I deliberately kept my eyes trained on the floor number to avoid staring at her cute, curvy little ass in those leggings. This girl broke every bro code there was: best friend’s crush, other best friend’s little sister. There was no way I was letting temptation get to me.
“Thanks,” she said, offering a small smile as she pressed the button for our floor, which was already lit up. Her eyes dropped to the takeout bag in my arms. “That smells amazing. Thai at two in the afternoon?”
I nodded, shifting the bag slightly. “Yep. Rhett and I had to stay a few hours late on our shift, and we’re starved. He had to stop by home, so I’m being the awesome roommate who brings home food.”
“So generous.” She glanced up at me through her lashes. “Are there spring rolls in there? My favorite.”
“I know.” I shrugged, trying to play it cool. “Hard to forget when you make that orgasm sound every time you bite into one.”
“Shows what you know about my orgasm sounds,” she said, throwing all my plans to not think about her sexually for a loop.
“Want to join us? There’s plenty.”
“Sadly, I just came from lunch, and I have an interview scheduled in twenty minutes.” She made a little pouty face. Her phone pinged, and she looked down at it, frowning, her jaw clenching, then quickly pocketed it.
“Everything okay?”
“Fine. Just your garden-variety internet bully. Price of podcasting. So, what’s for lunch?”
The change of subject caught me off guard, and I stared at her for a long moment. “You sure you don’t want to tell me what that sad face is about?”
“Yeah, it’s fine. And there’s nothing that can be done anyway. Just block, delete, and repeat. Stop looking so concerned, Troy. I’m fine. It just… sometimes the words still hurt, you know?”
The elevator stopped at our floor and we got out, but I lingered for a moment, not sure I was ready to leave her alone to read emails from some internet creep. She reached out and patted my arm, her fingers sending tingles of awareness across my skin.
Double bro-code violation.
“I’m fine, Troy. Really. Now distract me with information about these kittens. I must be cheered up before I have to go start my interview.”
“How did you know about the kittens?”
“Rhett told me,” she said, then bit her bottom lip, hesitating. Something in her expression shifted, became more serious. “When we were stuck in the laundry room the other day.”
“Ah,” I said, not sure what else to add. He hadn’t mentioned any sort of laundry room adventure, but then, he’d barely talked to me at all since the weird conversation in his truck after the calendar photoshoot.
“He told me other things too,” she continued, her voice softening. “Things that make me regret daring you to kiss him.”
My stomach dropped, the Thai food suddenly forgotten in my arms. “What do you mean?”
Aimee’s eyes searched my face. “I don’t want to interfere, but he seemed really upset, Troy.”
“Upset that I kissed him?”
She hesitated. “I’m not sure if I should be telling you this.”
“Oh, come on, Aims. It’s us. We’re boundary-challenged.”
“I’m not going to say more. But maybe you should be a little kinder to him. Are you acting like the kiss wasn’t a big deal?”
“I mean, no straight guy wants to think his queer best friend is obsessed with him. And I don’t want to fuck up our friendship.”
She laid a gentle hand on my shoulder, the touch burning through my t-shirt. “If you’re actually obsessed with him, I think you need to talk to him. Ask him how he’s feeling instead of making assumptions.”
I blinked, my mind struggling to process her words. That wasn’t possible. Rhett was in love with Aimee—had been since before we moved in across from her. The kiss was just a dare, a challenge. I’d been giving him an out by acting like it wasn’t a big deal.
“I didn’t know it bothered him,” I managed, my voice rougher than I intended. “He said… He was acting like he didn’t want to be friends the other day.”
“I’m sure he wasn’t.”
