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now he wasn’t here. Just his best friend. His gorgeous, unattainable best friend. Don’t think about Ace, think about Kaleb.
possibilities… The idea of Benji as more than a friend made a curious little flutter start up in my gut. I hadn’t lied to him Friday night when
Benji grinned. “You want some of my kisses, don’t you?” My mouth went dry. “How’d you guess?” “Here.”
“If it was a cute guy, I might date him?” I said hesitantly.
“You don’t want it to be him,” Ace said, sounding surprised. “Not really my type,” I mumbled. Just don’t ask what my type actually is. You, Ace. It’s you. “Really?” There was a puzzled note in his voice, almost as if … Ace couldn’t see why I wouldn’t be into this guy.
Impulsively, I leaned in and kissed his cheek. A hint of stubble grazed my lips, and I heard him suck in a breath. “I really don’t do anything for Jeremy,” I murmured.
he did, I caught sight of the friendship bracelet on his wrist. It was dark blue and purple and frayed with age.
“Besides,” I joked, “we both know Jeremy’s already claimed you as his friend.” “I can’t be both?” “Jeremy wouldn’t even share his Transformers with me. You really think he’s going to share his best friend?”
Benji lowered his voice to a whisper. “I’ve never even been kissed.” Oh, fuck. I wanted to give him that. I wanted it to be fucking perfect for him.
I gasped, hugging the notebook to my chest. My secret admirer was Jonas. Had to be. I’d shown him my sketches, and he’d seemed really into my art.
wanted to kiss him. Turning, I bumped shoulders with him instead. “I’ll walk you back to your room.” “Okay.” “Thanks for coming out with me tonight.”
wasn’t freaked over my first kiss with a guy at all. It felt like … coming home. The expression on Benji’s face? That did freak me. Stupid, Ace. Assuming he’d be into you without even asking…
wanted Benji. I wanted to hold him, kiss him. More than that, though, I wanted his heart. Because he already had mine.
eyes returned to him as her voice turned coy. “Care to explain why Ace is eye-fucking you?” “He’s not.” “And you’re eye-fucking him?” “I’m not!” I hissed, my face
Jonas burst into our bubble, wearing a huge grin, his eyes glazed from drinking. Grabbing my face, he smacked a quick kiss to my lips. Right in front of Ace.
Jonas slung an arm around Benji and pulled him against his side. “Let’s go get you a drink, babe.” Babe? Wasn’t this their first fucking date? Oh, fuck. What if it wasn’t their first date? My heart clenched painfully. What if Jonas and Benji had already hooked up?
And with that, he grabbed Benji’s hand and led him into the next room, out of view. “Fuck,” I muttered under my breath. “Got it bad for him, huh?” Tracy said beside me. I whipped my head in her direction, a denial ready on my tongue but never making it past my lips. If she could see it so easily, could Benji? She shook her head as if reading my mind. “He’s clueless.”
“It’s just too bad that two guys so clearly into each other aren’t actually together.”
As I eased him back, he said, “Do you think he likes me?” My heart contracted painfully. Forcing out the words, I said, “Yeah. I think he does.” Benji smiled. “Good.”
“Wish you liked me like that,” he muttered. My heart tripped. “What?” “Tired,” he repeated, turning on his side.
looked down, my chest going hot and tight as I gazed at the interwoven blue, purple, and lime green threads. It was a friendship bracelet. Just like the one I’d made him as a kid.
Everything was shit, and all I really wanted was to call my best friend. Jeremy understood how my mom got to me, and he’d know how to make me feel better. But I couldn’t. Because when I fucked up things with Benji, I’d probably fucked up that too.
“He looked at you like you were a slice of chocolate cake and he was on a diet.”
“He’s superhot and he looked like a kicked puppy when he watched you walk away with your date.”
guess this means you figured out your secret admirer,” he said. “About time.” That caught my attention. “What, you knew?” Dre dropped onto his bed — or the bed-closet as I jokingly called it — on top of his pile of clothes. “Wasn’t hard to figure out. Dude’s always hanging around, looking at you with heart eyes.”
“You showed it to Jonas,” he added significantly. “But you seemed reluctant to let me look…” Dre snorted from across the room. “Probably didn’t want you to see the dirty sketch he drew of you.”
“Take me back to your room.” He licked his lips. “You know what will happen if I do.” I held his eyes. “You better mean sex.” He laughed. “What happened to my shy Benji?”
said wryly. “You should be telling him to be careful with me.” Jonas laughed. “It’s like that, is it?” Then raising his voice, he called out, “Hey guys, Ace says he’s in love! Who’s gonna plan the wedding?”
pulled his hand down. “Benji, I love you.”
“Well, hello. You’re not the boyfriend,” Tracy said as she swung the door open. Standing in the hallway, looking disheveled but handsome in a way only he could, was my brother.
Jeremy had shown up at the frat, lobbing one question at me: “Why does my brother think you’re his boyfriend?”
“Did Benji, uh, mention me coming to Thanksgiving?” I asked. Jeremy choked on his beer, spluttering, and
“You’re actually coming home?” “Yeah, it’s time.” He raised his eyebrows. “You must love him. I could never get you to come back, even for a quick visit.” I winced, hoping this wasn’t going to turn into a competition between the brothers.
Jeremy flipped him off. “Better to be in control than—” “Out of it,” they both finished. “I don’t know,” I piped up, needing to be included. “I like it when Ace is out of control.” A sudden silence fell, tense and uncomfortable. “What, too soon?” I asked. Ace and Jeremy looked at each other. “Yeah,” Ace said. “Definitely too soon,” Jeremy said, his expression once again screaming, what the fuck has happened to the world?
but I didn’t have the freedom to ask him why he’d pulled away from me.
Even worse, I couldn’t help feeling like I was the third wheel. The dastardly duo was together again, and I was in the back seat, the little brother tagging along for the ride.
He started to withdraw, and I instinctively knew that I’d made a mistake when I’d pulled away from him earlier. I’d promised Benji I was with him in this, regardless of his brother’s reaction, and then I’d immediately made him feel unsure of whether he could show me any affection.
That was good. But an insecure part of my brain reminded me, When they were friends, they ran off without you all the time. Why are you surprised now?
I nodded. “Thanks, Jer.” I hesitated. “And, uh, sorry I didn’t tell you we were dating right away. I was afraid you’d ask him to choose.” He looked baffled. “Choose? I don’t want to date him.” I shoved him, barking a laugh. “You know what I mean, dummy.” He smirked, reaching out
