Page 35 of Crushing On My Brothers BFF

The front door opens. We both hear it deeper in the house. Kaleb quickly leaves the room before Riley can catch us. I go to the desk and close the laptop, hearing Kaleb talking with Riley in the hallway. When I go into the living room—waiting a couple of minutes so it’s not suspicious—Kaleb is sitting on the chair, holding his mug of coffee.

When Riley leaves to give Paul some medication, I say quietly, “I’m sorry.”

He’s not looking at me. It’s like he’s doing it purposefully, finding it painful to even be near me. “You don’t have to apologize,” he says. “You were just a kid. Hell, you’re not?—”

“I’m not a kid anymore,” I snap before he can reference my age. “When I look at those videos or think about my crush, it all seems silly and immature. I’mnotthat person anymore.”

“That’s what I thought,” he says darkly. “When I returned to the West Coast and saw you for the first time, I didn’t think you were a kid anymore. Now, I can see how fucked up I’ve been, taking advantage?—”

“We have to stop,” I hiss, “for Paul. It’s not right, but don’t talk about me like I can’t make my own decisions. I chose it as much as you did. It has nothing to do with the crush.”

He sighs. “Are you trying to convince me, Sophie, or yourself?”

“It’s the truth,” I say. “Just because I had a crush doesn’t mean I’m some stupid little girl anymore. I’ve done a lot of growing and maturing since then.”

“It’s been six years,” he says, massaging his forehead. “Six years ago, I was thirty-six. That’s just to put it into perspective.”

“Maybe I don’t give a damn about perspective,” I snap, struggling to figure out exactly how this has happened.

This is what I wanted, wasn’t it? I wanted him to realize we could never work. I wanted him to know we have to end things. Yet here I am, seemingly desperate to convince him he can still have me.

“Anyway,” I force myself to say, “it doesn’t matter now.”

He nods, not looking at me. It’s like he can’t. “You’re right. From now on, we have to be better.”

“We will be,” I say, having no idea if it’s true or not.

“And don’t worry. We’ll figure out who’s behind this. We’ll make them stop before Paul finds out.”

That’s the most important thing. It’s the only thing that matters. If we can keep this away from Paul, then we’ve succeeded. We’ve done the right thing.

“Okay,” I say, “thank you.”

I meant it, Kaleb. I don’t have a crush anymore. What I feel for you is way more intense than a silly crush could ever be.

“No problem,” he replies, with that same look on his face: pain, regret, disgust. I got what I wanted. I’ve ruined everything.

So why do I feel like such a failure?

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Kaleb

“You good, bro?” I ask, sitting at Paul’s bedside. Something is depressing about the dust motes in the air, shifting in the light that slants through the window. They’re like small creatures mocking my friend for his condition.

Paul sits up in bed, a faraway smile on his face. Riley adjusts the blankets at the end of the bed. “He’s on some fairly strong painkillers today,” Riley says.

“He is?” I look at her.

She never seems to want to look at me. I wonder if it’s the whole billionaire thing. I’m used to people behaving strangely around me, as though I’m a different species to them, but there seems to be something else here, too. Or maybe I’m just all keyed-up from the video. Goddamn, she was just akid,and she wanted me.

“Yeah,” Riley says after a pause. “It was his choice.”

Paul’s smile fades, and he lets out a wheezing breath. “It hurts,” he says, his voice flat. “Too… damn… much…”

Riley leaves, and Paul stays quiet, giving me far too much time to think about that damn video. After the conversation with Sophie, I contacted a security firm I’ve used in the past. They also have electronic forensic capabilities. They’ll be able to study the laptop, keep watch on this place, and hopefully untwist this messed-up knot.

The video plays on a loop in my mind, her braces catching the light. I never dreamed, back then, that that little girl would… Hell, I didn’t think of her at all. She was just Paul’s kid sister. I would’ve helped her if she needed it for Paul. To think she was planning all these dreams, and now they’ve come true for her. I’m forty-two years old, dammit.

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