Page 27 of Crushing On My Brothers BFF

“But Sophie…” He spreads his hands, gettingjustthe expression that made me obsess so much during mycrushing-harddays. “Iammature and experienced, and Iamthe boss.”

“Does that mean you’re my boss, huh?”

“I think there’s a thing or two I could teach you.”

My nerves blaze, tingling temptation dancing all over my body. It’s not as if I can tell him he’s wrong. On the experience scale, he’s in the stratosphere compared to me. There’s so much he could help me with, not just with steaminess but with life, careers, and my path in the future.

A lady walks by with her Chihuahua. I think I’ve seen her before, both her and her dog with big poofy hair, the same color too, snow-white. She looks over, then raises her voice when she recognizes us. “The Fame Warriors! Give them hell, y’all!”

I laugh, but Kaleb doesn’t find it funny. Maybe it’s because it reminds him that people can see us. He takes a step back.

“One thing I can teach you is this. When you’ve got a job to do, do it. Think as little as possible. Erase any doubts. Focus solely on that task like a laser and be cold about anything that gets in the way.”

I wonder if he’s talking about us, about staving off our desire. We need to focus onthatlike a laser.

“Shall we get started?” I ask, fiddling with the camera.

“Sure,” he replies, not looking at me, looking toward the ocean with a dreamy, faraway look. I’d give so much to reach into his thoughts and listen to his dreams.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Kaleb

My woman—goddamn it,Sophie—walks at my side, looking at me through the camera. She told me not to look so anxious, but it’s difficult when half my attention is on her, ensuring she doesn’t fall. She looks so beautiful when she’s working, blowing hair from her face, seeming flustered but capable simultaneously.

“Why don’t you tell me a little about how you and Paul met.”

“We met too young for me to remember that,” I tell her, remembering the kiss, howrightit felt to squeeze her against me, feel her curvy body, her perfection. “All I know is Paul has always been there. We were both only children for a long, long time. He didn’t have a sister until he was already twenty years old. We were like brothers.”

I have to saylikebrothers, or I’ll lose my cool again. I can’t think about the fact that we used to think of ourselvesasbrothers, notlike.

“What do you remember most about him as a child?” she asks.

We walk close to the ocean, the sound of the waves the perfect backdrop. We’re moving far up the beach, away from the busier areas, away from the dog walkers. In short, we’re going to the place where beach lovers might sneak off if they want privacy.

“His bravery,” I say. “No matter what happened, he was always ready to face it. He never backed down. He didn’t have the easiest home life, but he never let it break him. When his little sisterdidcome along, he took up the role of her guardian. He became a parent to her. I always admired him for that.”

She bites her lip, sniffling a little from behind the camera. This ignites confused hunger in me. One part of me wants to comfort her. The other wants to make her bite her lip for entirely different reasons and claim her slick, warm heat until she’s shuddering all over.

“Did he always play sports?”

“Not exactly,” I reply. “Neither of us had much money growing up. It wasn’t easy to afford all the equipment, but we did our best. We boxed with a cheap pair of gloves. We refurbished bikes from the dump and took them on trails until they fell apart. We rock-climbed and used two mattresses as crash mats. We got injured a few times, but it didn’t stop us from returning.”

Behind the camera, she motions with her hand.Keep going…

We turn a corner on the beach. There’s a golf club on one side, separated by a line of tall hedges, almost entirely blocking the club from view. There are no longer any people behind us or ahead of us. We’re alone out here.

“That’s why we started Free Everywhere,” I go on. “We knew what it meant to feel trapped: trapped by school, trapped by work, trapped by our own thoughts. But with sport, there’s freedom. It’s an escape. There are plenty of other ways to disappear: drugs, booze, parties. With Free Everywhere, we realized something. To truly escape, something has to be hard.”

When I glance at the sea, she puts her thumb up and then gestures to the horizon. She wants me to keep staring out there. I feel like an ass, but I do what she wants. Finally, she switches off the camera.

“That wasamazing,” she says, vibrant and full of attractive energy. “Seriously, that was so moving. Wow! Good work.”

I bow with a smirk. “I couldn’t have done it without your direction.”

She beams, tucking her camera into her shoulder bag. “Seriously, that was awesome.” She looks back at the way we’ve come. “I think we’ve accidentally covered most of the beach.”

“It’s quiet out here,” I say, nodding.

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