tease | brother's best friend (ON HOLD)

unzip me

update i put that other story i was talking about on hold bc i'm too invested in this now LMAOO

"see ya, pip! i'm glad you could come, hang with us again soon!!" juliet calls out through the window as pip is walking to her sorority house from the car.

she mentioned that she doesn't really participate in sorority events, and that she pretty much just got dragged into living there by amelie and evelyn. don't get me wrong, they're both lovely girls. pip just isn't in that kind of crowd.

pip gives us one last wave before opening up her front door and stepping inside, then we take off back to my house for the night.

"i always knew you had feelings for asher deep down" juliet smirks as she comes to a stop at a red light.

"what do you mean by that?" i perk, genuinely curious.

she pulls down her sun visor and looks into the mirror to reapply her chapstick as she answers. "well you agreed to the bet, right? you wouldn't have agreed to making him fall in love with you if you didn't have any preexisting feelings for him. i know you, and you wouldn't do him like that. sure, maybe you'd lead some other guy on... but not asher."

i'm honestly at a loss for words, because she's partially right. i've always seen asher as a best friend, maybe even a brother figure at times, but being so close with him might be dooming me to catch feelings eventually. and ever since we started living together, we've been forced to be around each other all the time, every single day. even if i never had feelings for him before, this whole bet thing might just cause me to fall for him back in the end.

but there's still problems with that, which is why i've never even considered having feelings for him.

first and most obvious, jack. he would be furious if we dated. not only is asher jack's best friend, but he just isn't the kind of guy to do relationships. which i guess is where the bet comes in. i make him fall for me, he changes for me, we live happily ever after. but it's not just that easy.

another reason would be breaking our bond. what if things were to go wrong? what if we break up and things are never the same again? i swear juliet doesn't think these things through.

"i think you're right... but it's still risky" i admit.

once the light turns green, juliet flips her sun visor back up and throws her chapstick in the back seat without looking before taking off again.

"that's the point of a bet. you could win, or you could lose. you have to look at all the factors that would predict your odds. and you," she pokes my shoulder, "you bet on the odds of it not working out. i still whole heartedly believe i'll win this with no problems."

i sigh and rest my elbow on the center console, holding my head in my hand.

"the thing is, jules, i don't think i want to be right. if i'm looking at this realistically, i will be right, which is why i betted on it. but considering what could be if you win, it's a happy outcome."

she smiles, "and that's why i made that bet. i don't care THAT much about winning, i want you to be happy. and if this goes according to plan, the both of us will be happy."

"do you think you might not win?" i ask hesitantly.

"oh of course i still think i'm going to win" she boasts, "but that's just my reasoning behind my choice."

i nod, and the rest of the car ride is contently quiet from there.

***

"wow, look at you two actually coming home when i asked you to" jack greets as we walk in the door.