Page 163 of My Brother’s Best Friends Entanglement

I laugh again, but before I can say anything he kisses me. And it's like the first time all over again. Heady and surprising and life-changing. I smile into his lips and whisper, "I love you, Marcus. I missed you so much."

Before he can say anything else, I'm grabbed around the middle and pulled away from him, to his loud protestations. Zachary has his head buried in my neck from behind.

I reach around, running my hands through his hair as I turn my head, and his mouth is devouring me — hard and deep, my heart racing, wanting more. My legs threaten to give out as I pull his arms tighter around me. Finally, he whispers, "Don't ever walk out of my life again. I can't live without you. I don't know who I am without you."

I sigh against his neck, part of my soul reforming as I hear his words. "I'm only me with you. I love you."

We stand there, locked in each other, for a moment, when we hear, "Are you fucking done?"

We both turn to see Rhys standing there, arms crossed, face like a thunderstorm.

Zachary breaks into a dark laugh against my neck and doesn't let go until Rhys reaches forward, grabs both my arms, and yanks me against him.

I topple, fall headlong into him, chest against chest, and then his hands are on my face, his mouth on mine. And then it's just us, saying everything we couldn't say these last few weeks. Lips on lips. Tears pouring down my cheeks as the last piece falls back into place.

"All you need to know about me is that I am yours, Alexi. Wholly, completely, utterly, deliriously yours."

"I love you.” I say, unable to comprehend that I can say those words to him. “And I will never stop wanting to sit with you in the silence, learning more about you."

We kiss again until two more bodies press in against us. I throw my head back and laugh as Rhys growls, trying to push them away. But our little group is never breaking apart again.

Someone's hands find my side, tickling me, and I'm deliriously giggling when we hear someone yell, "Seriously?! Is this what it's going to be like for the rest of my life? The three of you pawing at my sister?"

I turn to grin at my brother, then say the thing he's been waiting for. "Well, are you gonna come into the group hug or not?"

He breaks into a grin and then shuffles over and we make room, careful not to squish him.

And then it's just pure chaos — arms around me from three directions, Leon complaining about us all needing therapy, someone's elbow in someone else's ribs — and so much laughter.

"Can anyone join, or is this a 'you have to have seen each other naked' kind of thing?"

I spin around to see Betty standing there, hands on her hips. She must spot Leon, because she turns beet red and adds, "Oh, my bad, didn't see you there, Boy Riley. I thought it was more of an R-rated type hug."

"Seriously, Boop?" I hear Aria say as she steps into the room, her three fiancés behind her.

But before I can greet them, there's a knock at the door. I pull out of the hug to see the panel members come in, looking slightly bewildered by the sheer volume of balloons and hugging people currently occupying the room.

The panel chair clears her throat. "Sorry to barge in — we did try your mobile first." Her eyes sweep the room — streamers, Marcus still half-tangled in the banner, the small gaggle of people all staring at her in anticipation.

"Given the audience, we thought we might as well tell you now, in front of your family and friends, rather than making you come back into the room." She looks at me properly and gives me a solid nod, holding out her hand. "Congratulations, Dr Riley. Your presentation and your paper were genuinely inspired."

The room detonates. I'm lifted clean off the ground by somebody, surrounded by people shouting congratulations, and the feeling that I can now achieve anything.

Somehow, amidst it all, I feel, rather than hear, my phone ring.

I'm deposited back on the ground just in time to answer it, before it rings out.

The voice on the other end has my heart stopping all over again.

FORTY-SEVEN

Alexia

"Put it on speaker," Rhys says, quiet, already moving in closer. "We're here for you. Whatever it is."

I do, my thumb not quite steady on the screen.

“Alexia? It's Graham, from the submission office, sorry to call so soon after your defence, I know the timing's terrible."