My Forbidden Romance With My Brother’s Best Friend (Port Lane Romances #2)

Chapter 1

one

Two and a Half Years Ago

“Please come,” I begged. I grasped Violet’s arm in my hands and looked at her pleadingly. “Please, please, please.”

“No, no, no,” Violet said back, not even lifting her eyes from her book.

Her ginger hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail, and she was dressed in a comfy sweater and leggings with a highlighter tucked behind her ear.

A clear I’m-staying-in-tonight look, not a let’s-go-party look.

Which was unfortunate for me because I was going out no matter what, and I wanted my best friend there with me.

“You never go out,” I said.

“I never want to.”

I rolled my eyes and huffed. I hadn’t expected another answer, but I had been hoping for one just like I did every week.

“We don’t even have to go for long,” I bargained. “Plus, it’s not even a Bayshore party so you won’t know half the people there. No socializing with schoolmates necessary.”

“Your brother has been spreading the news all over the school,” Violet said. “It might as well be a Bayshore party at this point.”

I couldn’t argue there. Matthew’s best friend, Charlie Owen, went to the public school in town, so he was tapped into the going-ons of everything with the students there. Anytime they wanted more people to come, Charlie told Matt to spread the news around our school.

“But there will be other people there, too,” I said. “All of Matt’s friends will be there. And Jaxon—don’t you think it will be funny to see him drinking? He’ll probably hit on you the whole night.”

“Jaxon doesn’t drink,” Violet said. “And he hits on me enough at school. I don’t need to deal with it at night too.”

I figured she would say that, but I was running out of ammunition here, trying to convince her however I could.

“There will be drama,” I said. Even before the words came out of my mouth, I knew they wouldn’t convince her. Violet didn’t care about drama—she never had.

“Whoop-dee-doo,” she said flatly. She flipped the page of her book. I sighed and let my head fall to her desk.

“Is there anything I can do to convince you?” I asked pathetically. She paused for long enough that it seemed like she was thinking about it, but I was pretty sure she was actually doing her best to spare my feelings.

“Probably not,” she said. She finally looked at me and patted my head a couple of times. “Have fun, though.”

“Yeah,” I said. I forced myself to stand up. “I’ll see you later.”

“Bring me back a souvenir,” Violet mumbled.

As much as I wanted her to come with me, once I got there, I had to admit that it was probably for the best that she didn’t join. It wasn’t her scene at all.

“Madison, come play beer pong!” a boy called from the kitchen.

I looked over to see one of those folding tables that were always at school events covered by a flimsy plastic tablecloth.

Red Solo Cups were already set up and a group of guys were milling around, trying to recruit people into the game.

The boy who called me was Thomas Pierce, one of the lifeguards at the pool I worked at during the summer.

“Maybe later,” I said. I pulled my hair over my shoulders and tried to think of an excuse that wasn’t that I was trying to avoid the boy across the table from him, whom I had broken up with earlier that week. “I’m looking for a friend.”

Thomas shrugged and turned his sights on someone else.

I sighed in relief and brushed past the table to the porch outside where a keg was sitting alongside a cooler of drinks and a stack of more red Solo Cups.

I grabbed a cup and filled it with beer, but I didn’t drink yet as I leaned against the railing and looked at the party that had spilled out here.

This place was ideal for a party like this—it was more like a mansion than a house, with a backyard big enough to fit everyone comfortably and then some.

A small group of boys was playing volleyball in the pool, taking advantage of the final days that it would be warm enough to swim this year, while some girls giggled from their place in the hot tub.

I wished that I’d thought ahead to bring a swimsuit, even though there was no reason why that feasibly should have occurred to me—who went swimming at a stranger’s party?

On the other side of the pool was a bonfire, releasing tendrils of smoke into the sky.

In the distance, the sun was setting, casting long shadows over the yard.

Even though school had started a couple of weeks ago, it felt like summer was only just ending.

When I stepped outside, there was a light scent of chlorine mixed in with the smoke from the bonfire.

A gust of wind brought the mouth-watering smell of burgers on a grill, though I imagined that it was coming from one of the neighboring houses because I didn’t see anyone barbecuing.

