My Brother's Best Friend: a Josh Richards FanFiction -complete-

Part 12: Caught

I stood at the stove, prepping some chicken in a pan. "Not a lover's quarrel, Jaden. Just a little joke between two friends who have kissed a couple of times."
"Sure, a couple of times," Jaden replied. "I'm surprised that you didn't cover up that hickey before the video."
My hand shot up to my neck. "Shit. I forgot about it."
"Ah!" Jaden exclaimed. "What happened to pretending that it wasn't a hickey?"
"It was worth a shot, but we all know that none of you actually believed me."
Josh was leaning against the counter, observing the interaction between the two of us. "How come no one has said anything to me? We all know that I'm the one who gave it to her."
I sighed, setting down the pan that was in my hand. "Can you stop talking, please? You are not helping my case." Josh and Jaden looked at each other and chuckled. "What is so damn funny?"

"It's not that serious, Bails. We all knew that it was bound to happen when Nessa gave you that letter. Josh used to talk about you for hours after he visited Maryland with Bryce. He only got back together with Nessa because she was here and you were across the country," Jaden said, sitting down at the table. "What are you making?"
"Just cooking chicken right now. I'm probably going to make some chicken salad. Don't skip past that like you didn't just say all of that. He talked about me?"
Josh's face flushed a deep red as Jaden nodded. "He did. He always tried to make it sound like you guys were just friends, but we all knew better. Even Bryce."

As I put the chicken into the oven, I crossed the kitchen and wrapped my arms around Josh. "Can I tell you a secret?" I asked softly. He nodded. "I talked about you all the time, too." I stared at him, getting lost in his blue eyes before kissing him softly.
Jaden sat in the kitchen for a few more moments before groaning. "I hate couples."
Josh pulled away, turning to look at him. "Don't pretend that this isn't you and Mads every chance you get."
Jaden's face flushed a scarlet red this time. "I'm gonna go. It was nice to hang out with you guys."

Josh sat down at the kitchen table as Jaden left the room. I felt his eyes follow me around the kitchen as I cooked. "Can I help you?" I asked, turning to face him and putting a hand on my hip.
"No, don't mind me. Just watching. You're just so beautiful."
I blushed. "Oh, stop. You're too much."
He shook his head. "No, I'm not. You really are. You're especially lucky that you don't look like Bryce."
"That's mean," I laughed.
Josh shrugged. "It's true though. You definitely got the brains and the beauty out of the two of you."

We talked about random things as I cooked. "Want to make a TikTok?" he asked. "I haven't posted yet today."
I nodded. "Why not? Don't choose anything too crazy though. I'm enjoying not being on tiktokroom right now."
We quickly made a few TikToks, and I finished up our lunch.

Bryce walked into the kitchen as we sat and ate. "Hey, what are you guys doing in here?"
"You know, just eating lunch," Josh replied, taking another bite.
"Rumor has it that you guys were kind of cozy earlier," Bryce mentioned skeptically, sitting down.
"Damn it, Jaden," I mumbled.
Bryce heard me. "What was that, Bailey?"
I shook my head. "Nothing."

Jaden walked back into the kitchen, and I jumped up, chasing him out of the kitchen quickly.
"What is your deal?" he asked, panting when I finally caught him on the patio.
"What made you change your mind about not saying anything to anyone?"
Jaden shrugged. "Josh said it didn't matter as long as it wasn't in the media. Bryce isn't the media, so I figured it was okay."
I threw my hands up in frustration. "He's my older brother, Jay! He's gonna pretend that everything is fine because it's his best friend, but he is the most overprotective person that I've ever met!"
Jaden looked at me like I was crazy. "Bailey, he literally does not care. Trust me, I asked him about it. He said that he only cares if Josh hurts you. As long as he doesn't hurt you, everything will be fine."

I sighed. "Fine, but you owe me." We walked back into the kitchen to find Bryce lecturing Josh on the conduct that he expected him to follow when we were alone. "That's enough," I said, sitting back down.
"I just want to make sure that your new fling is a gentleman," Bryce said, popping a chip into his mouth.
"Whoa, he's not just a fling, Bryce."
Bryce shrugged. "We'll see."
I stood up from the table quickly, angered that he was even implying that Josh and I were simply a fling. "I thought you approved. Why are you being like this?"
"I approved of Tayler, too, and we all know how that worked out."
"Oh my, God! You are such an asshole!" I screamed, storming up the stairs.