Page 13 of That Time I Kissed My Brother’s Best Friend

Moving on. This is a holiday schedule, so I should probably use the red and green markers for Christmas and the red and blue ones for the 4thof July. But markers feel too permanent. Glancing around the room, I look for a pencil to trace with.Nope. Nada. Nothing.

Perfect. Markers it is. I pick the blue one first—like Kasey’s eyes—and draw a straight line across the top of the paper. When I’m done, though, my straight line looks more like a ski slope.

Strike two, Beau.

I shove the blue marker back in the box, thinking I’ll have better luck with red. I pop off the cap, and it smells like cherries, which reminds me of Kasey’s lips right before we almost kissed. And just like that, she reappears, coming down the stairs.

It’s like she can hear inside my head. Like she’s magic. Maybe sheis. She sure looks magical right now. Her shorts and boots are gone, and she’s changed into a sundress. Green like an emerald. Like my favorite part ofTheWizard of Oz. Her hair’s hanging over her shoulder in a loose braid. A braid of fire.

I drop the marker.

“How’s it going, Beau?” I open my mouth to answer her, but my throat’s gone bone dry. “That bad, huh?” Kasey frowns. “Here. Let me take a look.” She hovers over me, and I look up at her, but instead of checking out my total failure of a poster, she searches my eyes for a full five seconds. Then she starts cracking up. In my face.

“Oh my gosh, Beau! You should see yourself right now.” She stifles a laugh and ends up snorting. “Did you actually think I was going to leave you in charge of my mom’s poster thing?”

“Uhhh… I…”

“Oh. My. Whoa.” She shakes her head.

“Yep.” I bob my head. “I’m an idiot.”

“Saving humanity must’ve fried your brain.”

Sure. That’s what did it. This has nothing to do with you.

Kasey bends over to pick up the marker I dropped at the exact same time Brady strolls in from the kitchen.

“Hey.” He cocks his head. “What’s going on here?” I leap to my feet so fast I almost knock Kasey over. But I grab her wrist just in time. As she regains her footing, Brady comes toward us, eyes darting back and forth. “Were you just … hitting on my sister?”

“No way, man.” I put a hand up. “I was just—”

“Dude.” He breaks into a grin. “I’m kidding.”

“Okay. Sure. Cool. Cool.” My whole face burns, and Brady turns to Kasey.

“Check this guy out, Kase.” He cackles. “My boy Beau here is squirming like I was about to punch his lights out.”

She shrugs like she wouldn’t care if her brother decked me.Great.I force a smile even though three quarters of the Graham family are straight-up killing me. Any minute now, Mr. Graham’s going to show up and accuse me of drinking all the soda in his cooler. So I make a show of checking my watch.

“Oh, hey. Look at the time. I promised Natalie I’d get the truck back before dinner. We’re sharing it this week, and she needs it to go out.”

“What’s she up to?” Brady asks.

Uh. Deer in headlights. “Something that requires a truck. Which we’re sharing. As I said. But if I’m any later… well…”

“What would Nat do?” Kasey tilts her head. “Put Ex-Lax in your brownies?”

“Ha! Brownies! Right!” I try on a laugh, even though I have no idea what Kasey’s talking about. “Anyway, I need to get going.” But the truth is I don’t need to get going. I need to get a grip. Then I need to get it through my thick skull that having feelings for Kasey Graham is impossible.

First of all, she’s obviously still mad at me. And Brady obviously doesn’t want me anywhere near his sister. Still. Add those together, and Kasey’s off-limits. Way off.

Always has been. Always will be.

I’m about to show everyone how way-off-limits Kasey Graham is by taking off and never coming back, when Mr. Graham barges through the front door. He’s sporting nutty professor hair, a pair of cargo shorts, and a golf shirt. Under his Birkenstocks he’s got on a pair of socks that reach his knees. He’s also weighed down by at least a dozen cartons of butter.

“Daddy!” Kasey rushes over to hug her father and his butter.

“Hey there, sweetheart,” he says. “It’s about time you got here. Did you know you’re late for Christmas?”

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