Craving my Best Friend's Brother

Mia

I stood on the curb with my suitcase. I had nowhere to go. I couldn't get the image of Derek and that woman out of my head. I thought he had loved me.

My phone buzzed again. I gritted my teeth. I pulled it out expecting Derek's name.

It wasn't.

It was a photo notification from three hours ago. Chloe. Her and her boyfriend, Mark at some rooftop bar, his arm around her waist, both of them laughing at something. The caption read: "Date night done right."

I wanted to throw my phone into traffic. But then I remembered I had no money on me.

I didn't hate Chloe. No, she was too hard to hate. I just... Couldn't help but feel jealous. Of how easy she made it look. Of how she'd never had to fake a smile at dinner or pretend a bruise was from walking into a doorframe.

Chloe had the perfect relationship. I had three years of lies and a half-packed suitcase.

I couldn't call her. She'd ask questions. She'd want details. And then she'd look at me with those big green eyes full of pity, and I'd have to admit that I'd been faking everything since the first year with Derek.

But I had nowhere else.

My thumb hovered over her name. I pressed call before I could talk myself out of it.

She answered on the second ring. "Mia! I was just thinking about you!"

I opened my mouth. Nothing came out.

"Hello? You there?"

"Chloe." I almost broke down into tears. I pressed my free hand against my mouth. "I need you."

The silence on her end was sharp. When she spoke again, her voice lowered. "What happened? Where are you?"

"I... I don't have anywhere..." I said, trying to steady my voice. "Derek cheated on me. He..."

"Where are you?" She cut me off. "I'm coming to get you."

"Chloe, you don't have to..."

"Where. Are. You."

I told her and she said she would be here in fifteen minutes. Then she hung up before I could argue.

I sat on my suitcase and waited. The sun was already setting. I thought about calling my mother. I imagined her voice... I told you he wasn't good enough, didn't I?

A black SUV pulled up to the curb. I expected Chloe. The air caught in my lungs when my eyes caught the person in the car.

Liam Kessler.

He leaned across the passenger seat and pushed the door open from inside.

His gray blue eyes found mine through the gap. The corner of his mouth twitched.

"You gonna stand there or get in?"

I didn't move. My brain short circuited. Liam. Chloe's older brother. The boy who had teased me at every family dinner, who had called me short stuff until I was sixteen.

Worse, I'd been in love with him since I was twelve and too stupid to know better.

He must be thirty now. His jaw was sharper. His shoulders were broader and he was still the most infuriatingly beautiful person I'd ever seen.

"Chloe sent you?" I finally managed.

"She's making dinner." He said it like that explained everything. "Get in, Mia. You look like you've been crying and I'm not about to explain to my sister why I left her best friend on the street."

I dragged my suitcase to the back. He got out and opened the trunk for me. His hand brushed mine when he took the bag. I pulled away like I'd been burned.

He noticed. Of course he did.

"Relax." He shut the trunk. "I don't bite. Unless you ask nicely."

He winked at me. I gave him my middle finger. Somehow, he always brought out this side of me.

"Too soon?" He grinned. It was the same grin from high school. The one that made my stomach flip even when I hated him for it.

"I hate you," I mumbled.

He chuckled.

"That's a lie. You love me," he waved at me. "Now get in."

I got in.

The drive was fifteen minutes of him making conversation and giving me one word answers. He asked about Derek. I said he was an asshole. Liam said he had always known. He asked about my job. I said I got fired. He said Hendricks looked like a creep and he wasn't surprised.

"How do you know what my boss looks like?"

"Chloe showed me his LinkedIn. I have opinions."

I almost laughed. I swallowed it.

When we pulled into Chloe's driveway, she was already on the front porch.

I barely had the door open before she was on me... Wrapping her arms around me so tight I couldn't breathe.

"You're okay," she said into my hair. " You're okay. You're here. "

I cried into her shoulder. She let me. She didn't ask questions. She just held on.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, shaking my head. "I've been lying to you. For years. About him. About everything. I was so embarrassed and I didn't want you to think I was..."

"Stop. " She pulled back, held my face in her hands. "We have time fkr that later. Right now you're going to eat something and sleep. Okay?"

I nodded. I didn't deserve her.

She showed me the guest room. It was small but clean, a queen bed with a white duvet, a window that faced the backyard, a vase of fake flowers on the nightstand.

She had put a glass of water there and a granola bar.

"I'll let you settle, " she said. "Liam's making pasta. Come down when you're ready."

I didn't come down.

I sat on the edge of the bed. My suitcase was still zipped. My phone buzzed again... Derek this time. It was a text: "You forgot your hair dryer. Want it back?"

I turned my phone off.

****

I woke up to hot air on my face. Someone's face was inches from mine. The room was dark and I couldn't see the person's features properly, just the outline of a jaw, the blur of an eye watching me sleep.

I screamed.

My hand shot out. I shoved hard.

The person stumbled back. Bumped into the dresser. The vase of fake flowers wobbled and fell.

"What the hell..."

I knew that voice.

Liam stood there, one hand rubbing his chest where I'd pushed him. His hair was messy. He was wearing a gray t-shirt and sweatpants. And he was looking at me like I'd just tried to kill him.

"What are you doing in my room?" I barked. My heart pounded so hard I could feel it in my teeth.