My Best Friend's Brother: A Standalone Friends to Lovers Romance (Soulmates Series Book 2) by Hazel Kelly Read Free Book Online Page B

weekend for me to come
down."
     
    "She
didn't tell me she was going until the last minute."
     
    "Well,
I do want to come again soon, especially since we didn't get to hang out much last
time cause Mike was a shitty sharer."
     
    "Yeah,
sorry. I promise we'll make up for lost time. Any weekend you want. Just give
me a heads up."
     
    "Sounds
good.”
     
    I
smiled. It was amazing how my best friend’s voice could make the world stop
spinning.
     
    “And
for the record, I'm glad you're moving on,” she said. “You can do so much
better."
     
    "I
know." I slipped my sandals off and put my feet on the edge of the coffee
table.
     
    "Okay,
well, I'm glad you're okay. I got The Ink when you didn't call."
     
    I rolled
my eyes. The Ink. Short for inklings. It was a pet name Izzy had for her gut
feelings and intuition, which were often eerily accurate.
     
    For
a long time, she only got inklings when it came to Shane. I figured it was some
weird twin thing. But after a few years, she started getting them about me,
too- claimed it was all down to frequencies and energy.
     
    So
it was no surprise at all to hear her spidey sense
was going ape shit last night.

 

 
    Chapter 12: Shane
     
     
     
    I
took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
     
    There
was no answer.
     
    I
tried once more, a little louder this time. And then the horrible thought she
might be out with Mike became a lump in my throat.
     
    I
opened my mouth to call her name and then closed it again, turning on my heels towards
the stairwell instead.
     
    "Shane?"
     
    I
spun back towards the door.
     
    Andi
was standing in a towel, and her dark hair was dripping small streams of water
that pooled beside her collarbone.
     
    "I
didn't realize-" I swallowed, trying to keep my eyes on her face. "I
should've called."
     
    She
cocked her head. "You gonna come in?"
     
    "If
it's not a bad time."
     
    Her
eyes smiled. "Not at all. What's up?"
     
    I
lifted my left hand. "You forgot your sandwich."
     
    Her
eyes dropped to the leftover sub in my hand.
     
    "I
didn't know if it was an accident or-"
     
    She
narrowed her eyes at me as if she could see right through my pathetic excuse to
come see her.
     
    "Thanks,"
she said, taking a step back to open the door wider.
     
    I stepped
past her, the flowery scent off her wet hair filling my nose.
     
    She
closed the door behind me and locked it every way she could.
     
    There
was a bottle of champagne- or rather, two thirds of a bottle- on the coffee
table beside a small mug.
     
    "Have
you been drinking?" I asked.
     
    "Would
you judge me if I said yes?" She stepped up beside me, gripping the top of
the towel where it cut across her chest.  
     
    "Of
course not," I said, noticing a sparkle in her eye that made my groin
twitch.
     
    She
took the sandwich from my hand and walked towards the small kitchen nook on the
other side of the sitting room. "Stephanie's at a retreat until late, and
after yesterday I figured I deserved a sloppy chill day."
     
    "Understandable,"
I said, my guts clenching when I realized we were alone and separated by
nothing but a wet towel. I exhaled through my nose and ran a hand through my
hair.
     
    "So
what'll it be?" she called from around the corner.
     
    "What
do you mean?"
     
    She
poked her head out of the kitchen nook. "What can I get you to
drink?"
     
    I
had a test the next day that I really should’ve been preparing for, but if I
went home, I'd just be fighting off the distraction of a house full of guys.
And frankly, the distraction here was far more enticing. "What have you
got?"
     
    "Anything
you want besides liquor and red wine."
     
    I
furrowed my brow. "Does that mean my choices are beer or white wine?"
     
    She
nodded. "Or champagne."
     
    "I'll
take a beer," I said. "But I can get it myself. You don't have
to-"
     
    I heard
a beer cap clatter against the kitchen counter. A moment later, she came around
the corner with it.
     
    That's
when I really got the urge to pinch