In which I fall in love with my brother's best friend.
*****
"Don't pretend like you don't feel anything." His voice is low, sending shivers down my spine.
"What do you mean?"
"You know damn well what I mean."
"I don't know what you're talking about...
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"So, what do you think?" Vaughn asks, a smile tugging at his lips.
"About what?"
"This place."
I sigh, looking around. "Crowded." I don't have any other words to describe, admitting that the place might be the most happening spot in town right now. Again, a group of girls peer at me from the corner of the room, catching my attention. "Am I doing a sin or what? It feels so hot in here, with all those glares shot in my direction." I fan myself with my hand.
Vaughn turns his head towards the girls, making them abruptly look away. He faces me again with a smirk on his face. "Don't worry. I'm not dating any of them."
"I can't believe a guy like you can stay single," I blurt out, recalling Jake's conversation with a girl named Alexa a while ago, only to regret it later.
It might sound like a cheap pick-up line from any girls, but really, I genuinely think that way. Every girl would line up to become Vaughn's girlfriend.
Not me, of course. I'm not interested in developing my feelings for my brother's best friend.
"A guy like what?" he asks, looking amused.
I laugh, rolling my eyes. "I guess you're just the same as my brother." Jake doesn't like commitments with girls, and I guess that Vaughn is no different.
He smiles. "No, we're different. I do commit to some girls," he says, as if reading my mind. Smart guy indeed, isn't he?
I shake my head, laughing. "Sorry. Maybe we shouldn't be talking about this." It feels slightly inappropriate to bring up such a topic as a warm-up with a new companion. Shouldn't we be talking about college? About his major? Or about his football team?
"Why not? I'm sure you've heard a lot of things about me." Vaughn smirks. "Just like I've heard about you."
I can't disagree. The topic piques my interest, though. "Really? Like what?"
Vaughn leans closer to me against the bar counter, a playful smile tugging at his lips as he locks eyes with me, making my breath catch in my throat. "Melanie Spencer. 18. Majoring in Chemical Engineering. Loves to play the piano, been playing it since she was four. I even know your favourite composers, Frederic Chopin and Claude Debussy."
I gasp, and he continues, "You wanted to major in Architecture before, but your parents wouldn't let you, and in the end, you had your mind set to pursue a career in the oil and gas sector, just like your parents." That fact makes me raise my eyebrows. "You had this obsession with Harry Potter when you were a kid. Well, who wouldn't? But you even memorized a particular dialogue, and one of them is when Harry Potter met Lucius Malfoy in Diagon Alley."
Oh, Gosh. I burst into laughter, and Vaughn laughs too, drawing even more attention from the other people in the room.
I look at him with mouth agape. "Did Jake tell you all of that?" I rasp.
