Page 9 of My Best Friend's Brother
Chapter 4
Keke smiled as Pete nodded in resignation. The look on his face—both hopeful and fearful—endeared him to her…a little.
Pete snapped a sheet above a bed, and his much larger biceps flexed. Despite his changed exterior, Keke still saw the same nerd who would use his fingers to clean out his ears and had to shove glasses up the bridge of his nose every three seconds.
Wait a minute…
“Where are your glasses? How can you see?”
He stood upright, his dark eyes raking her with a tired expression. Keke cringed at the unexpected shiver of pleasure his study of her had caused. Where did that come from?
Okay, so his eyes were actually kind of soulful looking—with the gravitational pull of a black hole. She had never noticed them behind those chunky glasses of his.
“Contacts,” he said simply.
Right. Duh. Keke shook the stupid from her head.
“Still wear them sometimes. The glasses.”
“Well, you look…” Ugh, she couldn’t say it. It would be like skirting the line between right and wrong. A very, very fine line. Or in the case of a hot guy, a slippery slope. After acknowledging attraction, you’re careening down the side of a mountain into his arms followed by an avalanche of love.
She couldn’t do that to Bertie.
Or herself.
Pete crossed his arms, his biceps growing larger with the movement. She bit the inside of her mouth to associate his good looks with pain. Eventually, she’d foam at the mouth.
His arched brow dared Keke to say the words they both knew she thought.
Like a chicken, she cleared her throat and began arranging the toiletries on a shelf across the cabin.
Pete laughed softly. “It’s okay if you can’t say it. Your eyes did all the talking earlier.”
Keke grunted. She’d forgotten about that scene in the parking lot. “Look”—she turned around—“this isn’t about me and what I think about you. This is about you learning how to get a girl. Do you want the lessons or not?”
Pete’s eyes went to the ceiling. “Okay. Go.”
Keke smiled. “First lesson is talking to the girl.”
Keke sauntered up to Pete, biting her lip so she wouldn’t laugh at the growing look of fear in his face or the rise of red up his neck. So cute. Ack!
“A girl judges a guy’s confidence on how he stands and then what he says. The first few seconds are critical.” She quickly scanned his stance. “Your posture is good.”
That’s as far as she would go to say he looked great. His chest filled out his shirt too well, and his fitted jeans didn’t hide any chicken legs. More than great.
She held out her hand. “Hi! I’m Lea.” She mimicked the girl’s over-the-top, sugary voice.
Pete let out an exasperated sigh and took her hand, giving it a firm shake. “Do you have to do that?”
Keke snatched her hand back, it going to her hip. “That’s the first thing you would say?”
Pete cleared his throat and rolled his shoulders. “Sorry. Can we go again?”
Keke about-faced back to her starting position and walked across the room again. This time, Pete’s blush didn’t come in so dark, and his eyes held half the amount of fear.
He gripped her hand. “Hi. I’m Peter.”
Keke shook his hand with a grin. “Nice. Your voice didn’t shake, nor did it squeak.”
