Page 2

2

Kruger

“Bro, if our latest text thread was a YouTube video, I’d hit dislike and close out of it before the ad could even finish,” I grumped, reversing out of the parking spot a little too aggressively, then jamming my foot on the brake to shift into drive.

P curled his hand around the door handle and said nothing, but I felt his side-eye.

“I get everyone is on edge with finals and swim season.” I went on, steering out of the Elite parking lot. “But if I hear ‘she’s not your wife’ one more time, I’ll make it so everyone ends up with an irrational fear of eggs.”

Prism made a sound. “How are you going to do that?”

“You don’t want to know,” I told him ominously.

He remained quiet, and I heaved a sigh. “Present company excluded. You know that, right? You’re my ride-or-die.”

“The way you’re driving right now, I think I’m closer to die.”

I got the hint and let off the gas a little. “Sorry, bro. I’m a little on edge.”

“A little?” He scoffed. “You were driving on two wheels back there.”

“Dating Arsen has turned you into a drama queen.”

Prism turned a little in the passenger seat, angling so he faced me and the strap on the belt across his chest pulled snug. His dark eyes assessed in a way I was used to but others would probably find unsettling. Others would be pansies. However, there was nothing quite like the stare of someone quiet. The way they watched, weighed, and measured as if they saw so much more than everyone else. Sometimes I felt a little see-through. It was an ounce unsettling. Well, it would be if the person doing the measuring wasn’t your best friend. But Prism was my brother from another mother and I didn’t have any secrets from him, so whatever he was finding wasn’t anything I wouldn’t readily tell him.

“Do I need to evoke bro code, or are you going to tell me?”

I snorted. Bro code. I was the one who came up with that because he was much harder to read than me. Because for a long time, it was the only way to really get the truth out of him when it came to his mental state. Interesting, though, he thought he needed to pull it out in order to get me to talk today.

I glanced at him before looking back at the road. “Was I really on two wheels back there?”

Maybe whatever he saw in his appraisal of me was more than even I could admit to myself.

He glowered. “Ben.”

“Oooh, my first name,” I sang.

“I’m calling it. Bro code.” He decided. “Spill.”

My hands flexed around the wheel of my Audi, and an uncomfortable pit settled in my gut. “I spent far too long in the friend zone with my final girl to ever go back.”

A little ripple of surprise came from the passenger side. “Jess didn’t actually bro-zone you.”

A sour flavor coated my tongue. “No? What would you call it?”

“A joke?” He tried.

I shook my head. “I’ll give you a pass this time because, well, you’re gay and don’t have to deal with women.”

“But Arsen?—”

“Arsen reeks of testosterone and gives you everything you even think about wanting.” I interrupted him. “Seriously, P. Arsen is a first-class boyfriend. I love it for you, but you can’t relate here.”

He frowned. “But you’re a first-class boyfriend too.”

“That’s the thing. I’m not boyfriend material.”

“Jess loves you,” he said, voice absolute.

“Yeah. She does. But she’s not happy right now. She basically said so.”

“Because it’s finals and we’re all stressed out.”

I eyed him, specifically the fingers tangling in the bracelets around his wrist. “You stressed out too?” Look at me just stressing everybody out.

“We aren’t talking about me. We’re talking about my sister.”

I hummed. “I won’t be bro-zoned. I forbid it.”

“It was a chaotic chat thread. It really upset you that much?” he pressed.

I said nothing. He said nothing. Our silence spoke volumes.

After a minute, Prism said, “What are you gonna do?”

“Something,” I murmured, slowing to a stop at the curb in front of the theater arts building. After a quick glance at the sidewalk to make sure my final girl wasn’t already waiting, I looked back to my friend.

“What can I do to help?” he offered.

That took a little of the heat out of my spice. Meant a lot that he would jump in to help any way he could. “I’m not sure yet, but I’ll let you know.”

He nodded.

Jess came out of the large doors of the building, her long brown hair floating out behind her as she descended the stairs to the sidewalk. The sun was already lowering in the sky, and a wintry wind scattered curled-up dry leaves across the pavement between us.

Leaving the keys in the console, I jolted out of the driver’s seat and slid across the hood of the Audi, dropping onto the sidewalk on the other side.

Jess was shaking her head and smiling, hand wrapped around the strap of her bag. Impatient, I jogged the distance between us, relieved her of the bag, and dropped it right there beside us before lifting her off her feet to spin in a circle.

She laughed, hands gripping my shoulders. “Ben.” She was part breathless.

When I loosened my grip, she slid down my body, arms looping around my neck.

“Baby girl, if I had four quarters to give to the four prettiest women in the world, you’d have a dollar.”

Her eyes rolled but crinkled at the corners, and her lips pulled into a smile. “A whole dollar,” she mused.

