Page 14 of The Wiener Across the Way

“Look who’s a secret Bestie,” Chris teased, plopping down on the couch.

His fiancée Trixie sat down on his lap and gave him a pinch. “You’re one to talk. I’ve seen your morning run playlist.”

“I will have you know, there is just as much Tay and Bey on that list as there is Kels.”

Chris could have Barney the Dinosaur on his playlist and Trixie would still think he was the bees’ knees. They were disgustingly cute and absolute couple goals.

Everett grinned, “Come on, Declan, confess. You’ve got all her albums, don’t you? If I go upstairs, am I going to see her poster hanging on your bedroom wall?”

I rolled my eyes. “Shut it.”

Hayes looked genuinely impressed. “It’s cool, man. Kelsey Best is awesome. But don’t you have extra tickets for your favorite little brother too?”

“No.” I was not giving up my ticket.

“C’mon. I’ve had a crush on her since I was, like, twelve.” He batted his eyelashes at me. That probably worked on every girl he’d ever met. Kid was way too good-looking. “She’d go for a younger man, right?”

I was going to fulfill my earlier threat from practice today to sit on him in a minute. “No.”

“I’m not that much younger.”

“Stop thinking about her that way.”

He looked at me all innocent-like. “What way?”

I crossed my arms and gave him my best older brother stare down. “You know.”

“Do I?”

Nobody got to think about her as anything but a woman with the voice of an angel. Except me. “The way that’s gonna hurt when I punch you in the dick.”

Everett gave me one of his damn all-knowing side-eyes. “Feeling a little proprietary over Kelsey Best there, my man. She’s belongs to the world, and I think you’d have a lot of fans to fight you for her.”

Hayes raised his hand. “Including me.”

“You’re not the ones she... invited to the concert, are you?” Ooh. I’d almost fucked up and told them about the showmance. They were going to eat me alive if they found that out.

“I thought you got the tickets from Alexis,” Jules said.

I sighed. Fuck. This is why I didn’t lie and didn’t keep secrets. In a family of seven brothers and the nosiest little sister on the planet, it didn’t ever work out. Might as well just admit it all now because they’d find out sooner rather than later anyway. “I... met Kelsey Best the other morning when I was doing the steps at the Rocks. She gave me the tickets.”

“She... gave you... tickets to her show?” Hayes and Jules exchanged glances. Then Hayes narrowed his eyes at me. “Why? What the hell did you do to her?”

Why did everyone think I’d done something horrible? Hayes hadn’t said that, but his tone sure as shit implied, I’d held her dog for ransom in exchange for tickets. “I saved her dog from a rattlesnake.”

Jules gasped and her hands shot to cover her mouth. “You saved Wiener the Pooh?”

I still found that name to be hilarious. Like, did she have other dogs at home named Alison Wienerland, or Mary Queen of Wieners? I could just imagine her rolling on the ground with a million little wiener dog puppies, giggling and letting them kiss her and lick her... and this fantasy was going to get me in trouble.

Because I wanted to be a wiener dog right about now.

“What else are you not telling us?” Everett asked.

See? No secrets. Zero. None. So there was no way I could pull off a fake relationship with a pop star. I was going to have to say no.

Unless... no. Maybe? No.

“Nothing. If you dickheads want to go to the Kelsey Best concert, get your own damn tickets. Now get out of my house.”I pointed to the door, and for the first time in my entire life, my siblings actually did what I asked.

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