Falling For My Best Friend's Brother (9 page)

“We never made out. He kissed me. Once,” I said, my voice getting higher. “I didn’t ask him to kiss me.”

“But you didn’t stop him.” He frowned. “You seem to like kissing us Taylor brothers, don’t you?”

“I don’t like kissing the Taylor brothers, no.” I bit my lower lip and took a deep breath. “I only liked kissing one of the Taylor brothers.”

“Oh?” He froze and his eyes held mine.

“Yes,” I said, feeling light in the head. Was I seriously going to tell him how I felt, right here and now?

“Which one?” he asked and leaned towards me, so that I could see his pupils dilating.”

“I like—”

“There you are, darling.” A soft sweet voice echoed next to us and I looked up in shock. There, standing next to us in the flesh, was Elizabeth Jeffries. What was she doing here?

“Lizzie!” Aiden jumped up and beamed, his face transforming from a slightly angry mask to one of pure happiness.

“Sorry I’m late.” She wrinkled her nose, and even I had to admit that she looked cute while doing so.

“You’re not late. You’re right on time,” he said and gave her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. I wanted to burst into tears at the sight of the two of them together. “Elizabeth, I want you to meet Alice. Alice is my sister Liv’s best friend.” He nodded towards me. “And Alice, I want you to meet Elizabeth, a good friend of mine.”

“Hi.” I nodded at her, and she gave me a wide, genuine smile. I couldn’t stop myself from studying her. Her nose was a little crooked and she had freckles across her cheeks. Her hair was a honey blond, but as I studied her dark eyebrows, I was pretty sure she dyed it. She looked prettier in person than she had in the photos, and I hated her for it.

“Nice to meet you, Alice,” she said cheerfully and leaned down for a quick hug. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“You have?” I asked in surprise. Did Aiden talk about me?

“Yes, Aiden’s always talking about his sister and her best friend and all the funny things you both do.”

“All the funny things we both do?” I questioned and then looked at Aiden. What had he been telling her?

“Like the pranks and stuff.” Elizabeth smiled. “Like Brock and Jock, the strippers you paid to pretend to be your boyfriends.”

“I see.” I frowned. Why was Aiden telling her this stuff?

“I think that your plan was ingenious,” she continued and sat down next to me. “And it worked.”

“It did?” I looked at her questioningly.

“Well, Liv got the boy, didn’t she?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” I nodded and sighed. “Yeah, I guess it did end up working for Liv.”

“I can’t wait to meet her.” Elizabeth smiled at me and my heart thudded as I realized that she was a completely genuine and nice person. She was the sort of person who I’d have as a friend if she weren’t trying to steal my man away from me.

“Yeah, I’m sure Liv wants to meet you as well.” I turned away from her and looked at Aiden. “You didn’t tell me your girlfriend was coming.”

“Uhm, Elizabeth isn’t my girlfriend,” Aiden said with a pleasant look, but his eyes never left my face.

“Yeah, we’re not dating,” Elizabeth interjected. “We’ve only gone out a few times.”

“Do you know where Aiden was last night?” I said pettily and immediately regretted it. Who was I becoming? Why was I acting like this? I knew I was letting my jealousy get the better of me and I didn’t like it.

“No, should I?” Elizabeth asked with a small laugh and then looked up at Aiden. “Where were you last night?”

“I was at Liv’s place watching a movie with Alice,” he replied nonchalantly and smiled at me. I glared back at him. What game was he playing?

“Oh, awesome. What movie?” she asked and I wondered how she could be so trusting. If a guy I was seeing told me he’d gone to watch a movie with another woman, I would not be smiling and taking it this nicely. In fact, if I were dating Aiden officially and he had told me that he had gone to watch a movie with Elizabeth, I would have let him know exactly what I thought about him. I don’t play around, and I certainly do not let my guys go on dates with other girls. And yes, I know, last night hadn’t exactly been a date. However, we had kissed and I’d been on his lap and he’d been hard for me. I’d felt his hardness on my ass. And yes, I had tried my best to get him excited, but I hadn’t made him rise to the occasion. He had done that himself. I knew that if Aiden had gotten hard for another girl while dating me, it would have been over.

“I can’t remember,” I said and looked down, suddenly feeling guilty. Why was she so nice and why was I so horrible? Why did I feel like the other woman?

“That good, huh?” She laughed and we both looked up as Scott and Liv approached the table. I watched Elizabeth’s eyes widen as she gazed at Scott and his eyes narrowed as he gazed at her. I almost wondered if I’d imagined the exchange because within seconds they were both smiling normally and Aiden was making introductions.

Liv and I made eye contact, and I could tell that she looked as confused as I did when Elizabeth had arrived. We were both thinking,
why was this girl here?
And she was totally ruining our plan of me making Aiden want me. How could I make Aiden want me if there was another girl with him right now? Why would he even care about me? And why was he acting so funny about Scott if he had Elizabeth? Maybe it was a simple case of wanting what you didn’t really want because you couldn’t have it. All of a sudden, I felt really sorry for myself.

“Excuse me, but I’m not feeling well,” I said and stood up. My head was pounding and my insides felt empty. All of a sudden I felt tired, really, really tired.

“What’s wrong, Alice?” Liv looked at me with wide eyes. I think she could tell from my face that I was close to tears.

“Nothing, maybe I’m coming down with a cold.” I attempted a cough and looked at the group. “I’m going to go home.” I looked at Elizabeth and smiled weakly. “It was nice meeting you.”

“You too.” She looked nervous and worried as she smiled at me, and I saw her look at Aiden a few times. I looked over at him and his face looked expressionless. I had no idea what he was thinking.

