Page 79 of My Brother's Best Friends

“I had no idea ninety minutes could slip by like that…”

“Time flies by when you’re feeling good, right?” she replies, and I laugh lightly, nodding my agreement. “Take as much time as you need to get dressed,” she instructs. “Once you’re ready, there’s a lounge just outside this door, to your left. You’ll want to relax and hydrate before you leave.”

Her advice sinks in, but my limbs still feel boneless. Perched on the table, I give myself a moment to drift back to full awareness. It takes about five minutes before I’m ready to try moving again.

There are pitchers of cucumber water on a rolling cart to one side. I help myself to a glass before selecting a place to sit. Skylights pepper the ceiling, flooding the room with warm mountain sunlight. I close my eyes and lean back, enjoying the silence.

I’m hovering on the edge of sleep. I’m so relaxed I’m barely aware of my surroundings. I hear someone pass by, then return and sit next to me. Cracking one eye open, I discover it’s Melanie.

All the calm I’ve been nurturing goes right out the window.

“Melanie,” I say, hoping I sound friendly.

“I see you’re taking advantage of the amenities,” Melanie says. “This resort clearly has so much to offer.” She pauses and gives me a confused look. “I thought we were going to hit the spa together.”

“I’m sorry—it was a spur-of-the-moment decision to get a massage,” I say with a faint smile. What is it about her that sits so wrong with me? I can’t put my finger on it.

“I also hear you’re sampling some other amenities,” Melanie adds.

I don’t like her tone one bit. Her self-control—the absence of warmth in her eyes, the way she smiles only with her lips—sets me on edge.

“Other amenities?”

Melanie lets out a heavy sigh. “I didn’t want to tell you this, but I heard you guys last night.”

I close my eyes, not sure how to deal with this. My blood runs cold, then hot in the span of a few seconds. The fear of being found out settles heavily over my shoulders, and the smug look on her face rattles me even more.

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I manage, my voice barely a whisper.

Melanie scoffs, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth as she leans forward. “I didn’t just hear you, I saw you. Your head was buried in one brother’s lap, while another was watching, and the third was pounding it out from behind.”

My eyes fly open, nausea climbing my throat. My breath falters. Pins and needles dance across my skin as I try to process every word coming out of her mouth.

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, don’t act so surprised.” Melanie waves one dismissive hand. “I know exactly what you’re going through. I’ve been there. With them. I know what the Anderson triplets are like. In fact, things got pretty crazy just an hour ago. I can hardly walk, if you know what I mean.”

It’s the wiggle of her perfectly tweezed eyebrows that damn near pushes me over the edge.

I swallow my rage. None of this makes sense. I want to believe it’s all a lie. My gut screams it’s a lie, that something is definitely off about this woman. Yet last night at dinner they all but ignored her—did everything they could to avoid her—while she… oh God. There’s history here.

And now that history slaps me with an uncomfortable possibility.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say through gritted teeth. “Frankly, my personal life is mine alone—it doesn’t concern you or any other Peeping Tom—or, in your case, Peeping Jane. I don’t know what you think you saw or how you expect me to react, but?—”

“It’s a well-known secret in their group, honey,” Melanie whispers. “And your brother is in on it. I took all four of them, once or twice. The Andersons and Bryan. And judging by the look on your face, you didn’t know that they all share women sometimes. I’m guessing they never told you…”

My stomach drops. As scandalous as it sounds, even after everything I’ve done with Alex, Kellan, and Oscar, it’s not entirely impossible that Bryan might be… oh God. Is it really such a stretch to think they might loop in their best friend? It’s not exactly a topic that a brother and sister would ever broach.

“Bryan would never cheat on Callie,” I say. “They’ve been together for years.”

“There are no saints in this story,” she replies, one finger nervously tapping on the armrest between us.

“You’re just saying this to hurt me. There’s no proof and no reason to believe a word coming out of your mouth. Why are you doing this?”

People don’t usually come out swinging like this. Whatever it is, I want to get to the bottom of it because my brother is marrying into her family. I can’t very well burn bridges, not when Bryan is about to propose.

“Did I do something to piss you off, or do you not want your sister to marry my brother?” I ask, bewildered. “I just can’t understand why you’re being so cruel.”

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