My Fiancé Chose My Brother, So I Chose My Brother's Best Friend novel · Chapter 4 of 24

Chapter 4: Hands Off

I stayed for dinner because Teddy asked me to.

He found me in the hall at five with my bag already on my shoulder.

"Please," he said. "If you go, they'll turn on me."

So I put the bag in the coat closet and went upstairs to wash my face.

At seven-thirty the doorbell rang, and Hugh opened it himself.

"Merc. Finally."

They hugged the way they always had, with two hard slaps on the back.

I stood in the dining room doorway and held the edge of the door.

Rhys had changed into a charcoal suit and shaved.

He looked rested and calm, and his eyes passed over me and moved on.

"This is my sister, Estelle," Hugh said. "She had a rough day yesterday. Estelle, Rhys Mercer."

Rhys held out his hand.

"Miss Cadwalader."

"Mr. Mercer."

His palm was warm and dry and his grip lasted a moment too long.

Then he let go.

My mother had put him on my left.

Hugh sat at the head of the table, and Teddy sat across from me with his eyes on his plate.

The first course was soup.

My mother asked Rhys about the flight and he said it had been long.

Hugh asked about the capital and Rhys said he would decide after he had read the final papers.

"Of course," Hugh said. "Though we both know it's a formality."

Rhys lifted his glass.

"We'll see."

Under the table, his shoe touched my ankle.

I didn't move.

It wasn't an accident, because it stayed.

He talked to my mother about Bristol, where he'd grown up, and about the weather in London, and his shoe pressed against the side of my foot the whole time.

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