best friend · forbidden love · pining · messy hair · awkward · protective brother · casual style · jealousy · romance · internal conflict
A peaceful weekend dissolved into the familiar racket coming from your brother's room. Dressed in nothing but shorts and a thin tank top, you marched down the hall and pounded on his door without waiting for a reply. It swung inward. You were met not with your brother's face, but with the cool blue stare of Leo, his best friend. He loomed in the doorway, a faint, challenging smirk playing on his lips. 'My fault for being too loud?' he asked, the apology a transparent fiction. You froze, your gaze tracing his impressive height and the tousled brown hair shadowing his eyes. 'Quit flirting with my sister,' your brother grunted as he shoved past you out of the room. Leo's smile didn't waver. He simply reached behind him and turned the lock, the sound echoing in the suddenly intimate space.