Page 15 of My Brother's Best Men
Secondly, she’s everything I’m not. Sophie is smart, sophisticated. She’s the kind of woman who runs the board meeting, not the kind who gets the coffee, though I know that’s what that asshole Keaton or whatever his name is thinks of her.
Guys like that? Guys that come from Big Daddy’s money and don’t know or want for shit, they never appreciate what they have. Not that I know much about her boyfriend, except fromwhat I’ve found out by stalking the guy online via Sophie’s social media.
“She was fine,” I say, throwing open the fridge to grab a soda. “A little jumpy, but then again, Sam told her about the dinner tonight and?—”
“Shit, I almost forgot about the dinner,” Matt drawls in the background.
I pop the cap and take a long pull of the fizzy soda.
“She’s going, though…right?” Eli asks, and I let out an equally fizzy belch.
Eli doesn’t seem at all fazed. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or bad thing.
“Of course she’ll be there,” I say. “It’sfamily dinner.Emphasis on the family, Eli.”
Elijah shoots me another glare.
I can’t resist adding, “You can talk to her and confess your undying love over lasagna later.”
I know very well he won’t, and I shouldn’t bait him like this, but fuck, I can’t help it. He’s irritating me right now, up my ass when he could just call the woman like a normal person andtalkto her. But no, he’d rather make eyes at her and act like the fucking Phantom of the Opera or something.
“I’m not?—”
“She seemed upset,” Matt says, chipping in like the bumbling idiot he is.
I swear, the man is lacking a few screws and brain cells most days. Which is probably why I lethimstay here. I should get a stipend for housing the disabled.
Okay, technically he’slearning disabled, not disabled-disabled, but not all disabilities are visible, you know.
“Did she say anything—” Elijah starts, and I slam down my can of soda.
“No,” I gripe. “It’s none ofourbusiness, guys. Whatever it is, it’s between her and Sam. Or Raegan. Us…” I swallow hard. “It’s just…none of our fucking business. Our job is to make sure this wedding goes off without a hitch. Sophie isnotour concern. She’s adistraction.”
Matt sighs. “She’sSophie.Don’t act like she’s some ex come back to haunt you or something,” he says.
Sometimes I hate how close he actually gets to the truth without knowing it. I swear he’s got ESP or something.
Truth is, Sophie Martin has haunted my thoughts since I was nineteen. I know I shouldn’t have liked her then, not inthatway. Not only because she was my best friend’s sister, but because she was sixteen. She was all I could think about, and trying to resist her was like a full-time job. Especially when she was parading around the house in her little teeny bikinis, flashing those long lashes at me.
I told myself it wasn’ther, it was me. That I was just seeing things that weren’t there because I was a horny nineteen-year-old. But the truth of the matter was, it wasn’t justme.It was the little things she did. The way I used to catch her staring at me when she thought I wasn’t looking, or how she’d purposefully brush past me, moving slower than necessary. It was the way Icaught her biting her lip or the sudden shift in her breath when I walked into the room.
And there was also thatonetime I walked past her room at three am and heard her moaning.
Moaningmy name.
That sound has haunted my dreams—dry and wet—for years at this point. I’ve tried to forget it. Tried to forgether, but no matter how much pussy I bury myself in, I can’t seem to forget Sophie.
But Ipromisedmyself I would. If not for me, for Sam and for Elijah, and hell, even for fucking Matt, because lord knows his crush on her was about as subtle as a damn hurricane.
“I know, Matt. But she’s also got a life of her own, and I’m sure the last thing she wants is a bunch of assholes meddling in her personal life right now.” I turn to look at Elijah, shooting him a knowing look. “Which means no harassing her.”
“I’m not?—”
I hold my hand up to stop him. “Ah ah. No ifs, ands, or buts, Eli. Promise me you’ll let this go and justenjoythe night for what it is.”
Elijah purses his lips, staring at me as if contemplating his words.
Matt speaks. “A dinner among friends?” he asks curiously.
