Page 27 of That Time I Kissed My Brother’s Best Friend

I’ll do what she asks.

“All right.” I shift my jaw and unclench my teeth. “If that’s what you want.”

“Good.” A slow smile spreads across her face. Like she can’t believe I’m agreeing to do this. “Give me one second to hit record, then you can start.” She presses a button and aims the phone’s camera at me again.

“Okay. Here goes.” I take a deep breath, blow it out. “Five years ago, after graduation, I asked Kasey to meet me here, behind the gym. I told her I had something to give her and even though she had no reason to believe me—not after all the different ways I’d messed with her—she showed up anyway.” My chest aches as I say this.

What a supreme jerk, Beau.

“I let her think my reasons were legitimate, but Brady was waiting up in those trees.” I glance up at the highest branches. The sun’s peeking through now, light streaking down on Kasey.

She nods. “Don’t stop, Beau. You’re just getting to the good part.”

My mouth’s dry as a dust bowl, and a bead of sweat rolls off my brow. “The thing is,” I say to the camera, “I knew Brady was up there, watching us, but I couldn’t help myself. I moved in for a kiss. That wasn’t part of the plan.” I take a beat, and Kasey makes a small noise in the back of her throat. This story can’t be easy for her to hear, but she might as well know the truth. “Anyway, before anything happened between us—before I got to kiss Kasey—Brady took matters into his own hands…”

Kasey’s jaw goes tight. “Tell everyone what Brady did, Beau. What youlethim do.”

“He started pelting her with water balloons. A whole bucket full of them. The water must’ve been freezing, but Kasey barely flinched. She just stood there taking it, getting wetter and wetter. I think her strength made Brady even madder. And he was probably already mad at me for almost kissing his sister…” My voice trails off.

“Then what happened?” she prompts.

“Brady was in the tree cracking up, and I stood there feeling like the world’s worst human. Iwasthe worst for letting Brady hurt her.”

Kasey flips her phone around and says, “The end.” She taps at her screen. But I wasn’t done yet. She looks up from her phone and rubs at her nose with a fist. Is she fighting back tears? My stomach sinks even deeper into the pit of shame inside me.

“Kasey.” I take a step toward her, but she backs away.

“That last part’s not entirely true, is it? The part where you said you let Brady hurt me.Youhurt me.Youdid, Beau. You need to own your part.”

“You’re right,” I nod. “And I wanted to explain things to you back then. I would’ve apologized, but you ran off. And then we both left for school.” I take another step toward her, but she steps back again. “So I’m telling you now. From the bottom of my heart. I’m truly sorry I hurt you. I know I hurt you over and over. But I’m not that stupid kid anymore.”

She blinks, hard and fast, shaking her shoulders like she’s shaking off my apology. Then she starts back in on her phone, tapping away. She looks up at me. “All right, Beau. I just forwarded the video confession to your phone. Now there’s just one more thing I need you to do for me.”

I cock my head. A question. What does she want me to do?

“Send it to your mom,” she says. “Then to mine.”

My throat constricts like I’m being strangled by a boa constrictor. “But ... why?”

Kasey shifts her weight. Is she feeling unsure? Or just thrown off balance, caught up in the memory? Either way, I want to make things better for her. Still, my chest burns, imagining anyone else finding out what Brady and I did. Especially our mothers.

“If they know what happened with us back then,” Kasey says, “they’ll stop trying to make something happen between us now.” Her lips tremble. A terrible shake. “Maybe they thought it was a brilliant idea to push us together this week, but they don’t know the real you, do they?”

“Maybe you don’t know me either,” I say, my eyes locked on hers. Kasey blinks, but the set to her mouth says she’s not budging. I glance at her phone then meet her gaze again. “Even if I wanted to, I can’t send that video to anyone because I don’t have my phone with me.”

She takes a beat, furrows her brow. “Fine.” She unlocks the screen on her phone and hands it over. “Use mine.”

“All right, Kasey.” I bob my head. “I can do that. If this is really what you want.” She nods. A tight, quick one. “Okay,” I say. But instead of sending a text, I open up her camera app, switch the setting to video, and flip the lens back at me.Take a breath now, man. It’s time to say your piece.

“Hey, there, Kasey Graham. It’s me. Beau Slater. I’ve been an idiot. I’ve always been an idiot, but not the way you think. I didn’t actually set out to torment you back in high school. Not at first. I was just a fifteen-year-old kid who had the misfortune of falling for his best friend’s sister. That would be you, Kasey. And yeah, I should’ve told Brady how I felt. I should’ve told you. Instead I told myself it was guy-code. You don’t date your friend’s little sister, right? No way. Never. So I did everything I could to push you away.”

When I take a breath, Kasey jumps in. “So you’re blaming my brother now?”

Guess we’re in interview mode. But I keep the camera aimed at me. “No, it was my fault. And I can accept that. The truth is Brady didn’t even know how I felt about you. Or maybe he did. Maybe that’s why he worked so hard to mess with you too. It’s not an excuse. Just the truth. I—”

“Stop!” She puts a hand up.

“Not before I tell you I reallydidhave something to give you that day. A charm bracelet. Twenty-four karat gold. I bought it at Murphy’s Jewelers.”

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