I didn’t wait another minute, fusing our mouths while trapping her beautiful face in my palms. She sighed against my lips, and I swept inside the warmth of her mouth, flirting with the tip of her tongue before claiming it completely. Feet scuffed as people on the pavement moved around us, and long strands of her hair curled around my wrists and forearms as I shifted, bringing our bodies closer as I availed myself of the sweet nectar lacing her lips.

I loved her so much, was so addicted to everything about this girl that just the idea of having anyone but her was unfathomable.

She made a low sound, and my hands curled around her waist. She started to pull back, but I chased her, nipping her lip and making her giggle.

“Benji.” She was shy, ducking her face into my shoulder.

“You can’t just be walking around like this and expect me not to want to eat you on sight.”

“I haven’t combed my hair since this morning, and this shirt is yours,” she pointed out.

“Delicious,” I confirmed. Looking like she’d just crawled out of my bed was her best look.

Laughing, she reached for my hand, and our fingers threaded together. After scooping her bag off the sidewalk, we started toward the car.

Tugging her closer, I leaned in to speak quietly in her ear. “If P wasn’t in the car, I’d throw you in the backseat and show you just how delicious I think you are.”

“Oh, Matty’s here?” she said, quickening her steps.

I towed her back. “Woman, I just offered to give you the ride of your life in the back of my sports car, and you ask about your brother?”

Her smile was brilliant and made my heart skip. “Every ride with you is the ride of my life.” She tried to sweet-talk me. Then for added measure, she tacked on a saccharine, “ Benji .”

It worked. Hell, she was so sweet I probably had diabetes. Hitching my chin, I said, “Give me another one.”

She spun, putting her back to everything but me, and bounced forward to lay her lips on mine. Then she did it again. “I love you.”

Ugh, those three words were magic. It didn’t matter how many times she told me. Every time was like the first.

“I love you too, baby.”

Prism slid out of the passenger side, and Jess rushed ahead to pull him into a hug. “Matty! How is it we live together and I haven’t seen you for two days?”

“End of the semester is always a busy time,” he answered, returning the hug.

“Let me look at you,” she said, pulling away to grab his face to study it as if he’d changed drastically in the last forty-eight hours. “Is that Arsen’s shirt?” she asked, pinching the front of the raglan Balmain shirt he was wearing.

“Is that Ben’s shirt?” he countered.

Laughing, she nodded. “We know what we like.”

She started for the door, but P tugged her back around. Her eyes were questioning when she looked at him.

“How you doing, sis?” he asked. “You happy?”

Pausing midstep, I shot my stare to the pair.

A surprised sound slipped from her lips, and she pushed at her windswept hair. “What?”

It wasn’t often that Prism just outright asked stuff like that. He was more of an observe-and-draw-conclusions type of bro. Considering the conversation we’d just had on the way, I knew he was asking this for my benefit.

“Don’t I look happy?” Jess asked.

“You do,” Prism confirmed. “But sometimes a brother needs to ask these things,” he explained, then tilted his head. “Tell me the truth.”

I wanted to interrupt and tell him I could ask her myself. I mean, she was my girl. But my lips stayed sealed. Once again, I found myself realizing P likely saw things I didn’t want to admit to myself. Like the fact that I could ask Jess but was afraid to.

Bro, I am too young to be having a midlife crisis. I’m not a chicken shit either.

“You’re so sweet, Matty,” Jess mused. “Of course I’m happy. Never been happier. How could I not be when I have a brother like you and the best fiancé to ever fiancé?” As she spoke, her eyes found mine and she smiled.

My heart tumbled and squeezed at the same time. The sensation was so contradictory that I clutched my chest.

“Ben?” Jess’s concern was instant, and she left Prism’s side to be at mine. Her hand was gentle when it slid around my waist to anchor at the small of my back. “Are you okay?”

I kissed her. Snatched her right off her feet and slipped my tongue right between her lips. Fuck, I was starved for her. I could not get enough.

When I finally lifted my head, her lips were plump and deep pink and my voice was raspy. “I’m all right, baby girl. Just needed some mouth-to-mouth.”

“Well, now I need some indigestion medicine because that was graphic,” Prism lamented nearby.

I made a rude sound. “Tell that to Arsen who walks around with his pierced nips out, tattoos on display, and hands all over your unmentionables all the time.”

Jess giggled. “His unmentionables?”

“His ass, baby. I was trying to be demure. It’s trendy.”

She laughed.

“There is nothing demure about you, bro,” Prism snarked.

Arsen has taught him so many bad habits.

“In the car.” I gestured to him. “We got places to be.”

After helping Jess into the passenger seat, Prism followed me around to the driver’s side where I leaned the seat forward so he could climb into the back. Before he went, I laid my hand on the roof of the car, stopping him.

Our eyes connected, stares bouncing for one quiet moment.

“Thanks, bro,” I said quietly.

“Anytime,” he replied.

I moved my arm, and he slipped into the back.

Before pulling away from the curb, I reached for Jess’s hand, and she surrendered it instantly. Yeah, she told Prism she was the happiest she’d ever been, and I knew she meant it.

But I knew I could do better.