Craving my Best Friend's Brother

Mia

Dear Mia Chen,

Thank you for your application but it didn't pass the review. We wish you the best in your search.

I groaned and closed the laptop in anger. Five emails in three weeks. Each one started and ended the same way. My thumb hovered over the delete button.

"Another rejection?" Chloe asked. I didn't respond but she understood anyway.

"It doesn't mean anything," Chloe said from across the couch. She was painting her toenails, one foot tucked under her thigh. "You're gonna find something."

"I've applied to six places." My voice came out flat. "Five rejections. That's not a good average."

"So the sixth one says yes. You don't know yet."

I locked my phone and dropped it on the cushion beside me. The guest room was starting to feel less like a temporary stop and more like a cave I was hiding in. I'd been here for weeks.

Three weeks of waking up in Liam's bed...no, the guest bed... eating Chloe's groceries and using their Wi-Fi and feeling like a barnacle that had attached itself to someone else's life.

"It's not just the money," I said.

Chloe looked up. "Then what is it?"

I opened my mouth. Closed it. The real reason sat heavily in my throat.

I need to stop thinking about Liam. I couldn't say that. Of course.

So I said something else. "I hate feeling useless. I hate sitting here while you go to work and Liam does whatever he does and I just… exist. Taking up space."

"You're not taking up space." She set down the nail polish and scooted closer. Her arms wrapped around me. She smelled like coconut and something floral. "Mia. Look at me."

I looked.

"You can stay as long as you want. Forever, if that's what you need. I'm not keeping score."

My eyes burned. "You should be."

"Why? That's not how friendship works." She squeezed tighter. "You stayed with Derek for three years even though he was garbage. You think I'm gonna kick you out after three weeks? Please."

I laughed.

"Besides," she added, pulling back, "you're helping. You cleaned the whole kitchen yesterday. Liam said it hasn't looked that good since Mom lived here."

The mention of Liam made me feel something in my chest that I didn't want to feel.

Because thinking about Liam was dangerous. It led to other thoughts. The kind I'd been trying to drown in job applications.

Like last Tuesday.

I'd come home early from dropping off resumes. The house was quiet. I assumed everyone was out. I needed a shower. The water pressure in the guest bathroom was weak, so I'd used the main bathroom down the hall.

I didn't knock. Why would I?

The door was cracked open. The light was on. Liam stepped out of the shower. A towel hung low on his hips. Water dripped down his chest...his very bare, very defined chest. His arms. His shoulders.

He looked up. Our eyes met.

I screamed and ran to my room.

I hadn't looked him in the eye for two days after that. And I still couldn't get the image away from my brain. It was there when I closed my eyes. It was there when I woke up.

That was why I needed a job. Not just for money. For distraction. For anything that wasn't him.

I picked up my phone. One new email. My heart dropped. "Oh God."

"What?"

"It's from the bar. The Copper Lantern." I stared at the subject line. Application Status. "I don't want to open it."

"Why not?"

"Because if it's another no, I'm going to cry."

Chloe snatched the phone from my hand. "Coward."

"Hey..."

She tapped the screen. Her face went still. Then her mouth fell open. Then she screamed.

"YOU GOT IT!"

"What?"

"YOU GOT THE JOB, MIA!"

*****

My first week at The Copper Lantern nearly killed me. My back ached. A man named Gary called me sweetheart and pinched my hip. Elena, a redhead with tattooed stars on her collarbones, showed me how to balance four plates on one arm. Rosa, the owner, barked orders and never smiled.

But I was good at it. I learned the menu in three days. By day five, I didn't drop a single glass.

I was wiping down the bar on a Thursday afternoon when the door opened.

My chest tightened as Vanessa walked in. Her black hair was pulled into a sleek ponytail. She scanned the room and then she saw me.

"Oh my God, Mia." She drawled. "I didn't know you worked here."

I shrugged.

"Just started." I set down my rag. "Can I get you something?"

"Just water." She slid onto a stool. "So. How are you settling in? Living with Chloe and Liam must be… cozy."

Something about the way she said cozy made my skin prickle.

"It's fine," I said. "They've been great."

"I'm sure." She accepted the water I poured and drank. "Liam's taking me to this incredible party this weekend. Marcus is hosting. You probably don't know him...he's in a different tax bracket. Invite only."

I kept my face neutral. I had no idea why she was telling me, probably to rub it in my face. But now that she mentioned it to me, I suddenly had the urge to go.

"Sounds fun," I said.

She kept on talking for a while and she left after she finished her water.

That night, I found Liam in the living room. He was watching something on TV, feet up on the coffee table.

"Your girlfriend came to see me today," I said, sitting beside him.

He muted the TV. "Vanessa? Why?"

"To show off, I think." I sat on the arm of the couch. "She mentioned a party. Marcus's party."

He shook his head. "I know where this is going. So, no...not happening."

"Liam..."

"It's not your scene. There are drugs. Fights. Marcus is an asshole who hits on anything."

"I'm a big girl." My voice came out sharper than I intended. "I can't go to the party without you. I wasn't invited and Chloe would also be going with Mark and after Derek..."

His jaw tightened. A smile turned up my face when the guilt tripping worked.

"Come on now, You really want to go?"

I nodded.

He sighed, rubbing his face with both hands.

"Fine," he said. "But you stay with Chloe the whole night and you don't drink anything Marcus hands you."