My Best Friend's Brother: A Standalone Friends to Lovers Romance (Soulmates Series Book 2) (11 page)

Flashback: Shane

"I
can't believe you've never had a Blizzard," I said, scooping a creamy bite
of ice cream in my mouth.

Andi
shrugged. "I just can't cheat on the chocolate dipped cone. It's never let
me down."

I
smiled and leaned back against the driver's seat. "I admire your
loyalty."

"Thanks,"
she said. "I admire your sense of adventure."

I
glanced at the clock on the dash. "What time did she get out
yesterday?"

"I
think it was five thirty," Andi said. "But today was the dress
rehearsal for the dress rehearsal."

"Does
that mean it'll go slower or faster?"

She
shrugged. "You're asking the wrong person."

"You
going to opening night?"

"Of
course," she said. "As if Izzy would ever forgive me if I
didn't."

"I
know. I just thought it might be fun to pretend we had a choice."

She
laughed, the melodic chime bouncing off the car windows. "Don't you think
it's great that she already knows what she wants to do with her life, though?
Like, I don't really get it myself, but I'm so happy for her-"

I
furrowed my brow. "Do you not know?"

"I
sort of do. But it changes all the time."

"And
if you had to decide now?"

She
sighed and dragged her tongue around the base of the cone where some vanilla
ice cream had started to escape its chocolate casing. "I guess I'd study
psychology. Maybe do social work with high schoolers."

"You'd
be great at that."

"Thanks."
Her eyes sparkled in my direction. "But I'll probably go in undecided and
declare my major later."

I
nodded.

"You?"
she asked.

"I
want to move big piles of money all day."

She
laughed. "Like with a forklift?"

"No,
like in the stock market," I said. "Unless the online poker keeps
going well in which case maybe I'll just retire early."

"I
thought your parents made you stop doing that."

"They
were going to," I said. "Until I told them how much I'd made."

She
raised her eyebrows. "Seriously?"

"And
when I said I wanted to use the profits to help pay my college tuition-"

"Let
me guess, they shut up about it."

“Pretty
much.”

"Cool,"
she said. "So that pays better than my lifeguarding job?"

"I
imagine so."

"Because
I'll be lucky if I can chip in for books."

"That
may be true, but I don't look nearly as good playing poker in my pajamas as you
do in your swimsuit."

She
swallowed and dropped her eyes.

The
sight of her blushing filled my mind with filth.

"You
think you could teach me how to do that?" she asked.

"What?
Make your best friend blush or play online poker?"

"The
latter, jackass."

"Sure,
but you have to have a big appetite for risk."

She
pursed her lips. "
Mmm
. I don't think I have
that. Maybe you could just really crush it and then look after me?"

"Entourage
style?" I asked, watching her push her remaining ice cream down into the
cone with her tongue.

"Yeah.
What do you think?"

I
squinted at her. "I don’t know. What do I get in return?"

She
shrugged. "You get my company all the time-"

"Priceless."

"And
I'll shower you with lots of attention to make sure your ego stays properly inflated
in exchange for free room and board."

"Sounds
like hard work, but I suppose it beats a nine to five."

"No
shit," she said, planning the first bite of her sugar cone with so much
concentration I felt my heart swell. "Who are you going to ask to the
spring dance?"

I
raised my eyebrows. "Who do you think I should ask?"

She
kept her focus on her ice cream. "The new girl seems nice."

"I
don't know," I said. "The jury’s still out on her."

"Who
were you thinking?"

"I
hadn't really thought about it."

"Well,
you should," she said. "Girls hate it when you leave it to the last
minute."

"Right.
You
wanna
go then?"  

She
looked at me with wide eyes. "What?"

"Do
you want to go to the dance with me?"

"I-"
She scrunched her face.

"What?"

“I
can’t.”

"Because
you don't think you can keep your hands off me when I'm all dressed up
or-"

"Yeah,
that's it."

"Seriously,"
I said, sticking my empty Blizzard in the cup holder. "It's the last dance
before we graduate. It might be fun to go
togeth
-"

"I
already got asked-"

I
furrowed my brow. "When?"

"Two
days ago."

"By
who?"

"Steven."

I
straightened an arm against the steering wheel. "Why didn't you tell
me?"

"I
assumed Izzy already had."

I
nodded into the rearview mirror.

"We'll
still be in the same group."

"Yeah,
of course," I said, surprised at how disappointed I was. "Steven's a
good guy anyway."

"Yeah,"
she said, popping the last bite of cone in her mouth.

I took
a deep breath and stared at the auditorium doors, wishing Izzy would come out
already… and that Steven fucking Thompson hadn't asked my best girl to the
dance.

Chapter 20: Shane

I’d
just pulled a red and black checkered shirt over my shoulders when there was a
knock at the door.

"Yup,"
I said, starting on the buttons.

Kevin
poked his head in. "Can I get a quick opinion?"

"Of
course," I said, tucking the shirt in.

His
booted feet kicked the door closed behind him. He was wearing a shirt just like
mine and had a hat in each hand. "Should I go traditional country?"
he asked, plopping the tan cowboy hat on his head.

"Uh-huh."

"Or-"
he swapped the hats he was wearing. "Give this baby a night out?"

I
laughed.

His
face drooped. "What?"

"Who
do you think you are? Fucking Pharrell?"

"No.
I just thought-"

"That
one looks ridiculous," I said, raising my palms towards him. "In my
opinion."

He
sighed.

"Then
again, I'm probably a lot less interested in current trends than your date
is." I turned towards the mirror. "Who are you taking again?"

"Brittney."

I
furrowed my brow at my shirt. "The Tri
Delt
or
the G-Phi?"

