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Unless they wanted to catch him off guard so he couldn’t take off and leave the conversation they were forcing on him.
He got to his feet, alarm bells ringing in his head. This was definitely not a good thing. In the dark, he couldn’t even tell who the car belonged to. All he knew was that it wasn’t a truck. That meant the person approaching was probably from town rather than the surrounding ranches. Simon leaned against the railing at his back and steeled himself for whatever was about to happen.
The car came to a stop and the driver didn’t even bother shutting off the engine before shoving the door open and marching toward him.
His shoulders relaxed but only somewhat. Brianne didn’t have any reason to stop by unannounced. While they were close enough, they simply didn’t have the friendship that he had with Katrina.
That thought alone pushed him back into fight-or-flight mode. He pulled away from the porch and met Brianne in front of her car’s headlights.
“What’s the matter? Is it Katrina?”
Without preamble, she lifted both hands and pushed him. He stumbled back a step.
“What was that for?” he demanded.
“You’re an idiot.”
He had done everything he could to prevent himself from showing his cards. If Katrina had spoken to Brianne, then this was worse than he’d thought. What could she have said that would get Brianne this upset? He could only imagine the conversation they might have had just before Brianne drove over here.
Still, he refused to say a single word until he knew what he was dealing with.
She shook her head and paced in front of her car. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner.”
His eyes watched her. Back and forth. Back and forth.
“Here I was trying to find out why Katrina wasn’t going for Jackson even though they’reperfectfor each other and I come to find out it’s because ofyou!” She pulled herself up short and pointed a finger at him. Her eyes flashed with fury. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
“I’m sorry?”
“That doesn’t sound like an apology.”
“That’s because it isn’t,” he muttered gruffly. “I get that we’re friends and all, but you can’t stand there accusing me of something when I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Katrina and Jackson. She’s not interested in him.”
“That’s because he’s terrible for her.”
Brianne groaned. “No, he’s not. He’s perfect. He’s got the ranching know-how like her brothers, and he lives close enough to the city?—”
“Proximity doesn’t make him perfect for her,” Simon interjected. “Haven’t you been paying attention? Katrina wants someone who’s interested in helping her achieve her dreams. She wants someone who will listen to her and tell her that she can still do what she wants to with her life. Jackson is an idiot. He might be good-looking, and he might know his way around a tractor, but he’s not interested in her the way she needs him to be.”
“And who is? You?”
The accusation in her voice cut through him like a knife.
“I never said?—”
“You didn’t have to.” She placed her hands on her hips as she glowered at him. “You’re supposed to be herfriend, Simon. That means you can’t fall in love with her.”
He froze. In the dark, with the lights at her back, he was sure she could see his expression and just how shocked he was that she’d figured out his secret. Unfortunately, he had no way of seeing her face clearly enough to know if she was bluffing.
It didn’t matter anyway, because she’d caught him. He didn’t know how, but she’d figured everything out. The only question was if Katrina knew. Heart pumping faster than it had in his entire life, Simon wished he could read Brianne’s mind—to know what exactly had been shared between the woman he loved and her best friend.
“Iknewit! Geez, Simon. How could you?”
“How could I what? I haven’t done anything!”
“You fell in love with your best friend.” She dragged a hand down her face. “Do you know how stupid that was? If you guys don’t work out, what then? Do you think life will ever feel normal again? There’s an unspoken rule that you can’t date your best friend.”
