Page 37 of My Brother’s Best Friends Entanglement

"Hang on a sec, Lex," I cut her off as I hand her a water. She takes it, confused as to why I've interrupted her mid-sentence for hydration purposes.

But then Priya comes out carrying a platter of appetisers and Marcus is leaning forward before she's even reached us.

"You," he tells her, "are a vision."

She lays the food down and hands me the stack of napkins. "You say that to everyone who brings you food."

“That is a lie!” Marcus protests, and then his mouth slides into a grin. “I only say it to everyone who brings me good food. There's a difference."

Priya rolls her eyes at Alexia on the way past. "Be careful around that one." She hooks her thumb at Marcus. "You don't want to let your guard down and accidentally believe the shit he says."

Alexia shakes her head. "Not a chance. I have more than two working brain cells."

Priya laughs and bumps her shoulder against her. "I like you. You can stay. Get rid of the other three and come play a round of darts with me."

Alexia gives her a sultry smile. "Will you let me win?"

"Well, of course, darling. Not that I'd need to. You look like you'd be good at it."

"I think you're the one I need to be careful around."

Priya lets out another throaty laugh and swaggers back to the bar.

I lean over. "Just so you know, you're much more her type than Marcus."

She thinks about it for a moment, and then her cheeks blaze red. "Er...Oh! Me? Why?"

Before I can make the mistake of saying something I'll regret, Rhys clears his throat and we all turn to him. "You wanted to talk about staying at the house. So...talk," he says.

She looks like she might stammer a response, but instead wipes her hands on her jeans and stands. Eight inches shorter than the shortest of us, she's not exactly an imposing figure. Still, we all listen.

"I don't think me staying there for three months is a good idea,” she starts, her voice firm. “And I will absolutely not let you move out so I can stay there. I wasn't okay with it when it was one week. What the hell makes you think I'd be okay with it for three months?"

Marcus slides to the edge of his seat. "Why? Give us one good reason."

Her face scrunches up. She's obviously thinking. I take the chance to add my two cents.

"Leon's room's going unused for three months regardless," I say. "He's going to be on the road until Port Lincoln site's sorted, maybe longer if the next place lands. Your placement's three months. It's just, like, perfectnmaths."

She cocks an eyebrow. "Really? That's your argument? Maths?"

"It's really good maths," Marcus agrees, nodding emphatically. "It's the mathiest maths I've ever heard."

She groans. "Oh my god. It's not math⁠—“

"Also," Marcus barrels on, counting off on his fingers, "you wouldn’t have to worry about scraping together bond and rent. You'd be ten minutes from uni. You'd get delicious home-cooked breakfasts every morning from Masterchef Marcus. You'd get free drinks at the best bars in Adelaide, which, statistically, is more free drinks than most people get in a lifetime⁠—"

"That's not an actual statistic," she argues.

"Prove it," he shoots back, and then when she doens’t say anything immediately, says, “see? And you get invigorating intellectual conversation. Discussing world events and whatnot."

I watch her fight it, the corners of her mouth twitching, before she buries it in another mouthful of beer.

Rhys hasn't said a word. In front of him there’s a row of methodically lined up torn pita bread pieces. I’ve seen him do that before — once when he told us he was moving to Melbourne, another when he said we should all move in together. Both times, he'd been trying to make sense of his own feelings.

It makes me wonder exactly what he's thinking now.

Something pushes me to say the one thing I know I shouldn't. "Has one of us done something that makes you not want to stay with us? You might as well tell us who it was. The other two will kick his ass."