Page 68 of Shut Up and Drive

“We’ve got to get rid of that Brad guy. He has his grip so tight on Sera, and I’m worried about her.”

Bash grins. “Suuuuure. You’re ‘worried,’” he teases with air quotes.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask, but my voice cracks when I speak and Bash immediately laughs.

“You’ve got it so bad for my sister, andeveryoneknows, Thane. Give up the theatrics.”

I clear my suddenly dry throat. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I insist, but I know he can see right through me.

“Listen,” he says, slapping me on the back, “if you want my help, you’ve got to be honest with me. This won’t work unless I know all the moving parts, okay? Now. I’m going to give you one more chance to come clean, then I’m going to shove you into the lake for lying to your best friend.”

I sigh.

If you only knew, Brother.

“Fine. I do, okay? Are you happy now?”

“You do what?” he presses.

“You know.”

“I need to hear the words from your mouth.”

“I, uh,” I rub the back of my neck and let out a nervous chuckle, “I’m in love with your sister.”

Bash’s eyes grow wide and he bursts out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” I hiss. “Quiet down, people will hear you.”

“I knew you had a thing for her clear back in high school, Dude. Why do you think I left you two alone so much that summer I met Jamie?”

I shake my head, unable to understand how he knew.

“How did you know?” I stammer.

“Man, everyone knew. We have eyes. We could see the way you two looked at each other. Sneaking away to ‘skip rocks.’ It wasn’t exactly subtle.”

“So all this time… youknew?”

Bash laughs. “Yeah. We wondered how long it was going to take you two to come clean. But then…” he trails off. “Anyway. We all thought it was just a matter of time before you two ended up together.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I wanted to see if you’d eventually confess to your best bud that you were in love with his only sister. So I let you sweat.”

“We snuck around to see each other after that Fourth of July because we didn’t want anyone to know,” I say.

“Yeah, well, my mom saw you two kissing over the fence in the backyard. Once she knew,everyoneknew. Besides, you two were terrible at flyingunder the radar.”

I shake my head in disbelief that everyone played along with our charade, and no one said a thing.

“So then why did you act shocked when I told you I love her?” I ask.

“Because I just thought it was a crush. I had no idea you were head over heels, his ’n’ hers towels for her,” he says with a grin.

“Well… I am. I have been since that summer. And now she’s thinking about giving that idiot another chance. We have to do something, and fast.”

“Okay, I’ve got a few ideas,” he says with mischief in his eyes.