Page 6 of Falling For My Best Friend's Brother

Krista’s phone rang with some annoying pop song.

“Aw, it’s Dante,” Krista announced. “Hello?” she said into her phone as she walked out of the kitchen and down the hall.

That was also the moment I realized I was not only alone with Emma Milton, but my leg was pressed against hers, thigh to ankle. Well, where her ankle was and my leg went on. I shifted away, then stood to refill my drink. It was that kind of night.

“Hey, Emma,” I said, feeling weird it took me so long to acknowledge her. “It’s been a while.” I almost winced at that. It was such a stupid fucking thing to say.

“Yeah, it has.” She kept both of her hands firmly wrapped around her glass. “Sorry again for—uh—your girlfriend leaving. I know I’ve said it a dozen times, but I just want you to know I really, really mean it.”

I shook my head. “It’s fine. Krista was right, I did agree to you two coming up here. Just don’t tell her I said she was right.”

Emma laughed but I could tell she didn’t mean it. She was uncomfortable. I couldn’t say I blamed her. If she remembered the last time we saw each other as well as I did, I don’t know if I would’ve had had the balls to face me.

“Thanks for that.” She took a sip of her drink. “Letting us come up here and stay. That was really nice of you.”

Emma was talking to me like I was a stranger and I hated it. But, after not seeing each other for nearly seven years, I guessed we were strangers. I took her glass and refilled it with whiskey and sours mix before giving it back to her.

“How’d you know what I was drinking?” Emma asked, accepting the glass.

Shit.I’d given away how much I still thought about her after all this time and we’d only been together for minutes.

“You’re still predictable. I knew your drink of choice hadn’t changed,” I said, deflecting the question. Mostly.

“Thanks.” She took a sip. “I guess. I don’t know how to take that. I mean, thanks for the drink, not for what you said.”

“I—uh—you look good, Emma.” And just like that, being back around Emma made me feel like that same punk from all those years ago who wasn’t good enough for her. She was beautiful back then, but she was even more so now. Her figure had filled out, giving her hips and thighs and breasts that were really doing something for me, and her hair was so long, and the perfect blond color that I knew didn’t come from a bottle. But what always killed me about Emma were her eyes. Krista and I had dark blue eyes, but Emma’s were light like the sky on a clear day.

I missed those eyes.

“So do you, Kyle,” she said almost like she was assessing me. I wondered how much of me she saw of me earlier. I recalled the way she was looking at me, and I would’ve bet that she not only saw a lot, but that she liked what she saw.

Maybe I wasn’t good enough for Emma back then, but maybe I was now.

I looked at her and smiled, shaking my head.

“What?” she asked with a laugh.

“Some things never change. And that’s a good thing.” I came around the island between us to stand closer to her. I thought I was going to have one night, but it looked like an even better one was shaping up.

“You’ve certainly changed,” she said, gesturing around the condo. “Multiple homes, a private jet, who even are you Kyle Beckford?”

I laughed. “Okay, maybe I’ve changed. Only for the better, though.” Why was I using cheesy lines on her? Emma wasn’t like the other women I went after, the women I only say for a month, a week, a night. “Bella isn’t my girlfriend, by the way,” I said. I couldn’t tell if it was just me or if the air between us was now charged with chemistry.

“I’m divorced,” Emma said, quickly. “For a year now.”

I glanced at her ring finger and sure enough, it was bare. I wondered why Krista had never mentioned that to me. Sure, we didn’t talk about Emma often, but I would’ve thought she’d mention something as big as that.

“Brendan was always an asshole in high school. I’m sure he hasn’t changed.”

Emma scowled and I knew again that I has said the exact wrong thing. He had to be her ex for a reason, though. And who would’ve thought bad mouthing an ex ever wasn’t a good idea.

“Yeah, but—”

“Sorry about that, guys,” Krista said, sauntering back into the kitchen. “Are you both already on round two?”

Emma and Krista looked at each other in some kind of silent exchange. I didn’t know what that meant but I had a feeling I didn’t like it. It made me wonder if Emma didn’t want to have been left alone with me. Or maybe, Krista was hesitant to leave me alone with Emma and was checking to see if she was okay.

“I am definitely on drink number two,” Emma said.

---