I went to take a sip of my drink, but before I could even get it to my lips, somebody snatched it out of my grasp.

“Hey!” I tried to grab it back, but the hand just pulled it further away. “What are you—”

“You are not drinking tonight.” Of course.

Even if the voice hadn’t tipped me off, the bossy statement would have let me know exactly who was there.

I rolled my eyes as I looked at my brother, who was staring me down and holding my cup tightly in his hand.

He was only a year older than me, but he acted like he was in charge at all times.

“Like you’re not drinking,” I said. As if to prove my point, Matthew grinned and took a few long gulps from my drink. When he finished, he sighed like it was the most refreshing drink he’d ever had. “You suck, you know that?”

“It’s different.” He smirked. “I’m older than you.”

“Like you didn’t drink last year,” I retorted. I had no doubt in my mind that Matt had been drinking since much earlier in his life than I had, so he really had no foot to stand on here.

“There’s some pop there,” Matt said. He ruffled my hair and started off into the backyard where a bonfire was going on next to the pool and hot tub. “Why don’t you have one of those?”

I rolled my eyes again but didn’t bother to grab another cup. No doubt he would be keeping an eye on this area, ready to stop me if I tried again. Hating that my only options were to do what he suggested or go thirsty, I grabbed a can of Coke from the cooler.

“Mind passing me one too?” someone asked from behind me.

I guess it was a fair question since my hand was already reaching in, but I still resented that they couldn’t just wait for a second to grab it themselves after I moved.

But I wasn’t trying to get in a fight with someone at this party, so I just did as they asked.

“Here,” I said, holding it out to my side without looking at them. A warm hand grabbed in from me.

“Thanks, Mads.”

I frowned. “Hey, nobody gets to call me...” I faltered as I looked up and saw my brother’s best friend smiling down at me. “Oh. Charlie.”

“How’s it going?” Charlie asked. He was dripping wet and dressed only in a pair of swim trunks, and I really struggled not to let my eyes drift down to his stomach, where I knew his abs were on full display.

The sky was dark, but fairy lights were strung up around the backyard, and the soft light bounced off every water droplet on his body.

“Not too bad,” I said. He grabbed my pop can from me and opened it, then handed it back, never breaking eye contact. He always did that for me ever since I mentioned to him a few months ago that the tabs were basically impossible to open with the long acrylic nails I always had on. “Thanks.”

“Don’t sweat it,” he said. He shook his head, making water droplets fly from his dark hair and land on me. I cringed back as the cold water hit me, but I laughed anyway.

“Charlie!”

“You should go for a swim,” he said. “The water’s beautiful.”

“I think you’re the only one who brought a swimsuit,” I said. I looked down at my outfit, which consisted of a mini skirt, red tank top, and leather jacket—all pieces of clothing that absolutely could not get wet. “I’m not really dressed for a swim.”

“So take it off,” he said with a shrug. I faltered at the suggestion.

Did he mean to take off my clothes and swim in my underwear?

Or was he honestly suggesting I go skinny-dipping in some random person’s pool?

Neither suggestion was particularly good.

He must have noticed my face because he laughed.

“Relax, Mads; I just meant your jacket.”

“You don’t get to call me Mads,” I said, not wanting to admit that I hadn’t understood what he meant. “Only Violet does.”

My family had given me the nickname Mads when I was a young kid, and I had long since outgrown it, but Violet was the one person who could get away with calling me it. Honestly, I didn’t love when she did it either, but I felt like I couldn’t say no to her.

“And Matthew,” Charlie added. I scowled. My brother was under the impression he could call me whatever he wanted, and I had no say in it since he was older than me.

“No, he doesn’t,” I said. “At least he shouldn’t.”

Charlie smiled indulgently, the way he only did when he thought I was acting like a kid.

It was annoying considering he was only a year older than me.

He and my brother were the same in that regard, which I guess shouldn’t have been surprising.

I wondered if Charlie would have looked at me like that so much if it weren’t for Matthew’s influence.

If we’d met in a different context, would he still think I was just a kid or would he view me as his equal?

Would he ever see me the way I saw him—as the person he wanted more than anything?