"The
Tri
Delt
."

I
nodded. "Nice."

"As
long as I can keep her away from the jungle juice."

I
raised my eyebrows and turned around. "What makes you say that?"

Kevin
shrugged and pulled his Pharrell hat off. "Apparently it doesn't agree
with her."

"I
didn't know there was anyone it did agree with," I said, unbuttoning my
shirt.

"Yeah,"
he said. "Good point."

"Plus,
she's probably a hundred and ten pounds soaking wet-"

"And
a sophomore."

"Yeah,"
I said, pulling my shirt off and throwing it on the bed. "I'd keep an eye
on her alright."

"One
of the Beta guys told me if I keep her on vodka, I'm guaranteed a great
night."

I
walked to my closet and let my fingers tip toe across the hangers. "Is he
the
kinda
guy you can trust or the
kinda
guy that would laugh if he heard you got your dick
yacked on?"

"Oh
fuck," Kevin said. "Probably both."

When
I found the black and green shirt I was looking for- the one Izzy always said
brought out the green flecks in my eyes- I pulled it off the hanger and turned
around. "You want my advice?"

"Always,"
he said.

I
pulled the shirt over my shoulders and started buttoning it up. "I'd play
it safe and keep her on the beer. It's going to be a long night, and it'll be a
whole lot longer if your date gets sick or messy."

He
nodded and ran his fingers along the brim of his spare hat. "I suppose you
have a point."

"I
do," I said. "Trust me on this."

"Plus,
she can't suck my dick if she passes the fuck out."

"No,"
I said, disturbed by the fact that such comments were so commonplace in the sex
obsessed shithole I lived in. "And you don't want to give the girls in her
house any reason to distrust you cause that shit spreads faster than the clap around
here."

"Got
it," he said.

I
tucked my shirt in and walked to the dresser drawer that had my modest
collection of belt buckles in it.

"Damn,
Shane. Where did you get those?"

"Salvation
Army," I said, throwing them around until I found the one with the
galloping stallion.

"Can
I borrow one?"

"Sure."

Kevin
set his hats on the dresser and compared the one with the crossed pistols to
the mean looking eagle. "Hmm."

I
slung my belt through the loops, fastened it, and unbuttoned an extra button at
the top of my shirt.

"I
think I’ll go with the pistols if that's okay with you."

"Cool,"
I said, sitting on the bed next to where I’d set out my black cowboy boots. “I
hope they bring you lots of luck."

"Thanks,"
Kevin said, moving towards the door. "Who are you taking by the way?"

"Andi,"
I said, reaching for the black cowboy hat in the middle of my unmade bed.

He
furrowed his brow. "Andi
Andi
?"

"The
one and only."

"I
didn't think she was into this stuff?"

"I
think
it’s
Greek life she's not keen on," I said.
"But she can't resist a costume party."

"I
guess I could see that," he said. "Especially considering your sister
is her best friend."

I
swallowed.

"Are
you guys-"

I
raised my eyebrows. "What?"

"Hooking
up or-?"

"How
about you let me worry about that and you focus on Brittney."

"That's
a yes if I ever heard one."

"We're
not actually." Yet. But it's not like I was going to tell Kevin I’d been
obsessed by the idea all week.

"So
is she fair game then or-?"

"No.
She's definitely not fucking fair game-"

"Whoa,
chill out. I'm only asking because Tyler's taking his younger cousin who's
visiting this weekend, and he's always got an inappropriate word to say about
Andi."

"What
are you taking about?"

"You
know, stupid stuff," he said. "I'd keep an eye on him is
all.
"

"Always
do," I said. "I wouldn't trust that guy to cook a Hot Pocket, much
less leave him alone with my date."

"He
is the slimiest. How did he even get in the house?"

"Legacy
bullshit. His dad was the president his senior year."

"Ah.
That explains it." Kevin pulled the door open.

"Hey-
who won the poker tournament yesterday?" I asked.

"Tyler,"
he said, stepping into the hall. "Because you weren't there."

"Right."

"I
thought you were
gonna
show?"

"There
was one online I couldn't miss-"

"How'd
it go?" he asked.

"Came
out four ahead."

Kevin's
eyebrows jumped. "Four thousand?"

"You
know it," I said, putting my hat on.

"How
do you do it?"

"Patience,"
I said. "And timing."

"Fuck
me," he said, shaking his head.

"The
bus is here!" A voice called from downstairs. "Get your asses outside
or get left behind."

"See
you on the bus," Kevin said.

I
nodded and watched him shut the door.  

Then
I walked over to the window and pulled the curtain to the side.

The
yellow school bus was parked in the fire lane outside the house, and the
sidewalk was crawling with sorority girls who looked like they were headed to a
Dukes of Hazzard casting call.

My
stomach felt like a mouth full of pop rocks as I eagerly anticipated Andi's
arrival.

After
all, I hadn't seen her all week, and tonight was important.

It
was vital that I get my head straight so I could make her feel at ease so far
outside her comfort zone and, most importantly, so I didn’t miss my chance to
pick things up where we’d left off.

And
I knew she would look beautiful when she showed up. She always did. But I
underestimated the feeling I'd have in my guts when I first saw her come around
the corner in her barn dance get up.

She
was walking down the street on her own, the only girl who wasn't linked arm in
arm with a bunch of others as she made her way towards the house.

Her
tan cowboy boots showed off the toned legs that stuck out from the bottom of
her short jean skirt, and she was in low braided pigtails that hung down over
the front of her shoulders.

And
I felt the strangest sensation sweep over me.

Because
even though everyone was dressed up like country cowgirls and boys, I could’ve
sworn it felt like Christmas morning.