Saved by the Crush's Brother (How to Catch a Crush Book 2)

by Maggie Dallen

  “Do you like her?” I asked point blank.

  Because I do.

  I wasn’t so competitive with Alex that I’d go after a girl that he liked. Actually, I wasn't competitive with him at all. He was the one who always tried to compare us, as if there was anything to compare.

  He got the good grades. He’d inherited the athletic genes and perfect genes. He won at everything he set out to do.

  Like I’d said, no comparison.

  “Who? Avery?” He sounded so confused, I supposed that was my answer. Then his expression shifted, his gaze focused with suspicion. “Why? Do you?”

  I didn’t want to answer. Not because I was embarrassed that I had feelings for the girl...sure it was early stages, but I knew a connection when I felt one. But I wasn’t such a jerk of a brother that I’d go after her if I thought he might want her for himself.

  I flinched a bit at the memory of that kiss.

  Alright, fine, so I wasn’t about to win any ‘brother of the year’ awards any time soon, but still…

  Alex leaned back as he eyed me. “Avery’s cute.”

  I froze with my back toward him as I reached the sink. I didn’t say anything, just waited him out.

  “She likes me, you know,” he said.

  I gave a little grunt of acknowledgment. So he knew, then. Anger had me gripping the edge of the sink. “So you just decided to take advantage of that, then. Real cool, man. Way to go.”

  He made a hissing sound as he pushed his chair back. “Nobody took advantage of anybody...unless you did last night.”

  I spun around to face him. “I didn’t take advantage. I helped your partner when you weren’t there for her,” I said as calmly as I could. “Whether she likes you or not, flaking on her like that was a crap move, and you know it.”

  His frown intensified but he turned his stare to the center of the dining room table.

  He didn’t try and deny it.

  “I didn’t realize she was having such a hard time,” he mumbled.

  I stared at him and for a second I got a glimpse of the younger brother he used to be. Still was, I guessed, but these days that sweet kid was buried under twelve layers of obnoxious ego and a thick sheen of arrogance.

  “You owe her an apology, man,” I said.

  He bobbed his head, his gaze now fixed on that ugly doll.

  “And if you don’t like her back, do us all a favor and let her off the hook,” I said.

  He didn’t look my way and he didn’t even acknowledge that he’d heard, but he didn’t argue the point either because we both knew what I meant.

  Alex had this way about him. He loved being loved and he knew how to use his charm and good looks to ensure that everyone around him was forever fawning at his feet.

  He was just like our dad—he had to be the center of attention at all times.

  He knew it. I knew it.

  And the last thing I wanted was to see Avery hurt because his ego wanted another cheerleader.

  I started to leave the room but his voice stopped me.

  “What if I do like her?”

  I stopped.

  He was taunting me. I knew that. I also knew I didn’t rise to the bait anymore…

  I heard his laugh and my jaw clenched so tight I thought it might break as I walked away.

  7

  Avery

  The next afternoon I found myself with a rapt audience in the form of Max, Hazel, and Emma.

  Apparently Max had sounded the SOS last night and this morning I’d woken to texts from all of my friends asking how they could help me.

  When besties Hazel and Emma hadn’t gotten an immediate response—because I’d still been sleeping—they’d rushed right over with pastries, and Max had arrived shortly after them with donuts.

  So now we were all sugar loaded and stewing over every detail of that kiss.

  The kiss.

  My first kiss and the kiss I would henceforth compare every romantic movie kiss to for as long as I lived.

  None of those kisses would live up to it. I knew that like I knew my own name. There might be other great kissers in my lifetime, but nothing could beat that first kiss. It had been the most romantic moment of my life, and it had been with…

  “Alex’s brother?” Emma’s eyes were huge as she stared at me over the remains of her donut. Usually the first one to laugh, she didn’t look at all close to laughter now. She was clearly too shocked.

  Hazel shoved a crumb in her mouth and picked up her orange juice. “I did not see that coming.”