“I’ll walk you home,” Scott said, and I watched as Aiden frowned.

“Thanks,” I said gratefully, not caring what Aiden thought at this point.

“Do you want me to come?” Liv said, and I shook my head.

“No, no. You stay. I’m fine.” I gave her a weak smile and rubbed my head. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Okay.” She nodded and sat down.

“Ready?” Scott said and grabbed my hand. “Lean on me, I’ll help you.”

“Thanks,” I said gratefully and hurried away from the table. We walked out of the coffee shop fairly quickly, and I took a deep breath of fresh air as we walked along the street.

“You okay, Alice?” Scott stopped and pulled me over to the side of the street. His eyes searched mine, and he had a small smile on his face.

“Yes, why?” I asked softly.

“I’m not going to pretend to know what’s going through your head,” he said as he gazed at me. “But I am going to give you some advice. You need to fight for what you want. You need to grab life by the horns and go after your dreams and goals.”

“What are you talking about?” I said and swallowed hard.

“I know you like Aiden.” He gave me a half-smile and shook his head. “I don’t know why you prefer him to me, but I know you do.”

“I, uh …” I stammered. I wasn’t sure what to say to him. Had I been in a love triangle and not even known it? That would be just my luck. I didn’t want to be in a love triangle. Not at all. Not with any percentage of my being. How icky would that make me to be in a love triangle with two brothers? Granted, I had kissed both of them, but let’s be real, I didn’t really consider my kiss with Scott anything other than a brief peck. I’d regretted it as it happened. I certainly hadn’t kissed him back. And there was no tongue involved. Thank God! So really, it wasn’t even a kiss. What sort of kiss doesn’t involve tongue?

“There’s no need for you to say anything.” Scott laughed and we continued walking again. “I’m just saying you need to fight for what you want. And if you want Aiden, you have to let him know. Without the games. And without the tricks.” He reached forward and patted me on the nose. “I know you and my sister love to play games and stuff, but Aiden’s not the guy for that sort of thing. He doesn’t have patience for games or tricks.”

“I don’t have a shot with him anyway,” I said with a sigh. “He has Elizabeth.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” Scott’s eyes narrowed and he looked thoughtful. “I’m not sure exactly what Aiden and Elizabeth have going on, but I don’t think it’s a regular relationship.”

“Oh, you think it could be something other than a regular relationship?” My mind immediately went to BDSM. Was Elizabeth his sub?

“I don’t know.” Scott shrugged, and we both stopped once we reached my building. “You going to be okay? I should get going, I have some work to do.”

“Yeah, sure.” I nodded and tried to stop myself from asking if he knew his older brother was a Dom. It wasn’t my place to bring that up. “I’ll be fine. Thanks for walking me home.”

“It was my pleasure, Alice. It was my pleasure.” Scott gave me a quick hug and I hurried through the front door and up to my apartment. I’d gone and made a mess of everything. I felt horrible. Here I was feeling upset and jealous about Aiden and Elizabeth and now there was a possibility that I’d gone and made Scott fall for me as well.

***

I woke up to my phone buzzing and groaned. I hadn’t meant to fall back asleep. I’d just wanted to lie down and relax and think about everything for a few seconds. I grabbed my phone and looked at the screen and my heart skipped a beat. Aiden had texted me.

Aiden:
Hey, just checking that you’re okay.

Alice:
I’m fine. Thank you,
I typed back quickly as I sat up in the bed. I wanted to ask him where Elizabeth was, but I didn’t dare.

Aiden:
We never got to finish our conversation.

Alice:
Oh, we didn’t?

Aiden:
No. Can we chat later?

Alice:
Aren’t you going to be busy?

Aiden:
Busy with what?

Alice:
Work,
I typed, even though that wasn’t what I was talking about.

Aiden:
I don’t have to be in court today.

Alice:
Okay.
That’s not what I was talking about!

Aiden:
So are you available to chat?

Alice:
What time?

Aiden:
Whenever you’re free is good with me.

Alice:
I see.

Aiden:
Unless you’re going to be busy.

Alice:
With what?

Aiden:
Scott.

My jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe that he had actually typed that.

Aiden:
So will you be free or busy?

Alice:
I’m free. There is nothing between Scott and me.

Aiden:
Good.

Alice:
Why good?

Aiden:
You don’t need to be playing games with Scott and myself.

Alice:
What about you and Elizabeth?
I couldn’t stop myself.

Aiden:
What about her?

Alice:
How can you date her and kiss me?

Aiden:
That is part of the reason why we need to talk.

Alice:
I see.

Aiden:
Can I call you now?

Alice:
No, I’m busy,
I lied as I lay back in my pillows.

Aiden:
Okay, so tonight?

Alice:
What about tomorrow?

Aiden:
Alice, I swear to God you’re the most confusing girl I’ve ever met.

Alice:
I don’t think you’re confusing.

Aiden:
If I was there I’d put you over my knee and spank you.

Alice:
You’d like that, wouldn’t you?

Aiden:
I think you’d like it more.

Alice:
Do you now?
I grinned at the phone. There was no doubt in my mind now. Aiden was definitely a kink-master in the bedroom.

Aiden:
I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Alice:
And you’re calling me confusing?
I shook my head at the phone. Everything in me was telling me that he was flirting with me.

Aiden:
I wouldn’t be confusing if it wasn’t for you.

Alice:
What does that mean?

Aiden:
It means that you my dear, Alice have affected me much more than you think.

Alice:
Oh? How?

Aiden:
You’ll have to wait to find out.