I’m In Love With My Brother’s Best Friend?! – Episode 30
Kaitlyn lifted her glass and announced that she would go first. The living room was familiar, but the rules transformed every glance into anticipation. Cole waited for the trap he knew she had prepared.
She assumed he had a crush on her when they were younger. The question carried the weight of the secret kiss on the backyard swing. Kaitlyn had spent years wondering whether it meant more to him.
Cole said she was wrong. Back then, she had been a little kid he wanted to protect. The answer disappointed her despite everything that had happened since.
She asked what he saw now. Cole’s gaze traveled over the woman seated before him. “Not so little,” he admitted.
Because Kaitlyn’s assumption was wrong, she drank and removed a layer. The playful movement made Cole’s confidence less reliable. He reminded himself that the game was supposed to create honesty, not disaster.
Then it was his turn. He assumed Kaitlyn had been thrilled to discover he was her teaching assistant. She laughed and declared him completely wrong.
The classroom had terrified her. Being forced to pretend they were strangers while every woman admired him was the opposite of delight. Cole ordered her to honor the penalty.
Kaitlyn drank and removed another item. Their conversation had barely begun, yet the physical barriers between them were disappearing faster than the emotional ones.
Cole did not believe she truly hated having him in class. Kaitlyn reminded him of the skirt demonstration and his humiliating attempt at professionalism. Calling her perfect had not erased the rest.
He admitted the first answer had escaped because it was true. Kaitlyn’s anger softened, but she refused to let one compliment win the round.
Cole asked why she had fought so hard to enter Professor Calloway’s course. He expected ambition, though not the seriousness in her response.
She had come to college to learn, not merely to attend parties or escape Brent. Professor Calloway was the best in the department, and the final internship position could shape her future.
Cole called the goal admirable. The praise mattered because it recognized the part of her unrelated to beauty, innocence, or his desire. Kaitlyn wanted him to see her ambition as clearly as he saw her body.
The game slowed. Their drinks remained within reach, and discarded clothing lay nearby, but conversation became more intimate than the penalties.
Kaitlyn realized how little Cole knew about the future she wanted. He had spent years protecting her without asking who she intended to become. Tonight she wanted more than his attention; she wanted to be understood.
Cole, in turn, saw that the freshman at the party and the girl on the swing were incomplete versions of her. Kaitlyn possessed discipline, goals, and courage independent of him.
It was her turn again. She could have asked about Amber, football, or the women who pursued him. Only one question reached the heart of their conflict.
Kaitlyn raised her glass but did not drink. She assumed Cole cared more about Ryan than he cared about her. The words silenced every trace of playfulness.
Cole answered that she was wrong. He cared about them differently, but the explanation was buried beneath history he had never shared. Kaitlyn waited, sensing the game had opened a door far more private than the bedroom.
For the first time, Cole prepared to tell her why losing Ryan meant losing the only family he had ever known. The next truth would reveal the wounded boy hidden beneath the campus legend—and explain why loving Kaitlyn frightened him so deeply.