My Best Friend's Brother: A Standalone Friends to Lovers Romance (Soulmates Series Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

constantly mentioned minutes older than Izzy, but he was a
natural born leader and his charm was the gift that kept on giving.
     
    I'd
hear a knock at the door and listen as he greeted my mom and made a fuss over
whatever smell was billowing out of the kitchen. Then he'd ask if I could come
out to play.
     
    But
the masterstroke was that- before we even hit the driveway- he'd say,
"What time would you like Andi to be home, Mrs. Oliver?"
     
    Every.
Time.
     
    And
he always got me there, too, though the onus was usually on me to come up with
a suitable story for what the hell we'd been doing all day since the truth was
often more than my mother could handle.
     
    But
to say she was delighted that Shane and I were headed to the same college
twelve years later would be the biggest understatement ever.
     
    So
I guess I wasn’t the only one that thought he was a good influence on me. Even
Nervous Nancy felt that he was the cure for her darkest fears.
     
    There
was only one problem with him being so great, and that was that I couldn’t help
but compare everyone to him.
     
    And
in fifteen years, no one had ever come close to measuring up.
     
     
     

 
    Chapter 6: Shane
     
     
     
     
    I
was halfway home when I realized I was clenching my fists so hard they were
getting sore.
     
    Sure,
I'd scolded Mike and knocked him around enough to get his attention, but as far
as I was concerned, he got off too lightly.
     
    On
the plus side, I'd managed to successfully suppress how deep my feelings of
hatred went for him.
     
    Because
it wasn’t entirely personal. I never liked any of the guys Andi went out with.
     
    The
least offensive was probably Jason De Marco, who took her to prom, and that was
only because we played hockey together back then, and I thought he was a decent
guy.
     
    Of
course, after Izzy told me he'd given Andi a fat purple hickey on her neck and
that he tried to push her head down, I avoided him like the plague.
     
    I
don't know why exactly. I always thought it was simply because- next to Izzy-
she'd always been the person I was most protective of.
     
    What's
more, I knew how special she was, and I had this idea in my mind of how I
thought she deserved to be treated, an idea no one ever seemed to live up to.
     
    At
least Mike was out of the picture now, which was a relief. He was the worst guy
to catch her attention yet.
     
    And
to be frank, I think the reason I hated him most was that his behavior reminded
me of my own jealousy.
     
    I
still remember the first time I saw her flirt with someone in high school- like
really flirt. Like hair twirling, eyelash batting, cheek blushing flirt. I
remember wishing she'd look at me like that, that my attention would reduce her
to a sweet, giggling mess.
     
    Maybe
I was too familiar for her to see me that way, or perhaps it was the fact that
she and my sister were so close.
     
    But
that didn't stop me from noticing the curve of her ass or the twinkle in her
eye or her shapely lips.
     
    But
noticing was one thing.
     
    It
would've been quite another to do anything that couldn't be laughed off or
denied, anything that might challenge the deep trust she and Izzy had in me.
     
    I
pushed the door of Andi's favorite sandwich shop open and listened as the chime
rang out under the floor mat. Then I ordered a wreck for me, a spicy turkey for
her, and two Oreo milkshakes to go.
     
    "Can
you put some extra Oreos in the bag?" I asked.
     
    The
young man behind the counter nodded.
     
    I
was trying to remember what frat he was in when an elbow brushed against my
arm.
     
    "I
didn't think you were an extra Oreos kind of guy?"
     
    I turned
towards the familiar voice and felt a surge of warmth in my stomach when my
eyes found her crimson smile. "Sonia. Hey."
     
    She
glanced down at the leather boots sticking out of the bag in my hand. 
     
    "Oreos
and drag, huh?" Her voice was as smooth as her clear brown skin.
     
    "Not
exactly," I said, trying to remember how long it had