The truth was, Jax had been the star of my internal monologue since I was ten. He was the one who taught me how to throw a spiral, the one who stayed up late helping me with pre-calc, and the one who currently looked like he stepped off a runway and into a woodshop. I clicked. Download complete.
Downstairs, the sound of a closing front door and the muffled shout of a brother announced a departure for a quick errand, leaving a sudden, heavy quiet in the house. Sophie had already slipped away moments ago, sensing the shift in the atmosphere.
"Doing what? Downloading a book?" I shot back, trying—and failing—to keep my voice steady. My finger hovered over the "Download" button for Falling for My Brother’s Best Friend . It felt a little too on-the-nose, considering my brother’s best friend, Jax, was currently downstairs in our kitchen, probably raiding the fridge. "It’s research, Sophie. Pure research." Download Falling for Brothers Best Friend (Piper Rayne) epub
The air in the room felt thick as Jax lingered, his hand still resting over hers. The tablet lay forgotten on the bedspread between them, the glowing screen eventually dimming to black. For years, the boundary between being a tag-along younger sibling and something more had felt like an immovable wall, yet in this single moment, that wall seemed to have turned into a thin veil.
"Your brother says you’re hiding. What are you reading that’s so important?" The truth was, Jax had been the star
"I can't believe you're actually doing this," Sophie muttered, her eyes glued to the tablet screen.
Jax didn't pull away. Instead, he took a seat on the edge of the mattress, his gaze fixed on her with an intensity that made the fictional romance on the screen feel pale in comparison. The conversation that followed wasn't about books or tropes, but about years of shared memories, hidden glances, and the terrifying possibility of changing a friendship into something permanent. It was a beginning that no digital file could fully capture, starting with a simple, honest conversation in the quiet of a late afternoon. Download complete
I scrambled to lock the screen, but he was faster. He crossed the room in three strides, plucking the tablet from my hands. He looked at the cover—a shirtless man, a very suggestive title, and the name Piper Rayne in bold letters.