Her Best Friend's Brother by T. Dell (read the beginning after the end novel .TXT) 📕

plus one. “I am glad you are going you know. I don’t know what you see in my slob of a brother but you would be a way improvement over miss cat’s eye glasses and turtlenecks.”

“Sorry, what?” With many years of practice Libby was usualy good at keeping up with Mel’s flitting train of thought, but she was genuinely stumped now.

“Over thanksgiving when I went to visit Tony in New York, and I had the most amazing Christmas shopping trip. Got more for myself than anyone else on the list, but totaly worth it. I do wish I had gone back for those boots…”

“Mel!”

“Right, sorry. When I went to visit him this Stephanie girl was always hanging around. They have a bunch of English classes together I guess. She wore turtlenecks al the time. It isn’t that cold in New York, and she wears cat’s eye glasses. We are not talking retro look how cute I am sun glasses. Oh no. These were ful-on 1950’s everyday eye-wear cat’s eye glasses. They might as wel have been on a lanyard!” Okay so the glasses thing was al Mel. Personaly it mattered very little to Libby what sort of eye-wear a person preferred, but a girl? Hanging around with Tony? And he hadn’t mentioned her… she would certainly have remembered that.

“So they are dating, but not go to a wedding with me dating, or not fly to North Carolina for a weekend with me or…” Libby couldn’t go on. It was too awful. Tony.

Girl. Cat’s eye glasses. Suddenly she completely agreed with Mel that 1950’s eye glasses were obviously tacky.

“I don’t know. I got the impression they had gone out a few times but it isn’t like I found her name scrawled next to his on his school books or anything. He is going to love the dress. You know he and Olivia have never been very close. I didn’t realy think he minded missing out on the wedding, and then the other day I told him about Cory

—and that you were my new date. Voila, home for the weekend. Makes you think.”

But al Libby was thinking of as she walked to her car with her bags was little miss turtlenecks and her cat’s eye glasses. Stephanie. She even had a stupid name.

Actualy Libby had an aunt named Stephanie, and the name had never bothered her before. But she hadn’t been thinking objectively then, and of course now she was al about objectiveness—right. It shouldn’t matter. She knew about objectiveness—right. It shouldn’t matter. She knew Tony dated, she knew he had had girlfriends. Some of those girlfriends had been to the Marchetti’s for dinner on nights when Libby was also there. But now, wel was it her imagination that she and Tony had gotten closer lately?

Certainly he hadn’t ever emailed her last year while he was away at school, and then there had been al those late nights in his bedroom.

Last summer when Libby’s mom had been invited to teach a two week workshop at some pastry school in Pennsylvania Libby spent 14 perfect days at the Marchetti’s home. Not that she was glad when Mel caught a nasty stomach bug the last 5 days of her visit, but she hadn’t been in a hurry to turn Tony down when he offered to take the couch and give Libby his bed so she would stay germ free.

Tony had made a smal attempt to clean up, and of course Mrs. Marchetti had changed the sheets, but it was stil his room. His bed. His space. Just remembering gave her goose bumps. The Tuesday that Mel started feeling il the new sleeping arrangements were finalized and her things were moved to Tony’s room by 7:00. It had been too early for bed realy, but for the first time in eight years she had felt awkward and out of place in the Marchetti home. With the family room transformed into Tony’s temporary bedroom, there weren’t a lot of options. So she had changed into her pjs, borrowed a book from the family library, and settled nervously on top of Tony’s twin bed to read and wait for sleepiness to claim her.

At first she almost didn’t hear the knock at the door. But then came a louder knock. “Libby? You aren’t asleep already are you?” Tony’s voice always gave her heart flutters but Libby had forced herself to sound calm.

“No. Come on in. Is this okay?” Libby gestured indicating where she was sitting on his bed.

“Of course.” Tony puled a face and shook his head at her. “We told you it was fine a milion times. I don’t mind the couch realy – Mom never let me have a TV

in here anyway, and in the dorm I got used to faling asleep to Letterman’s top ten. I just thought it was pretty early. In al the years I’ve known you I don’t think I have ever seen you hit the sack before midnight.”

“Wel I usualy have very important and secret slumber party rituals to complete” Libby was relaxing more and finding that talking to Tony in her pjs, in his bedroom wasn’t al that different from talking to Tony anywhere else.

Except that now she wasn’t wearing a bra, and that had realy started to matter lately. Shivering nervously Libby looked around for a discreet way to cover herself.

Tony must have seen her shiver because he grabbed a blue hoodie off a hook on the back of the door, and tossed it to her. “Here … it can get chily in here.” He made himself a little busy straightening the frame holding his high school diploma on the wal for several seconds.

“Thanks.” Libby shrugged into his sweatshirt inhaling deeply the mix of his cologne and laundry detergent

–a smel that was distinctly his.

When she looked up Tony was looking at her a little strangely. “It is clean. I wore it for a few minutes yesterday, but only out to the mailbox and back, it’s clean.”

“Okay. It’s clean.” Now