Falling for my Best Friends Brother

I laid on the air mattress, contemplating what happened only a few hours ago. Riley woke me up pulled of bed, took me outside in the cold night air, and I loved it.

For almost an hour we sat by the pond looking up at the sky and talking. I've spent lots of time with Riley before but there was always Bailey or someone with us, or in the next room. This time was different. This time it was just us. No Bailey. No Ryan. No baseball team. And especially no Chris.

Someone moved around on the mattress next to me, which startled me and I rolled off the edge onto the floor. My face seems to be spending a lot of time on this floor lately, doesn't it?

"Aubree, uh, a-are you okay?" Bailey struggled to keep herself from laughing as she sat up and rubbed her eyes from sleep.

"Yes. I’m fine." I yawned, rubbing my eyes and looking, more clearly, at Bailey. Her hair looked like she was caught in a wind tunnel and her make-up with smudged but she was still the same old Bailey.

"So...what were you and Riley doing sneaking out of here last night?" She raised an eyebrow at me and chuckled.

"Uh, w-what are you talking about?" I nervously at Bailey and then around the room to find Riley but he wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

"Him and Ryan are in the kitchen." She answered my unasked question. Bailey continued before I could say anything. Don't think I didn't see you two creep out of here. Tell me. What did you guys do? Surprisingly she didn't seem angry with me, she actually looked amused.

"Nothing. We just...I don't know, sat outside and talked." I shrugged, trying to play it off like nothing happened.

"Oh you guys are no fun." Bailey laughed to herself and gave me a smile that made me feel like I was missing the joke.

"What do mea--"

"Hey do you guys want any breakfast?" Ryan popped his head through the doorway and smiled at Bailey.

"Sure baby." Bailey smiled back at Ryan and jumped up to give him a hug. I know, she calls him baby. Most people would think it's cheesy but that's just how they are. One day when they were making fun of everyone who uses lame pet names like "honey" and "baby" and I guess it just kinda stuck.

I followed the love birds down the hallway, towards the sweet aroma of pancakes and eggs. We came around the corner to see Riley with white pancake mix smeared on his face and shirt.

"Hey guys." Riley got the goofiest smile on his face and winked at me. (At least I hope to god it was me) He grabbed a towel and wiped off the pancake residue from his face.

"Okay are we gonna stand around and chit-chat, or are we gonna eat? I'm starving!" Bailey exclaimed as she skipped to the cupboard and pulled out plates for everyone.

"Oh and Aubree, we have to plan your birthday today We only have seven days 'til you're sixteen and you've gotta have a big party." She got all giddy as she said this and started jumping around, almost dropping her plate in the process.

"Bailey, I don't know. I don't want a big party after all that happened. All of us can just hang out and watch some movies Saturday night." Everyone dropped theirs mouths.

"Aubreeeeee no!" I know you don't feel like a party now, but it's your birthday and you deserve to celebrate. You can get your mind off of everything and have fun." Bailey did have a point. My birthday could be the perfect thing to get my mind off what went down with Chris.

Then I got 'the look' from Bailey. That puppy dog face she always does, the one I have never ever said no to. I caved.

"Alright. I give. But on one condition, don't invite a bunch of people that I don't even know." I wagged my finger in front of her face like we do when we're mocking her mother. She was so excited that she started to squeal and jump her way over to me.

"Oh my gosh Aubree you're not going to regret this! I'm gonna throw you the best party ever!" Then she latched onto me and trapped me in a bear hug.

"Okay, Bailey...I can't...breathe." I may have exaggerated a little bit but she got the idea. She released me from her death grip and jumped back,

"Sorry! Sorry, I'm just so excited!" Then she grabbed Ryan’s arm and dragged him out of the room, grabbing Riley's car keys on the way out.

"We'll be back soon, we're gonna run to the party store. Riley I'm taking your car." She was out the door before Riley could give an answer, he just shrugged it off and turned to me.

"I think Bailey's having more fun with your birthday than you are." He teased.

"Yeah, but it makes her happy so it's all good." Then I flashed a flirty smile and caught his eye.

For a moment we just stood there, looking into each other's eyes. I broke away from his deep blue eyes down to his lips. I'd never noticed before but he had full lips for a guy. Not feminine, but still soft and kissable. I felt an urge to lean in and touch his lips to mine and...

No. He's my best friend's brother. I cannot do that.

Snapping out of my trance, I gazed back into his eyes.

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Riley's POV

After Bailey and Ryan left I turned around to look at Aubree. Even after she wakes up she still looks beautiful. Her long brown hair falls in waves, down just past her shoulders, and she had the biggest brown eyes I'd ever seen.

"I think Bailey's having more fun with your birthday than you are." She just laughed and shook her head, making the waves of her hair bounce back and forth and I could smell her perfume...vanilla?

She said something back but I wasn't paying attention. Her voice was so musical that I heard her talking but had no idea what she said. When she stopped talking we stood there and stared at each other for what felt like hours. I never noticed, but her eyes even had specs of blue around the edges.

Once she looked down at my lips, I felt an urge to touch her lips to mine.

No.

