My Best Friend's Brother (A Bashir Family Romance Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

tripped over his foot and nearly fell, but he caught me in the nick of time, in an awkward embrace.
    For a moment, I forgot that he was my enemy. His touch was…electric. But the moment passed and I remembered who he really was. I turned my face to prevent him from seeing my tears, but I couldn’t be sure if I was successful.
    “Sorry,” I uttered, before rushing off. I caught a glimpse of his stunned expression, like I was the last person he thought he would see at that moment. I thought maybe there was guilt in his eyes, or regret, but then he would be a normal person with a heart.
    And I had already decided that he didn’t have one.
     
     

***
     
     
    The last few weeks of summer were hellish. I worked every day at the hotel with Dev who barely could look me in the eye let alone speak to me.
    Thankfully, there was a glimmer of happiness that helped me get through it: Texas Monthly gave me a small interview with a renowned Texas artist and they were going to publish it in the next issue. Every time Dev made me feel unworthy, I thought about that article and how I was going to show him one day: I was not white trash.
    Serendipitously, he was there when Annika rushed over with the latest issue of Texas Monthly.
    “It’s here!” she screamed in the hotel lobby. The two elderly guests I was checking in nearly had simultaneous heart attacks.
    “Sorry about that,” I said to them. “Annika, just a moment, okay?” I handed the couple their card keys. “You’re in room 302. You can take the elevator behind the lobby.”
    It felt like an eternity before they finally left and I could leap out from behind the desk. It’s here. It’s really here!
    Annika had the plastic wrapped issue in her hands. “Should I open it?”
    I grabbed at it. “No. Let me. I just want to savor this moment.” I held the crisp, band new magazine to my heart and took a deep breath.
    And then Dev walked in.
    Moment ruined.
    “Annika,” he barked, “why did you scream in front of guests? You weren’t raised that way.” He glanced at me like it was obvious that my influence was taking hold. We white trash love to make us some noise!
    “Sorry. I’m so excited for Scarlett! She’s in Texas Monthly!”
    Dev looked confused. “What do you mean?”
    “She wrote an article, dummy. Scarlett, did you find it?”
    I was leafing through the pages, my hands shaking. “Found it,” I whispered as my eyes lingered over my name in print. Annika threw her arms around me.
    “I knew you would do it! I’m going to read it when I get back.” She looked at her watch. “Oh hell, I’m already late for the dentist.”
    I hugged her back before she left…before she left me alone with Dev who was standing there, observing quietly.
    “You wrote an article?” he asked incredulously as if I were a dyslexic baboon and had accomplished the impossible. Of all the people to share this moment with, and it had to be him.
    “Just a small one. It’s not a big deal. I mean, it kind of is. They usually don’t publish anything from their high school interns.”
    He didn’t say anything. He just looked at me…studying me like I studied him in the office that first day he returned. What did I want him to do? Gush over me? Tell me how impressed he was?
    Why did I care?
    I smoothed out my shirt again, feeling the weight of his stare.
    And just like that, he turned and went back to his office.
    Nothing. I got nothing.
    What killed me was that I wanted something from him in the first place, and I hated myself for it. No, I take that back.
    I hated him for it.

Chapter 5
    M y senior year of high school would start the next week and Dev was leaving the next morning. I couldn’t have been more relieved to see him go. Even better, the Bashir’s mosque was having a special religious celebration and the whole family was attending, so I wouldn’t have to endure another dinner invisible to him, like a ghost.
    I was used to staying behind on these occasions. I was an