Page 184 of Sexting My Best Friend's Brothers
She takes in our stance: Ethan in front of Tessa, Owen and I flanking her. Protective. Intimate.
Her gaze lands on Tessa.
Tessa’s wearing the loose dress, but she has a hand resting unconsciously on her stomach. And she’s glowing.
Harper pops the cork on the champagne. She grabs two glasses from the open cabinet and holds one out to Tessa.
Tessa steps back, keeping her hands at her sides.
Harper’s eyes narrow. She lowers the glass. “You’re not drinking,” she says.
“I’m on a detox,” Tessa says quickly. Too quickly. “Green juices. Asher’s orders.”
“Uh-huh,” Harper says. She puts the bottle down. She walks over to Tessa and grabs her face, examining her. “You look… different. Your skin. Your… everything.”
“It’s the stress of the hack,” Owen interjects, draping an arm around Harper to distract her. “Come on, Harp. Let’s eat pizza. I’m starving.”
Harper shakes him off. She steps back, studying the four of us. She’s smart. She grew up in the same house of horrors we did; she learned to read a room before she learned to read books.
“Something is going on,” she says slowly. “You guys are acting weird. Weirder than usual. You’re moving like a pack.”
“We are a pack,” I say.
“No,” Harper says. “You’re guarding her.” She points at Tessa. “What is it?” Harper asks, her voice dropping. “Is she sick? Is that why you guys vanished?”
“I’m fine, Harp,” Tessa says, stepping forward. She hates lying to Harper. I can see it eating at her. “Really. We’ve just been… working.”
“Working,” Harper repeats skeptically. She looks at Ethan. “You look happy. You never look happy.”
Ethan struggles to neutralize his expression. The joy of the twins is still buzzing in his system. “The server architecture is fully stabilized.”
Harper sighs, throwing her hands up. “Fine. Keep your secrets. But I’m staying here tonight. I ordered three pizzas, and I’m not leaving until Tessa tells me why she ghosted me.”
“You can stay,” Ethan says, relaxing slightly. “But no interrogations.”
“We’ll see,” Harper warns.
The evening becomes a minefield. We eat pizza on the floor of the living room. We try to act normal, but our baseline for normal has completely fractured. Ethan watches Tessa to make sure she’s comfortable, while Owen feeds her crusts to settle her stomach. I obsess over the thermostat, ensuring the ambient temperature remains optimal.
Harper watches it all, tracking every glance.
By 9:00 PM, the tension is palpable. We’re terrible at this. We’re engineers, not actors.
“Okay, seriously,” Harper says, wiping tomato sauce from her lip. “Are you guys… dating?”
Conversation halts abruptly.
“What?” Owen asks, nearly choking on his beer.
“I’m not blind,” Harper says. “The touching. The looks. It’s giving dating vibes. Is Tessa dating one of you? Is it Owen? It’s usually Owen.”
Tessa looks at me, panic flaring in her eyes.
“We…” Tessa starts.
“We’re close,” Ethan interrupts smoothly. “The trauma of the hack brought the team together.”
“Right,” Harper draws out the word. “Trauma bonding. Sexy.”
