Saved by the Crush's Brother - Maggie Dallen Page 0,3

of all things romance, she was really just worried about me. She had no reason to be, of course, but that was just how Max was. She cared deeply about her friends, even if she had a bizarre way of showing it.

“It’s perfect, don’t you see?” I said.

Max’s doubtful expression said she definitely did not see. With her dirty blonde hair pulled back in a long braid like always, the strands around her face were frizzing out thanks to the humidity. Once again, she’d ignored my advice to use hair products.

I took one of the magazine’s Lakeview High’s lead actress had given us all a few weeks ago when Simone was in the same boat that I was. I glanced over at the previously invisible brunette and her mega hottie baseball player boyfriend.

“It worked for Simone,” I said.

“That was different,” Max snapped.

I swallowed, not quite able to meet Max’s gaze just yet because...why? Why was it so different? Why could she be happy for Simone but act like I was the world’s biggest fool for thinking the same thing could happen to me?

I gave myself a little shake and met her glare with another smile. It was fine. This was Max. She was just looking out for me and I couldn’t deny the fact that she’d spent the better part of the last three years watching me pine over Alex with no sign of reciprocation in return.

I flipped to the article I’d bookmarked and pointed to the relevant item. “Find a common interest to bond over,” I said, reading it aloud.

“And you want to bond over a baby,” Max confirmed.

I pressed my lips together and huffed in irritation.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Lulu offered from the other end of the table. With long red hair and an overall hippie vibe, Lulu was our resident dreamer. She was pretty much always covered in paint or chalk or ink of some kind, and she was giving a smile right now that was heartening after listening to Max’s disdain.

Sure enough, Max sighed on the other side of me. I was sure she was thinking, don’t encourage her. Like I was a child or something.

Emma and Hazel had been talking amongst themselves and I heard Hazel filling Emma in on what we were talking about.

“So, wait, you’ll have a reason to like...go to each other’s houses and be all domestic?” Emma said. She gave me a beaming grin. “Brilliant.”

Hazel didn’t look quite as excited but she was giving me a supportive smile too.

I may have been gloating just a little when I turned back to Max. “See? I’m brilliant.”

Her lips twitched a bit and her eyes danced with laughter. I knew she wanted to argue the point further but I also saw the moment she decided to let it go and my shoulders drooped with relief.

I leaned toward her so the others couldn’t hear. “Please just try to be happy for me, ‘kay?”

She nodded. “I’ll try.”

She popped a fry into her mouth with a wink that reassured me that, all differences aside, we’d be just fine.

We always were.

“So, when do the fake baby shenanigans begin?” she teased.

“This weekend, hopefully,” I said. I couldn’t quite bring myself to meet her gaze. “We didn’t have a chance to work out all the details.”

“But he’s on board with this,” Max confirmed, wariness still there, tinging her voice and clouding my otherwise giddy mood.

“Of course,” I said. “I’ll talk to him later today about the details, but he’s totally on board.”

2

Cristian

I stared at Lakeview High through the dirty windshield of Alex’s car. Well, technically it was our dad’s car since he was the one who bought it. This car was supposed to have been for both of us, but only Alex was shallow enough to accept our father’s bribes, and he couldn’t even be bothered to maintain the thing.

I made a mental note to stop by a carwash on the way home as I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel and waited for my spoiled brat of a brother to walk out of school.

This was what my life had come to. Stuck on carpool duty.

I rubbed at my eyes as I fought a wave of irritation. Why Alex couldn’t just get a ride from one of his buddies? Or, heaven forbid...take the bus?

The mere thought of the family’s golden boy riding a school bus with a bunch of freshmen was enough to make my lips twitch with amusement. After another few minutes, I finally got out