The Right Kind of Wrong: A Brother's Best Friend Romance by Fabiola Francisco (open ebook .TXT) 📗

get that, but you’ll be okay. I’ll visit as much as I can.” He nods and rubs his thumbs over the tops of my hands. The soothing back and forth helps bring me down from my panic as I focus on deep breaths.

“Thank you.” I look up at him, rolling my lower lip between my teeth.

“I’ve got you.” He pulls me in for a hug, and I allow his warmth to blanket me and provide the comfort he is so keen on giving me.

When my arms go around his back, he sighs, his breath tickling my ear. Camden looks down at my face, one hand cupping my cheek as his thumb brushes across my lips. His eyes lock on mine, something passing through us that I’ve never felt before, and it makes me want to cry and smile at the same time.

Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes and lean my face into his palm.

“Ally…” Camden whispers.

When his lips land on my forehead, I melt into him and bask in the sensation of his stubble against my skin. My fingers clutch his shirt, wanting to feel this new emotion for longer. I’m afraid when we break apart, it would’ve all been a momentary glimpse in time that will never repeat itself.

The buzzing of my phone cuts the moment too short, and Camden steps back with a boyish smile. He reminds me of the eighteen-year-old I first met when my brother brought him home one evening to do laundry. I was the annoying fourteen-year-old that stared at him over the top of my book while I pretended to read.

And now here we are, about to become parents to the same child, and he’s still that handsome boy, now a man.

“You should get that,” he says, clearing his throat.

“Yeah.” I step around him and the mess of furniture. My heart stops when I see Easton’s name on the screen. He’s calling way earlier than I expected. Although if I know him, he barely slept, curious about why I wanted to talk to him. That was my mistake, sending him a message yesterday to ask if he’d be free to talk today.

“It’s Easton.” I hold my phone up.

“Fuck,” Camden mumbles, running a hand through his hair. “Pick up. It’s now or never,” he says, sitting on the sofa.

I swipe my phone to answer the call, waiting for the video to come up.

“Hey, big bro.” I smile at his sleep-filled face.

“Hey,” his deep voice comes through gruff from waking up. “What’s going on? You said you wanted to talk.”

“Uh, yeah…” I feel like puking. My heart is racing, and my palms are sweating. I bite down my lips, tears coming to my eyes that I blink away before Easton can notice.

I take a seat on the sofa next to Camden and hold the phone far out enough that Easton can see him. “Um… Actually, we both wanted to talk to you about something.” My voice wavers.

“What’s going on?” Easton sits up straight, his eyebrows bunching together as he narrows his eyes.

“Hey.” Camden’s voice sounds small in comparison to a moment ago. I sneak a hand on his knee to help comfort him.

“Here’s the thing…” I begin talking.

“Are you two together?” Easton interrupts me, his jaw ticking.

“No… Well…not really,” I stutter over my words.

Camden takes over. “Listen, man, the night of your wedding, Allyson and I slept together.”

“The fuck?” Easton growls his interruption.

“Please let us talk,” I beg my brother.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Easton keeps going, shaking his head.

“Easton, I’m pregnant,” I spit out. That gets his attention because his eyes snap to mine, anger and confusion darkening his green gaze.

“You’re kidding,” he leans back on his couch.

“No,” I shake my head. “I found out about a week ago. I told Camden, and he flew over here so we could talk in person and figure this out.”

“You should’ve told me.” His glare is directed at Camden.

“I wanted to, but I didn’t know how. Then, Ally told me this news, and I had to talk to her first.” Camden shrugs, his fingers blindly finding mine on his knee and linking with them, holding on to me.

“We just wanted you to know. I didn’t know how to bring it up, and I don’t want this to ruin your friendship with Camden. He’s your best friend, and it’d kill me that years of friendship would be destroyed because of me.” I look at my brother, hoping he’s listening.

“It wouldn’t be your fault if it was ruined,” he spits out. “That’s my fucking little sister,” he throws at Camden.

“I know, but… Fuck,” Camden runs a hand down his face. “It wasn’t planned. It just happened, and then I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Now, we’re here.”

“You’re gonna fuck her over.” He shakes his head.

“Easton, no, he won’t. It’s not like we’re getting married. We’re going to be parents, and we have to work together to be the best for this child.”

“So, what are you going to do? Date other people and warn them beforehand. I’m having a child with someone else, FYI?” He shakes his head as if he doesn’t understand.

“We’re figuring it out.”

“If it were up to me, neither of us would date other people,” Camden adds. I turn to look at him with wide eyes while Easton scoffs and chuckles humorlessly.

“Easton, stop being a jerk. We wanted to tell you, have you be a part of this. It’s not exactly easy for either of us, but damn it, we’re trying.” I blink back tears.

“I don’t know what to say.” Easton softens a bit when he sees me wipe my cheek.

“Just say you won’t stop being friends with Camden,” I tell him. The guilt of ruining years of friendship because of this is greater than anything I’ve felt before.

“I…I need to process,” my brother responds. “We’ll talk later, okay?” He looks at me, his jaw set straight.

“Okay,” I nod, saying goodbye and hanging up. I can’t help the tears that roll down my face, but Camden’s