Best Friend's Brother

Chapter Eleven

Two weeks later, on the Friday following my little potion escapade with Simon, Hilary knocked on my door right as I was getting ready to leave. "Miss Rayne, are you busy?"

I shook my head. "Come in, Hilary."

She smiled as she opened the door wide.  "You have a visitor and I just couldn't send him away."

I looked at her like she'd grown a second head until she motioned for whoever it was to come in. My breath caught when I saw Matt standing there awkwardly with a bouquet of roses.

He smiled but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "Hi, Claire."

He stepped into the room and Hilary quickly shut the door behind him. "Matt, what are you doing here? Whitney said you weren't coming until tomorrow."

His smile faltered and I saw he was nervous. "I, ah, came a little early so I could talk to you. About what happened."

I shifted uncomfortably in the chair. "Which time?"

He blew air out of his mouth and grimaced. "I swear it there wasn't anything between Marcie and me when we hooked up. She told me about your phone call and I realized she made it sound like we were going out before it happened. We didn't get together until I was back on campus if that makes you feel any better."

I sighed and looked at my watch. "Not really but it's the thought that counts. Is that all you wanted?"

He seemed to remember the roses so he thrust them at me. "These are for you. I wanted to make sure that nothing's awkward between us."

I thought about the little – okay, big – secret I was keeping from him but I shook my head. I wouldn't ruin his life over a mistake I'd made. He had too much left to do and I wouldn't tie him down with the guilt of a child he never asked for. "I made it obvious that nothing was going to happen between us and I'm glad that you found someone. I really am, Matt."

He sat in Whitney's chair obviously relaxing. "Seriously?"

I nodded. "I just want you to promise me that you'll continue to act like nothing happened between us. No matter what happens."

He looked confused. "I think you're missing something here. I'm not going to pretend what happened didn't, that wasn't my plan at all. I told you that I wasn't going to push you but that doesn't mean that I've given up on you."

I sighed. "Matt, you've got a girlfriend now. You can't just play with her and try to change my mind at the same time. It's not fair to anyone. Marcie really seems to like you and she seems like a nice enough girl. You should give her a real chance to mean something to you."

"Claire, she's not the girl I'm crazy about, though."

I shook my head and looked at the roses. "But she should be. She can be the kind of girl you need her to be. She can actually be your girl."

"I won't promise to give up on you if that's what you're saying."

I shook my head. "I know I can't force you to do anything like that. What I want you to promise is that you won't make a big deal out of one night. Can you promise me that?"

He hesitated but nodded. "I don't know why you care about it so much but if it'll make you happier I'll promise you that on one condition."

I eyed him warily. I didn't like where this was heading at all. "What do you want in return?"

He stood up and walked around the desk so he was standing in front of me. "Stop hiding from me. You're my sister's best friend and you're kind of a part of my family by now. My dad would kill me if he found out I was the reason he didn't get to see you anymore and Maria and Tess would help him. They all love you and I'd be in deep shit if you stopped showing up to family things with Whit if I was around. They'd put two and two together, they're not stupid."

Tess was Matt's oldest sister. She was two years older than Whitney and had made it obvious for a long time that she wanted me to be part of the family. She had made it extremely obvious that she wanted me to get with Matt so I'd actually be part of her family. He definitely threw her into his proposal to throw me off of what he was saying.

I paused but nodded. "It may take me a while to come to everything but I promise I won't freeze you out. I didn't mean to."

He smiled and this time it touched his eyes. "Thanks, Claire. That means more to me than you realize."

I sighed and shook my head. He could never know that it was just my way of making sure that our kid got to spend time with his or her father. Even if he never knew he was the father, it was the least I could do for our unborn child.

Once Matt was gone I called Hilary into my office. She smiled at the roses I'd placed in a crystal vase that had previously been filled with daffodils sent to me by an appreciative writer.

"So, how'd it go? Did you guys make up yet?"

I laughed. "You are such a rascal! You knew that if I had been told who it was that wanted to see me I would have pretended to be busy."

She laughed with me. "Why of course. It's my job to know everything about you."

I shook my head. "You're the best, Hil. I think I'd be lost without you."

"So you guys did make up then. Am I going to see his beautiful face around even more often now?"

I shook my head. "We were never a couple. It's not how things were."

She sighed and deflated. "But I was so sure that you guys had a connection! Are you sure that he's not crazy about you? I saw the way he was looking at you and you had a little bit of that same look in your eyes, too! I'm usually so good at reading people!"

"Don't worry Hil, you saw everything right."

She perked right back up. "So you're going to go after him?"

I shook my head and placed a hand on my abdomen. "I think he'll just have to be the one that got away. I've been pushing him away for too many years for anything to happen."

She let out an exasperated sigh. "Claire! You never know unless you try."

I shook my head. "Not this time."