No, no no. Riley she’s your sister’s best friend. Snap put of it

Suddenly my phone started blaring Green Days' Know Your Enemy in my pocket, which scared me at first. I scrambled to dig it out and answered it without seeing who it was.

"Hello?"

“Riley?”

“Yeah. Bailey what is it?” Panic started to rise in my voice and Aubree looked at me with worry in her eyes.

“Um...we won’t be coming back as soon as we thought.”

“What? Why? Did something happen? Are you ok–”

“Riley, calm down Everything’s fine We just have to wait for the stores to open. Jeez, worry much?” A sigh of relief escaped my lips and I saw Aubree relax next to me.

“Okay. But be careful with my car, alright? It’s my baby.”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry so much, dad.” She emphasized the last word and hung up.

I laughed to myself and snapped my phone shut, putting it back in my pocket. “So, Bailey and Ryan are gonna be awhile. She said the store wasn’t open yet."

"Cool. So I guess that means we have the whole house to ourselves." She winked at me and walked down the hallway into the game room.

Naturally, I followed her, to find her putting another movie on and curling up on the couch.

"Friday the 13th?" She shrugged her shoulders up as if to ask approval but I could never say no to her.

****************************************

Aubree's POV

"Oh my god. I can't watch this part." I covered my ears and dug my head into Riley's chest. His muscular arms wrapped around me and drew me in even closer.

"You're the one who picked the movie." He laughed in my ear.

"Well I still get to think it's gross. I mean, an axe is not meant for that." We both laughed at my defending attempt.

As I sat there protected in Riley's arms, I could feel all my worries and cares slip away. Like nothing mattered in this moment except for him and I. Just then we heard the door open and Ryan's booming voice down the hallway.

"Why'd you have to buy all this stuff today? You still have a week til the actual party."

"Oh Ryan, Ryan, Ryan. You have so much to learn." Riley and I laughed to ourselves at how goofy Bailey could be. She always had to be ready to go and prepared waaaay before needed.

As they made their way down the hall, Riley and I realized we were still cuddled together and we quickly pulled away just in time.

"Hey what are you two do--- Ew!" Bailey glanced over at the tv just in time to see one of the more gruesome scenes of the movie.

"Well I bet you guys had loads of fun." Ryan laughed from the doorway.

"Oh yeah. Tons." Riley looked over to me and winked and then looked over at Bailey hoping she didn't catch on.

That made me start to think, how bad would it be if Bailey knew I liked her brother. Earlier she actually seemed disappointed nothing happened bewtween us and it's not like our friendship would change.

Wow guys are confusing. From dealing with Chris and my birthday coming up, there was too much going on to tell Bailey how I felt about her brother. My thoughts were interrupted by screams errupting from the flat screen.

"Okay that is pretty gross. Who sits around and thinks of these things?" We all laughed at Bailey's expression. She looked like someone had just shoved her face in a pile of poo, minus the poo of course.

"Alright. Enough of the movie then. Who's up for some pictionary?" I concluded. Ryan, Bailey, and Riley nodded their heads in unison.

I don't even remember how the game went. My mind wasn't focussed on the game. I was off in La La Land picturing what it would be like to have my feeling out in the open. If Bailey, and Riley, knew how I felt.

Life would be a lot less complicated.

"Aubree...are you still with us? It's your turn." Bailey shook my shoulder, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Oh yeah. Sorry I just zoned out for a minute." I looked over to see Riley staring at me with a smile that gave me butterflies in my stomach. I quickly looked away from being so nervous.

Bailey started to talk about everything she got for the party but I didn't really care. To me, it was her party, I was just showing up, and I didn't have a problem with it.

"Ya know Bailey, you can do whatever you want with the party." Her face lit up and she clapped her hands together.

"Really? Are you sure? I mean, it's your birthday. I don't want to take it away from you or anything." She gave me a concerned look that I returned with a smile and she, like always, squealed with excitement.

"Okay Aubree it's gonna so awesome Oh but I have one question." She held up her hand with one finger in the air, as if to make her point even bigger.

"Okay, shoot."

"Monte carlo or luau?" She smiled. At least her ideas weren't terrible.

"Ehh, Bailey, I don’t care. Pick whatever you want.” I said with a smile and shrugged.

"Fine. Luau it is. That was we can save monte carlo for your eighteenth." We laughed to ourselves while the guys’ just rolled their eyes and shook their heads.

"Ugh. Women." Ryan huffed/chuckled to himself. Bailey shot him a look and when he shied away she laughed and grabbed his hand.

"Sorry baby. I was just kidding,” Bailey giggled and leaned against him as Ryan wrapped his arm around her.

Feeling the mood shift from fun to awkward I stood up from our little pow wow.

"I'm gonna go...uh, get something to drink." I didn't want to be rude but there were some situations with Ryan and Bailey where you just knew they would need to be alone.

"I'll go with you." I turned to see Riley getting up as well.

"I mean, we wouldn't want you to get lost or anything. All by yourself." He flipped my hair as he walked by and winked at me.

"Oh you're right. Who knows what might happen if I walk all the way to the kitchen, alone."