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She bit her lip.
She was biting back a smile.
Her shoulders shook a little, until finally, she burst out laughing. “Fine, we can be friends.” She wiped a few tears away. Happy tears.
My chest burned.
Relief?
Attraction?
Happiness?
I had no idea which emotion fueled the burning. All three?
Clearly, I was in over my head.
If her laughter could make me feel that out of my element, I needed to take a step back. How could I, though? I couldn’t even convince myself to leave her damn side.
Her cheeks were still pink, her lips still curved upward in humor. “I’ll go to a club with you tonight, but I’d prefer to leave as soon as you’re done eating. I don’t like clubs. The loud music makes it too hard to think.”
“On that, we agree.”
At least there wassomething.
“If I want alcohol, you’re buying it,” she added.
“Of course.”
I took a step back, but stopped myself when she added one more thing.
“And if we’re going to be friends, you’re not allowed to be an asshole anymore. No glaring at me. No scowling, either. You treat me the way you treat your friends.”
“I don’t have any friends.” The words sounded a bit harsh, but they were true.
“The way you treat Tatum and Miles, then.”
I couldn’t treat her like I would my brothers’ mates any more than I could stop myself from staring at her ass. She wasmine,even if I couldn’t act on it.
I nodded anyway.
Her smile was so damn bright. “Perfect.”
She started to close the door, then reconsidered, and stopped it halfway. “Thanksgiving is coming up, and my brothers can’t get away for it. Your mom invited me to join you guys, but I didn’t want to overstep by agreeing, so I told her I’d think about it. What do you want me to do?”
My jaw clenched at the thought of Brynn spending the holiday alone. “I’m not going without you. I promised your brother I’d keep you safe.” The second part was an afterthought, to catch the words that slipped out.
It all came out harsher than I intended.
“Great. I’ll buy a plane ticket.” She started to close the door again, but I stopped it.
“I book the whole row whenever I fly. You’ll take the seat beside mine. I’ll email you the information.”
She blinked.
I let go of the door, and she let it close.
My body relaxed more than it had in a week as I made my way back down to the couch that had become my second office.
