Baby Louise, the ever optimistic and cheerful teenage girl who lives next door to the residential badboy, has made it her objective to avoid him at all costs.
But she soon finds that she cannot avoid the brooding giant forever, especially when he f...
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SLIGHTLY flustered by the presence of all of Brielle's closest family members, Collin found himself trying to fade into the background as soon as celebrations began. Brielle's older brother Cal only visited once every year since he lived in Africa permanently because of his job as a safari ranger.
Collin watched from the living room couch as Brielle smothered her brother with affection and endless questions about his job and his friends, whether he had a girlfriend or boyfriend and everything in between.
The Hardy parents joined in on the interrogation and Cal, as Collin had experienced firsthand, handled all the questions with a grace that he envied. No hesitations or defensiveness in his tone, Cal was charismatic in a way that Collin really wished he was.
Sure, he had made peace with the fact that he was a bit of a grump, awkward when confronted with new people and anxious when he felt out of place or overstimulated. But when it came to Brielle, the attributes that he would usually brush off made him think that pretty, smart and fierce Bri deserved more than his mess of an identity.
That he should be more like Cal. Fun and friendly, easy to talk to and easy to like.
So he sat on the couch and stewed for the evening, wishing he could either disappear or flip a switch and be the perfect guy for Brielle.
♥️
Brielle had noticed long ago that Collin was in a mood. She acquired a penchant for recognizing all his moods over the years and this one was often common, he was clearly sulking about something.
"You should go and cheer him up,” Cal suggested as he watched her glance over every few minutes, “Seems like he needs it.”
The girl nodded slowly but said, “Later. We have a lot to talk about.”
Cal raised a brow, “Like what? Are you two finally doing something about the tension?”
Brielle looked appalled and averted her eyes to the wooden floorboards beneath, “There is no tension.” But she knew it was a lie.
“You two live together, and it's pretty obvious his come to his senses and fell for you after all these years.” Cal bumped his shoulder with Brielle's and grinned, "You're really winning in life sis. Not everyone can say their first and only love has returned their feelings.”
Hearing someone say it out loud made Brielle flush and her voice had softened when she told her brother what she felt.
“I understand, but I'm so angry.” She murmured bitterly. “All these years I've been giving my all to show him how I felt, and just when I want to give up and let myself move on... He says he-” She cut herself off and glanced back at Collin.
Cal reached down and grabbed her hand, she sighed softly and squeezed.
“I expected him to be as much of a coward as I was this whole time.”
