Page 13 of My Brother’s Best Friend

He was wearing a button-down shirt in a soft, heathered blue, the sleeves casually rolled up. His khakis had a grease stain on the left leg. That, or something else was casting a shadow right there on his inner—dammit, stop looking at his cock!

I wrenched my eyes away and looked back at Cam’s face, only to find him staring at me suspiciously. Fuck, had he noticed where I was looking?

His voice rang in my ears, a rich baritone. I shivered. I hadn’t even realized I’d remembered how he sounded, but all of a sudden, I was a teenager again, listening to him talk about books, wishing I could crawl into his lap and purr like a kitten.

Except I wasn’t a teenager, I was an actual adult, and I really needed to say something before I made myself look even dumber.

“Uh, yeah,” I said, my cheeks flushing. “Yeah, I’m…me.”

So much for looking less dumb.

“I mean, that is, I’m…it.”

God, could I please get struck by a bolt of lightning and put out of my misery?

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I swear, I’m not usually this idiotic, I just—I wasn’t expecting—that is, you’re—I’m not—”

“Cam,” Cam said, pointing to his chest. “Cam Starling.”

And then he flushed, which only made him hotter, and that was truly unfair, because I probably looked like a tomato at this point, but Cam just looked all outdoorsy and rugged.

“I was friends with your brother back in high school,” he continued. “And now, too. But you probably don’t remember—”

“Of course I remember you!” I burst out. “You were my—my—my brother’s friend,” I finished lamely.

Probably not a good idea to tell him to his face that he was the source of my first ever wet dream. I was really doing my best to reach the summit of Moron Mountain, though.

Cam was kind enough not to point that out, because of course he was. He was perfect, and I might as well still be the dweeby little kid who was obsessed with him.

“Well, it’s great to see you again,” he said, his smile warm and generous.

“Yeah, you too.” I smiled back, then realized I had no idea what to say next. Cam was clearly waiting for me to make conversation, and suddenly I couldn’t think of a single question to ask.

Or, no, that wasn’t it at all. I had a million questions I wanted to ask, but none of them seemed like the kind of thing you could ask someone you hadn’t seen in six years, someone you’d never even been friends with to begin with.

How are you? Where do you live now? Are you still writing? Are you happy? Levi said something about a cabin and wildflowers—is your life as romantic as it sounds? Is it what you always wanted? Are you single? Are you married? Are you dating? Are you, just maybe, just possibly, single and also gay, or bi, or just really open-minded, and interested in letting your friend’s little brother suck your cock?

What came out of my mouth was, “Are you, um…coffee?”

Cam looked at me like I was having an aneurysm. I was pretty sure my face was about to melt off—which would have been pretty gross, but would, at least, have the virtue of ending this conversation, because I would be dead.

“That is, do you want some?” I said, gesturing to the chalkboard menu behind me. “It’s on me. I mean, on the house. Not literally on me, that would be—well, you know…”

Maybe if I banged my head hard enough on the counter, I could speed up the face-melting process. What was I doing, explaining the English language to him like he’d never heard an idiom before?

But Cam just held up a baseball cap—one that I recognized.

“Thanks, but I’m just here to drop this off. Levi left it at my—”

“Did someone say my name?”

I turned to see Levi stride in from the back hall with a grin that only got bigger when he noticed who was standing in front of the counter.

“Hey, look at that. My two favorite people. This day just keeps getting better.”

And honestly, how dumb could I be? Of course Cam was here to talk to Levi. He was probably wishing my brother had been at the counter from the beginning, so he’d never have had to interact with me. I wondered if anyone would notice if I just dropped to all fours and scuttled away like a crab.

“Now, I can only assume you’re here to take me up on my generous offer from last night,” Levi continued, walking up to Cam. “And you’re in luck, because I have compiled a list for you, my friend. The crème de la crème of the island’s single ladies.”