Page 39 of Crushing On My Brothers BFF

He nods and doesn’t need me to say anything else. We both know he shouldn’t be saying things like that. He drives and says nothing for a while. I pick at the fabric of my pants, an uneasy habit I should’ve quit a long time ago.

“I’m not a player,” he says. “Just so you know. I wasn’t lying about that.”

“Why does that matter now?” I ask.

Itdoesmatter. It means everything to me, but we’re supposed to pretend none of this ever happened.

“I just want you to know,” he snaps. “I’ve never been a player. I could have been, but I haven’t.”

“Youcouldhave been?”

“I’m a billionaire, Sophie,” he says. “A man in my position…”With his looks. “I could do whatever I wanted. I’ve met other wealthy men with dozens of girlfriends in dozens of cities. They pay for it if they’re feeling lazy, but that life has never interested me. It seems hollow.”

“Okay,” I tell him, folding my arms and looking out the window to hide my smile. That means that what we shared was special. It was real. That makes it all the more depressing that we have to let it go.

I spend the rest of the day taking catch-up classes online through my college’s website.

“It’s almost like the college administrators planned this break so I could have a little holiday with Kaleb,” I say dryly.

On video call, Gwen laughs. We often do this, studying for minutes in silence and then saying a few words to recharge our mental batteries. That’s the excuse we give ourselves, at least.

“At least he didn’t freak about the crush tape.”

I stare at Gwen like she’s just grown, not one or two, but three news heads.

“It could’ve been worse,” she says, looking at the camera. “I didn’t say anything, but I thought if he found out, he’d go nuclear. Idefinitelydidn’t think you’d be staying in adjoining rooms. Sorry, adjoiningsuites.”

“That wasn’t our choice,” I mutter. “Paul wanted me out of the house. He’s on strong pain meds, and he doesn’t like me seeing him like that. He thinks it’s going to remind me of Mom and Dad.”

“Well, would it?”

“Maybe, but I’m not a little kid. I’d have to deal with it.”

“Then why agree to go, then?” Gwen says, raising an eyebrow.

“For Paul,” I say firmly.

She nods, but it’s a “right, okay”nod, like she doesn’t really believe me. It’s not like I can blame her. I don’t believe myself, either. There’s only a door between us. Kaleb said he didn’t plan that. He didn’t know the suites wereadjoining, just beside each other.

“So it’s over, then?” Gwen says.

“It seems that way,” I reply. “No, itis. We’ve both agreed. The crush is too weird for him. He thinks it changes everything. He thinks he’s taking advantage of me. I know it’s wrong, okay, but tell me this.”

“Go on…”

“How can he take advantage of me if Iwanthim to do it? That’s like the opposite of taking advantage.”

“I’d be more worried if hedidn’thave a problem with it.”

“He looked ill,” I say. “It’s like he thinks, just because I wanted him then, I can’t want himnowtoo. It’s like he thinks I’m still that dorky, scared little kid, but would dorky, scared Sophie have thrown that bitch’s phone? Would old Sophie agree to do this interview?No.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Kaleb

I’m a bad man. There’s no other explanation for what I’m doing. I can hear my woman on the other side of the wall, passionately talking. “I’ve grown up a lot since then. Maybe he thinks I haven’t grown up enough.”

I’m not even sure it’s exactly that.ThisSophie seems mature and ready to make her choices. She might have the curvy, smoking body of my nineteen-year-old angel, but she’s confident, tough, and experienced in her own way.

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