  “Seriously.” Max was likely the most shocked of all. Out of all of our friends, she’d been the one to hear every detail of my Alex obsession.

  They were all watching me now and I fought to keep a small smile on my face. Like it was no big deal. Like it was totally cool that over the course of a few days I’d had my faith in my longtime love shaken, my heart sort of broken, my first taste of real romance, a crazy connection with a stranger, a humiliating meltdown, and my first kiss...with the wrong guy.

  I took a sip of tea.

  Nope. Nothing strange going on over here.

  “So…” Max started, shifting in her seat and adjusting her glasses as if to see me better. Her long frizzy braid was messier than ever and I imagined that was due to her haste to come help me.

  She really was the best friend.

  “Does this mean you’re over your crush on Alex?” she finished. Her expression was so hopeful it made me scowl.

  Max was the best...when she wasn’t giving me a hard time about Alex. She hated the guy. I got it already. Even more than she hated him, she despised my crush on him.

  Not that I could blame her.

  But today, I so wasn’t in the mood. Mainly because I was confused myself. I mean, yeah, he’d been a jerk these past few days. And yes, I was angry with him. Part of me was convinced I’d been wrong all along and that what I’d felt for him was nothing more than a figment of my imagination.

  But one thing I was absolutely certain of?

  I was not in the mood to hear ‘I told you so.’

  I also didn’t feel like sticking up for him and if Max started attacking right now, I’d feel compelled to. Why? Because he might’ve been thoughtless and jerky about this stupid baby situation, but I didn’t believe he was a bad person. Not truly. I’d spent nearly three years watching the guy, interacting with him whenever I could…

  I knew a thing or two about Alex Luven and he wasn’t the devil that Max always made him out to be.

  He wasn’t the hero I’d thought he was, either.

  I’d always thought Alex would be my knight in shining armor, the guy who’d make my head spin with intoxicating kisses and make me feel like I was the star of my very own romcom, complete with the warm fuzzies and the giddy excitement.

  But now...I had gotten those feelings, and I’d faced my very own white knight and…

  It hadn’t been Alex.

  I had a mental flash of the guy no one would cast as Prince Charming. The guy looked like a thug, talked like a bruiser, and had all the charm of a bulldog.

  Or so I’d thought.

  I scowled down into my tea—at some point Max had insisted that I stop drinking coffee because I’d been talking at the speed of light. I’d switched to a less caffeinated tea instead but my heart still felt like it was racing too fast.

  “Avery?” Max kicked my foot with hers under the table. “You’re not still hung up on Alex, are you?” I turned my frown in her direction and she winced. “Sorry. Not the time for lectures about Alex, huh?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know how I feel about Alex. I mean…” I shrugged. “I’m angry with him, but three years of being in love with someone doesn’t just disappear overnight.”

  The whole table fell silent. I looked up at the other three to see them all stewing, each lost in their own thoughts. I’d like to believe that they were empathizing, but how could they?

  “You guys are so lucky that you never devel
oped a crush on anyone,” I said. “Unrequited feelings are the worst.”

  Max gave me a little smile of sympathy, Emma’s eyes lit with kind laughter, but Hazel…

  Hazel blushed.

  Emma nudged her bestie’s elbow with her own. “Go on, Haze. Tell them.”

  Hazel shook her head, her eyes trained on the juice she was moving around on the table like a pawn piece. “There’s nothing to tell. It’ll pass.”

  I arched my brows in disbelief. “It’s a crush, Hazel, not a cold.”

  Emma bit her lip to smother a laugh, but her eyes danced with it, softening to regret when her best friend shot her a sidelong look.

  To me, Emma said, “Don’t bother trying to get the deets. She won’t even tell me who she’s lusting after.”

  Hazel’s pale freckled face went beet red. “Emma!”

  Emma ignored her. “All she’ll say is that he’s an athlete.”

  Max sighed as she muttered under her breath. “Please don’t tell me it’s Alex Luven.”

