BEST FRIEND’S BROTHER

“I bet she is,” she mocked, “or else why would you meet her if you’re still awake by now?” Her voice was rather accusing.

“Why did you leave the party in such a hurry earlier?” Ignoring her sarcasm, Kaleb changed the subject.

He just had to ask! The audacity he had! Sasha smirked. “Did you want to enjoy seeing the girl you just kissed a few minutes ago making a friendly chat with your girlfriend?” she snapped, her wound reopened.

“Oh, so you left because of Claire?” Again, Kaleb’s voice was mocking.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

“No, I left because of me,” Sasha recoiled, and it was her stupidity sending him a text.

“And what about you and Samson? I see the way he looked at you at the party. He seems to really like you and the both of you seem really familiar with each other. What do I make out of that?” Kaleb sounded different, odd even.

It was Sasha’s turn to laugh. It was a ridiculous thing to say as far as she was concerned, because she and Samson had never gotten personal in that way. He’d never even tried to make a move on her or even give her any reason to think that he wanted to. “Seriously? Samson? Are you jealous, by any chance?” She even got the energy to get up and move toward her bed.

“Jealous? You can wish all day long, Sasha. I’m just asking,” Kaleb said wickedly, and it was annoying.

“Well, fine! If you say so,” Sasha retorted. “Are you in the bathroom hiding from your girlfriend right now?”

She lay down on her bed.

“Huh?” said Kaleb.

“Oh, could it be that you’re bold enough to even talk in her presence?” Were they living together? Was that the reason why he’d bought that big house? He wanted to start a life with his girl? Sasha wished to ask him, but she was scared of what his answer might be.

“I’m all alone, Sasha. And I don’t have any reason hiding in the bathroom,” said Kaleb flatly.

“I see. And I guess you find me so absurd right now,” Sasha muttered.

“Why?”

“The fact that I’m talking to you right now, it’s absurd. At least after what I learned today, I should stay away from you, right?”

“Why would you do that?” Kaleb queried.

Fuck! Was he serious? Sasha thought.

“Because I’m being a bitch right now. Calling and texting a guy with a girlfriend in the middle of the night is nothing but stupidity. I’m sorry, have a goodnight.” She was mad, at herself mostly.

“Wait,” Kaleb said briskly and she obliged. “I like talking to you, Sasha. I’m not sure if there’s any problem with us talking, though. Is there?”

Fuck him!

“Kaleb, goodnight.” she said. Nothing wrong? Is he serious? She thought.

“Wait,” he said again, “Will you still have dinner with me… Tomorrow?”

Sasha breathed deeply, “Goodnight Kaleb” she repeated and hung up, feeling so frustrated.

What an asshole!

————–

Sasha sat in the classroom, waiting for her professor to come in. She had a long day ahead of her because she still had to go take care of some orders for her customers and she couldn’t wait for the day to be over. It had already been a week since Kaleb’s party and had not seen him since then. Sasha didn’t know if she should be angry or sad about it. If it were some other guy, she’d have talked to Tilly about it, but that wasn’t the case this time. As curious as Tilly was, she’d want to know who the guy was and Sasha didn’t think her reaction would be good when she found out that it was her brother.

So instead, work became her great companion. This was her business. This was her dream, her passion, and she couldn’t wait to improve, expand it, and live it to the fullest. But for now preparing for her test and focusing on her business was the only thing on her plate.

She wished it was easy though, because as much as she tried, whenever she closed her eyes, Kaleb was still a huge part of her thoughts. A few course mates said hello to her as they walked to their seats and Sasha smiled and nodded in return.

“You’re crazy, Sasha. Definitely crazy!” she mumbled to herself. She began thinking of how pathetic her life was. Her life had been an empty shell in need of something adventurous and spontaneous. But what was it? Traveling? Oh no, she hated traveling on her own and Tilly wasn’t ready for it.

And now she was thinking of nothing but someone else’s boyfriend. She laughed incredulously while staring at her phone with Kaleb’s contact name displayed. What was she thinking now? Was she that desperate?

“What the fuck, Sasha Sullivan?” she hummed. She felt the urge to call him, talk to him, and provoke him even . . . Even though she knew that he wasn’t the man for her. Without thinking further, she touched the dial pad but before the call could connect, she hung up.

Oh… That was close, she thought. She should really stop doing these stupid things and having these stupid thoughts, she told herself. A few seconds later, someone slipped into the seat beside her and Sasha closed her eyes, hoping that whoever it was wouldn’t try to start a conversation with her because she wasn’t in the mood.

“You look bored as fuck” the person said, “But I don’t blame you though. If I had to sit in a boring classroom all morning waiting for a professor in 100% sure is also boring, I’d feel worse than you do right now”

Sasha didn’t even need to turn to figure out who it was. That deep voice filled with laughter was enough to identify who it was.

Kaleb.

Did she just summon him just by thinking about him? Like a ghost? What the fuck was he doing here at her school… And in her classroom. She turned to face him and he returned her gaze with a smile on his face that made her want to punch him.

He was casual. Jet black jeans and gray body fit t-shirt was a sight to behold on his resplendent body. The kind of sight that no woman would have resisted to look twice.