Page 61 of Crushing On My Brothers BFF

CHAPTER THIRTY

Sophie

I stir the sugar, the spoon tapping against the side of the cup. My world is splintering as I try to remember the last few months with Gwen. Every time she visited the house, they were sneaking around—that whole time. The sense of betrayal slams into me hard, followed quickly by a small, mean voice whispering,Hypocrite.

I carry my coffee and sit down, looking at my friend sitting close to my brother. Her eyes are red, her blond hair messy from where she must’ve run her hands through it. The craziest part is I can see them together: Paul with his youthful smile, Gwen with her caring heart, but it’s still a betrayal. Maybe that’s why I’m so nasty. “Kaleb and I had sex last night,” I say. “Just so you know.”

“Sophie,” Kaleb snaps from beside me.

“So something is going on,” Paul says, nodding, leaning forward even if it causes visible pain. “I knew it when I saw that video.”

“We have a connection,” I say, glaring at Paul, using this news like a weapon. I need to calm down. This is just cruel. “We’ve bonded. We’re dating. We want tokeepdating. Ask us how long, Paul. Go on.”

He grits his teeth, glaring at me. In times like these, I used to think of him as Daddy Paul when I was young. With Mom and Dad gone, I thought I could stay up all night because nobody cared. Daddy Paul would be there, sternly telling me to go to sleep and getting me ready for school the next day.

“How long?” he says, looking at Kaleb, not me.

“Since I’ve been on the West Coast,” Kaleb says.

“I think you’ve got us beat for numbers,” I snap.

Kaleb places his hand on my arm and gives it a gentle squeeze. “Sophie, this isn’t helping.”

It’s only his touch that’s able to calm me down a little. I sit back.

“A few days,” Gwen murmurs, looking at Paul, “and they already want to tell us, Paul. That’s better than us.”

Paul glares at Kaleb. “I can’t even askhow could youbecause I know the feeling. I know the pit you got in your stomach, knowing it was wrong, but you did it anyway. I know the regret. The doubt. I know all of it.”

Gwen reaches out and touches Paul’s hand. I can tell it’s a reflex, a response to the pain in Paul’s voice. She winces when she realizes what she’s done, pulls her hand away, and looks at me. Then she… smiles. It takes me a second to understand why.Iwas smiling just now, seeing them together.

“I didn’t want to betray you,” Kaleb says. “Dammit, Paul, you’re my best friend, always have been. There isn’t even anybody close, but this connection is real. It’s made me think a gray, dreary man like me might actually have a life.”

“What are your plans together?” Paul says.

“Our plans?” I snap. “We plan tobetogether. We haven’t had months to figure everything out, but I know I want to be with him.” I reach out and grip his hand tightly. “And I know he wants to be with me. As long as we have that, we can do anything.”

Gwen sobs, which almost gets me crying, too. Even Paul looks teary-eyed. He groans as he leans forward even more, offering his hand. Gwen tries to stop him, but he leans right over toward Kaleb.

“I know you,” Paul says, keeping his hand there with a visible effort. “You haven’t dated in years. You’re a good person, even if you pretend not to be sometimes. Hell, bro, you’re the best person I know, but I need a promise from you. Promise you’ll never, ever hurt Sophie.”

Kaleb takes my brother’s hand right away, not having to think about it. “I promise,” he says, full of certainty.

“I promise, too,” Gwen says, wiping her cheeks angrily as if she feels guilty for crying. “I won’t hurt Paul.”

“And I won’t hurt Gwen,” Paul says, looking at me meaningfully.

A tear slides warmly down my cheek. Part of me wants to be mad, but I can see the love between Gwen and Paul. I can see it as clearly as I see the desire inside me. There’s no doubt, no need to second guess. They belong together as much as Kaleb and I do.

I do… That gets me thinking of the future and two sets of wedding bells.

“Just think,” Gwen says. “When this all works out, if we have lots and lots of babies, they’ll have so much love and family.”

“Lots and lots of babies?” I tease, remembering last night and the lack of a condom. “Are you guys planning on that?”

“We want them,” Gwen says confidently, “but we’ve been waiting, you know…”

“Until I knew,” I whisper.

---