  Hazel pressed her lips together but gave her head a little shake.

  Emma translated. “All she’ll say is that he’s an athlete and she has the hots for him, but she won’t say who because she’s embarrassed.”

  “That makes sense that you’d fall for a jock,” Max said.

  And it did, since Hazel was the captain of the swim team and our little club’s resident tomboy. She didn’t do makeup or dresses or anything with her hair other than the low ponytail she was sporting right now.

  “I mean…” Max shot me a mischievous little look that had me narrowing my eyes in preparation as she continued talking to Hazel. “You two would have sports in common. You wouldn’t even have to go to extreme measure to come up with some common ground to bond over, like, say….”

  I jabbed a finger in her direction, feigning more anger than I actually felt. “Don’t say it.”

  “Having a pretend baby together,” she finished with an innocent smile that fooled no one.

  I narrowed my eyes further but when Max snuck a peek in my direction to gauge my reaction, I couldn’t help it.

  I laughed. Then she laughed. And then Hazel and Emma were cracking up because...yeah, my life was officially ridiculous.

  I groaned as I shook my head. “I can’t believe I thought that would work.”

  “Well, to be fair,” Emma said, laughter lacing her voice. “It sort of did.”

  “Just with the wrong guy,” Hazel added.

  I dropped my head forward until my forehead hit the table with a thud. “I’m an idiot.”

  “No, you’re just a romantic,” Max said soothingly as she patted my shoulder. “Which, you know...might be the same thing.”

  I let out a sharp laugh at her teasing and lifted my head. “Shut it.”

  She grinned. This was an age-old debate between us. We were both the product of broken homes but the way we viewed life because of our parents’ disastrous marriages differed wildly. But, in a weird sort of way, that was why our friendship worked. We were both such extremes that combined we formed a sort of middle ground.

  I looked to Hazel. “Are you going to do anything about your crush?”

  It felt way better to talk to someone else about their simple little crush when my own love life felt like an overwhelming disaster.

  She shook her head. “He barely knows I’m alive so it’s pointless.”

  “Don’t say that,” I said. “Have you learned nothing from Simone? And besides, my plan might not have worked out the way that I’d expected but I can safely say Alex knows I’m alive at this point.”

  “Yeah, because you’re the mother of his faux child,” Emma added with a laugh.

  I shrugged. “It got his attention, didn’t it?”

  “Definitely,” Max deadpanned. “It also got his brother’s attention.”

  I ducked my head as telltale heat rushed to my cheeks at the memory of last night.

  Of that kiss.

  “Anyway,” I muttered, lifting my head to look at Hazel. “I’m just saying, if you like this guy, do something to get his attention. Those magazines actually had some really good—”

  I was cut off mid-sentence by two things: Max’s loud groan and the doorbell.

  We all looked at one another with wide eyes before I leapt up to answer the door.

  “Who do you think it is?” Hazel asked.

  “My guess? It’s Alex. I’d bet money he’s the type that only wants something after he’s lost it,” Max said, her voice as judgy as I’d ever heard it.

  “Ooh, but what if it’s the brother?” Emma clapped her hands with excitement as she gave a little squeal behind me. “I hope it’s the brother.”

  “So? Who is it?” Max asked as she and the others crowded around me by the front door. “Alex or Cristian?”

  I peeked out the window beside the door and gasped.

  “What does that mean? Is it Cristian?” I heard Emma whisper loudly behind me.

  “It means…” I said slowly, my brain registering the sight before me. “It’s...both of them.”

  8

  Cristian

  Alex shot me a withering glare as he got out of Avery’s car with the baby.

  Fake baby.

  Whatever.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, that taunting tone in full force as he smirked at me.

  Amazing how he could still pull off arrogant, entitled jerk even with a plastic baby in his arms.

  I crossed my arms and glared at him. It had been ages since his taunting had seriously affected me but these last two days, ever since Avery had come along...It took everything in me not to rise to the bait.

