Page 33 of Crushing On My Brothers BFF

She shivers when I touch her. “It’s difficult to explain.”

“Whatever it is, I can help you.”

She rolls her eyes, not knowing how hot she looks or how perfect she is. Even with her tears, it makes her look sassy and cute as hell. “You can’t say that. You don’t know what it is.”

“Then you better tell me,” I say firmly.

She looks at me for a long time, her lips trembling like she’s about to break down in tears. I can see the pain in her eyes. I canfeelthe pain radiating from her. I know that sounds nuts, but it’s the truth.

“It’ll be easier if I show you,” she says after a pause.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Sophie

I don’t want to do this, but I can’t face this alone, either. There’s another factor that might make this a good idea. Or notgood, but the right choice. When Kaleb knows about my crush, he’ll probably freak and want nothing to do with me. That makes my chest tighten just thinking about it, but it’s the best choice for Paul.

“This laptop belongs in a museum,” Kaleb jokes when I take him into my bedroom, waving him into my computer chair.

I stand at his shoulder. He glances up, his intense eyes narrowed. Any second, Paul could wake up. Or Riley could get here. We have to be quick about this.

“There was another letter, but it was addressed to me this time. It’s a threat.”

“Athreat?” he growls, sitting up like he’s ready to hurt anybody seriously who’d dream of threatening me. I used to imagine what it would be like having Kaleb in my corner, ready to fight mybattles with me and always do the right thing. It used to fill me with such a misplaced sense of belonging, just dreaming of it.

I gesture at the laptop. “Seriously. Watch it. Then we can talk, but keep the volume low, okay?”

The bedroom door is closed, but I still don’t want to risk Paul hearing it. I sit on the bed, wringing my hands together like I’m trying to break my fingers, as he turns to the laptop and opens it. It takes forever to boot up, giving me all the time in the world to torture myself, to fall into a pit.

This is the right choice, I remind myself. I need his help. I can’t fight whatever this is without Kaleb’s resources.

I cringe when my voice comes onto the laptop, as thirteen-year-old me starts talking about Kaleb, about the crush.“One day, we’re going to get married,”the naïve, younger version of myself says.“Maybe we’ll even have a family together. I think we’d make a good team.”

“What the fuck is this?” Kaleb whispers under his breath.

I cringe at the disbelief in his voice, theanger, thedisgust.

“He’s the man of my dreams, so obviously, it would be a dream come true.”

He turns to me, his eyes dark and filled with disgust. It’s like he’s going to yell at me. He looks seriously pissed.

“You have to keep watching,” I tell him. “You have to see the end.”

He turns back to the laptop. His posture is tight, his shoulders tensed up. When the message appears on the screen, he lets out a long, trembling breath, like he can’t believe what he’s lookingat. He groans and spins in the computer chair, leaning forward, resting his forearms on his knees as he looks closely at me. It’s like he’s seeing me for the first time.

“Explain,” he snaps.

“I don’t know who sent it. I don’t know what they want. I don’t even know how they got that video. That’s why I showed you. I need your help.”

“I’ll help you,” he growls. “Of course I will. There’s not even a question about that, but that’s not what I’m talking about. What the hell is this video? What thefuck, Sophie?”

I cringe, wanting to latch onto the “of course I will.” He’s matter-of-fact about helping me. He thinks it’s obvious because of the bond we share. It’s not obvious to me when there’s that sick look in his eyes.

“You saw the video,” I mutter.

“You had a…” He stands up and goes to the window, shaking his head. His fists are clenched at his sides.

“A crush. You can say it.”

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