Page 50 of Crushing On My Brothers BFF

“How are you doing, sis?” he says, then laughs strangely. Itdoesremind me of Dad, the way he used to draw out his words. “TV looked awful. I’m sorry for yelling.”

“It’s okay,” I say. “Paul, I?—”

“Let’s talk tomorrow,” he cuts in. “Late tomorrow. Dinner. After dinner. You can come by, right? We can talk about it then. There’s some stuff I’d like to say, too. Okay? How does that sound?”

“What sort of stuff?” I ask.

“No, no. Tomorrow.” He sounds like he might burst into tears. “Okay?Tomorrow.”

He hangs up, leaving me to stare at the phone. “That was really weird. It was like he was going to cry or something. Has the crush messed him up that bad? He said there’s somethinghewants to say, too.”

“About what?”

“I don’t know. I’m going to call Riley. Let her know to keep an extra close eye on him.”

As I make the call, Kaleb drums his fingers against his leg, staring out the window. I can tell he’s wondering what Paul was talking about. I can’t blame him. So am I.

“I guess we’re done for today, then,” I murmur once I’m off the phone with Riley.

“Nothing now except to watch the stock market and see what effect that had.”

“I didn’t do it for that,” I say.

He takes my hand again and squeezes it. Warmth courses up my arm and through my body. It’s like he’s got a magic touch. A relaxing feeling takes hold of me, making everything seem less intimidating. He leans over and kisses me on the cheek. It almost makes it feel like we’re a couple.

“Should I call him back?”

“What did Riley say?” he asks.

“He doesn’t want to be disturbed, but he’s taking all his meals.”

“Whatever it is, we’ll see tomorrow.”

“Are you coming?”

He nods, eyes narrowed as if he thinks the question is insane. “I’m not going to make you go alone, and if you’re going to drop theusbomb…”

“What would I even tell him?Hey, bro, your BFF rocked my world on the beach near the golf club? Oh, and we almost had sex?”

“That’s why I said we shouldn’t tell him unless…” He looks out the window, all dreamy.

“Unless what? Please feel free to finish that sentence.”

He smirks, but he doesn’t look at me. I never thought I’d see the day when Kaleb Kennison shifted around awkwardly, looking anything but free. “It’s like you said. All we’ve done is get hot and steamy together. I’m not complaining. I could do that all day with you, but it’s not something to talk to a man’s family about.”

“Well, I don’t know what else to say.”

“That we’re dating,” Kaleb says. “If we have to tell him anything, we’ll tell him that.”

“I hate to break it to you, but we haven’t actually been on any dates.”

He finally looks at me. “It’s about time we changed that.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Kaleb

“I wish I could show you off,” I say, sitting on the balcony with the sun shining down on us, a table between us. “A real restaurant like you deserve. With you on my arm.”

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