  “You needed a ride, remember?” I said, my voice as mild as I could make it. This was the truth—we’d both remembered at the same time that Avery’s car was still parked in front of our house, and one of us had to bring it back.

  I’d offered to follow him over here so he wouldn’t be left stranded at Avery’s without a ride back. And how did he repay me for my kindness?

  “Did you just tag along to make sure I didn’t make a move on your new girlfriend?”

  I narrowed my eyes. “You sound like you’re ten years old.”

  He ignored that, his eyes dancing with mocking laughter because he knew he was getting to me and he loved it. Finally he’d found a way to get under my skin and he knew it. “Or maybe you’re worried she wants me and was just settling for you.”

  My nostrils flared. My hands clenched. That had hit way too close to home. I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Avery and everything in me wanted to run up to that door and knock just so I could see that smile again and hear her laugh.

  One day in and I was an Avery addict. I couldn’t get enough of her. I had a new and profound understanding why people did dumb things for the sake of love because right now I was contemplating all the ways I could get my brother out of the picture before Avery spotted him.

  Why? You jealous?

  Great. Now Alex’s taunting voice was freakin’ haunting me. But the answer was simple.

  Yes. I was jealous. For the first time in my life I actually wanted something that Alex had.

  Avery’s affection.

  Did she still like him like that? I hoped not. But she’d said herself she’d liked him for years. She’d concocted a whole plan just to get his attention. That didn’t just disappear...did it?

  I swallowed down the sickening envy and forced myself to relax. “Are you going to go in there and apologize, or what?”

  He sneered. I knew it killed him that I was right. My brother was a lot of things, but my mother had raised us both with the same values, and while he might have been self-centered and conceited, he wasn’t a horrible guy.

  Just thoughtless.

  And shallow.

  And—

  “Wait here, this won’t take long.” He started to turn, but hesitated. I could see the taunting remark coming before he even spoke thanks to the smirk that
spoke volumes. “Unless she invites me to stay…”

  I would not take the bait. I would not sink to his level. I would not—

  “If her mom’s still out of town, she might need me to spend the night,” he continued, his eyes lit with laughter at my expense as I fought to control my temper.

  “We both know she’d rather spend a night with me than you, so you should just get going.”

  I snapped as I rushed him, grabbing him by the shirt and hauling him up so his laughing eyes were level with mine. I had a million things to say but embarrassingly enough, all that came out was a growl.

  “See?” he laughed, poking a finger into my chest but not even trying to back away. “Now this is exactly why she prefers me to you. I have a grasp of this thing kids today call the English language.”

  I released him with a shove. “What’s the matter with you?”

  I shoved a hand through my hair as I took a step back, shaking my head at my younger brother who once upon a time had been such a good kid. “At what point did everything become a competition for you? Is that really all you care about?” I asked. “Beating me?”

  He scoffed loudly. “Please. I don’t have to lift a finger to beat you. There’s no comparison between us.” His smirk was filled with bitterness now, a glimpse of the honest emotions that fueled this ongoing war with me. “I’ve got the brains, I’ve got basketball skills, the scholarship offers, the popularity, and...oh yeah.” He snapped his fingers. “I can get any girl I want.”

  My brows drew together in disgust. “Do you even hear yourself, man.” I pointed to the house where the sweetest girl I ever met was hopefully resting and having a well-deserved day off. “Avery is not a trophy. She’s not a fancy car that you can show off or—”

  “And there it is,” he interrupted loudly. The mocking was gone and his voice was as close to outright anger as I’d ever heard it. “The car. You’re still hung up on the fact that I accepted the car.” He shook his head in clear frustration.

  Of course I was. It wasn’t just the car, it was what it represented. It was...everything. I ran a hand over my face. We were in Avery’s driveway. For all I knew she’d spotted us out here and was wondering why on earth we were airing our family’s dirty laundry on her lawn.