Page 61 of My Brother’s Best Friends Entanglement

"Well, aren't you?" She finally looks up, and I can't hold in the laugh at the blob of dough hanging in her hair.

"What?" she scowls.

I walk over, grabbing bowls as I go. "I wasn't staring. I was intently checking whether you'd gotten more flour in your hair or in your banana bread."

Her eyes narrow, and she reaches up to pat her head, only managing to replace the flour with detergent bubbles. "How do you know it's banana bread?"

"I have a nose, and it works. And you forget, I practically grew up in your house."

She sighs and stacks up some dirty dishes, bringing them over. "I hope it's okay."

"I'm sure it will be." I rinse what she's scrubbed and put it on the rack. "How was work today?"

"Fine." She grabs a tea towel and starts drying. "Good, actually. Had a good chat with a couple of people from the department after my seminar." She laughs once, but doesn't elaborate.

"You gonna share with the class?"

"It's nothing. Just something Craig said when I said something stupid. He covered for me." She catches my face. "What?"

"Nothing."

"You're making an ugly," she says, pointing at my face.

"Cra-aig," I say, mocking. "You sure mention him a lot."

"He's a colleague, Marcus. Colleagues come up in conversation about work. Shocking, I know."

"Sure. Just looking out for you, as requested."

She twists the towel in her hands. "Well, stop it. I didn't think I'd be fielding questions about my life from three extra brother figures when I moved in."

I clear my throat. "What if I hate Craig, not as a big brother, but as someone who doesn't want a bloke like Craig anywhere near you."

That gets her attention. "Someone like Craig? What is that, exactly? A political scientist? Because unless you've forgotten, I'm also a poli⁠—"

"A fucking man, Lexi."

She doesn't say anything for a second, just watches my hands move under the bubbles.

"Right," she says, eventually. "Well. That's going to make dating hard while I live here."

"Are you intending to date while living here?"

"No concrete plans. But if I do, I hate to break it to you, it'll be with a man. So you better get used to 'blokes like Craig' being of the man variety."

I scrub at the whisk a little too hard and it bends. "I don't think I'll ever get used to you dating."

"Any man?"

"Another man. Any man but me." There. I've said it.

She doesn't say anything, just starts putting away the dry dishes, but I can tell from her face that it's got to her.

Even though I had no right to say it.

I had my chance. And I ruined it, whether on purpose or not. She doesn't deserve this from me. We move around the kitchen in silence for a while, and even with her deep in her head, I'm enjoying just being there with her. I missed this — missed her calm presence. Just as I finish the last of the dishes, she pulls the first loaf pan from the oven and sets it on the pot holder she's laid out on the bench.

It smells good. Almost as good as her.