the Vaughan household. The Barnes folks were the kind of socialite who turned up their nose at everything that wasn’t sprinkled with gold so, growing up, his best friend had been welcomed with open arms in his family.
Thinking back to their earlier acquaintance, Shane smiled one of his rare, full on ear to ear smirk, and amended: his best friend and his annoyingly awesome runt of a little sister.
Brooke.
It had been way too long since he’d seen that girl. Shane wondered how she was doing... but he wasn’t sure he was ready for a face-to-face, yet.
When they’d first met, she’d been shy, uncomfortable in her own skin. She’d been a bit chubby and Shane knew her parents – and some kids – had given her a hard time.
By the end of that summer, she’d shed the few extra pounds, the timidity and she’d turned into what she’d been for ten years now: Jack and Shane’s absolute nightmare.
It wasn’t only that she loved nothing more than teasing the hell out of them; she also had no respect for her own safety, driving the quickest bikes, skiing black slopes like they were going out of fashion, bungee jumping, eating deadly fish...
Shane thought about Brooke every time he saw Jack, and as Jack was his business partner – not to mention, his roommate, on a temporary basis – that was a daily occurrence. However, he hadn’t seen her in a while.
Good thing, too.
Recalling their last meeting, and that haunting drunken kiss he should never, ever have started, he forced himself to concentrate on something else. Anything else.
Brownie. Brownie was a good focus point.
The smell hit him right in the stomach as soon as he passed the threshold. Fuck. He ran all the way to the kitchen, and descended upon the poor unsuspecting pieces of heaven before even acknowledging anyone in the room.
Shane had secretly attempted to make brownies for years now, but none of his tries ever came close to this. Some day, he’d get his mother to spill the secret.
“Hi to you too, son,” Mara smiled.
He kissed the top of her head, his mouth still full, another brownie in hand.
“Love you Mother,” he said as soon as he’d swallowed. “But to what do we owe the pleasure?”
Mara baked any given day, however the brownies were reserved to special occasions, like Christmas.
“Do you have to ask? Nothing but the best for the BB’s return!”
The next piece of cake went down through the wrong pipe.
Shit. He’d heard that wrong, right?
He knew without a shadow of a doubt that BB – otherwise known as Brooke Barnes – was in New York. She’d been employed right out of college by a tech company that paid her a six figure start up salary, and she loved her job.
She hadn’t set foot in San Francisco since she’d turned eighteen and she had no reason to come back. Her relationship with her parents was frosty at best, and the only person she cared about here, her brother, flew to New York on a regular basis.
“Hi Shane.”
He turned slowly, and for some inexplicable reason, there she was, crazy brown curls, dark smoldering eyes and all.
Fuck.
“Baby.”
It always sounded that way when he tried to say BB, which is why he liked to call her Chubs, instead. That, and the fact that she hated the nickname.
In the distance, he could hear a doorbell, and by the time he could force his gaze away from the girl sitting on his mother’s kitchen counter, he saw Jack was there, flirting with Mara and eating his fair share of brownie.
“Shit. Welcome home,” he managed to say, opening his arms wide, and she jumped between them, welcoming his hug for one second, before moving on to her brother. “What are you doing here Chubs? How long are you staying?”
She shrugged, saying: “As long as it takes. I’m starting up my own business; website designing, apps, that kinda thing.”
That did sound like something she’d enjoyed, but Shane frowned; that was exactly what she’d been doing in New York.
“Wow.
Thinking back to their earlier acquaintance, Shane smiled one of his rare, full on ear to ear smirk, and amended: his best friend and his annoyingly awesome runt of a little sister.
Brooke.
It had been way too long since he’d seen that girl. Shane wondered how she was doing... but he wasn’t sure he was ready for a face-to-face, yet.
When they’d first met, she’d been shy, uncomfortable in her own skin. She’d been a bit chubby and Shane knew her parents – and some kids – had given her a hard time.
By the end of that summer, she’d shed the few extra pounds, the timidity and she’d turned into what she’d been for ten years now: Jack and Shane’s absolute nightmare.
It wasn’t only that she loved nothing more than teasing the hell out of them; she also had no respect for her own safety, driving the quickest bikes, skiing black slopes like they were going out of fashion, bungee jumping, eating deadly fish...
Shane thought about Brooke every time he saw Jack, and as Jack was his business partner – not to mention, his roommate, on a temporary basis – that was a daily occurrence. However, he hadn’t seen her in a while.
Good thing, too.
Recalling their last meeting, and that haunting drunken kiss he should never, ever have started, he forced himself to concentrate on something else. Anything else.
Brownie. Brownie was a good focus point.
The smell hit him right in the stomach as soon as he passed the threshold. Fuck. He ran all the way to the kitchen, and descended upon the poor unsuspecting pieces of heaven before even acknowledging anyone in the room.
Shane had secretly attempted to make brownies for years now, but none of his tries ever came close to this. Some day, he’d get his mother to spill the secret.
“Hi to you too, son,” Mara smiled.
He kissed the top of her head, his mouth still full, another brownie in hand.
“Love you Mother,” he said as soon as he’d swallowed. “But to what do we owe the pleasure?”
Mara baked any given day, however the brownies were reserved to special occasions, like Christmas.
“Do you have to ask? Nothing but the best for the BB’s return!”
The next piece of cake went down through the wrong pipe.
Shit. He’d heard that wrong, right?
He knew without a shadow of a doubt that BB – otherwise known as Brooke Barnes – was in New York. She’d been employed right out of college by a tech company that paid her a six figure start up salary, and she loved her job.
She hadn’t set foot in San Francisco since she’d turned eighteen and she had no reason to come back. Her relationship with her parents was frosty at best, and the only person she cared about here, her brother, flew to New York on a regular basis.
“Hi Shane.”
He turned slowly, and for some inexplicable reason, there she was, crazy brown curls, dark smoldering eyes and all.
Fuck.
“Baby.”
It always sounded that way when he tried to say BB, which is why he liked to call her Chubs, instead. That, and the fact that she hated the nickname.
In the distance, he could hear a doorbell, and by the time he could force his gaze away from the girl sitting on his mother’s kitchen counter, he saw Jack was there, flirting with Mara and eating his fair share of brownie.
“Shit. Welcome home,” he managed to say, opening his arms wide, and she jumped between them, welcoming his hug for one second, before moving on to her brother. “What are you doing here Chubs? How long are you staying?”
She shrugged, saying: “As long as it takes. I’m starting up my own business; website designing, apps, that kinda thing.”
That did sound like something she’d enjoyed, but Shane frowned; that was exactly what she’d been doing in New York.
“Wow.
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