tussle_lotus2x
- Reads 2,203
- Votes 85
- Parts 32
Emilia Brooks has known Malachi Barton for as long as she can remember.
He was her brother's best friend - the boy who always showed up, always teased her, and always called her Brooks like she was nothing more than a familiar annoyance in the background of his life.
Nothing about that ever changed.
Until he came back.
After months away filming and on tour, Malachi returns for senior year expecting everything to be the same - the same kid sister energy, the same easy jokes, the same distance he never had to think about.
But Emilia isn't a kid anymore.
She's sharper now. Witty in a way that catches him off guard. Stubborn in a way that makes him want to argue just to keep her talking. And when they're alone, the teasing shifts - his words linger longer, his attention stays longer, and the line between joking and something else starts to blur.
The problem is Emilia doesn't see it.
To her, Malachi is still Malachi - her brother's best friend, a chronic flirt, and someone who never means what he says.
And Malachi?
He's starting to realize he might not be joking at all.
Because the hardest person to make fall for you... is the one who still thinks you're playing games.