To ensure that I don’t peek at all, Whitney keeps the key. If I didn’t already know she had trust issues, I would have definitely found out from this.
“Sure, what kind of movie were you thinking?”
“Maybe a horror movie?” she suggests, and I smile.
