My Brother's Best Friend is a Homewrecker

Caleb was screaming into his phone, hysterically demanding his girlfriend block every single guy in her contacts.

His best friend, Zane, lounged across the table from him, his eyes dripping with ruthless mockery. Zanes lip curled in pure disgust. You're acting like a pathetic dog over a woman. Do me a favor and forget you ever knew me.

I pushed open the heavy door to the VIP booth, drenched to the bone from the torrential downpour. I had rushed all the way over just to deliver a stack of legal reports on behalf of my brother's girlfriend.

Zanes gaze slashed toward me like a blade. His chest heaved sharply, and the hard lines of his jaw ticked tight. "Heh. You really know how to play the game, don't you?"

He had mistaken me for Calebs elusive girlfriend hed never actually met.

That night, I scrolled past a viral local Reddit advice thread.

[Help. My best friend is a bloodhound when it comes to catching guys hitting on his girl. How do I slip past his radar and steal her away from him?]

Chapter 1

I had been walking in the rain the entire way. Right now, I stood in front of the VIP booth door, half-drenched to the bone. Looking like an absolute wreck.

But I couldn't care less about my image. If I was even a second later, my drama-queen brother might actually throw himself off a building. With that thought, I reached for the handle. But a cold, mocking voice drifted through the heavy door.

"You could have just been a normal guy, but you had to go and be the other man. You brought this entirely on yourself."

Caleb refused to back down. "Don't preach at me! I bet if you met a woman you actually liked, you wouldn't be standing there looking so damn empty! Hell, you could offer to be the other man and she still wouldn't want your ass!"

The man let out a harsh, incredulous laugh. "You think I'd lower myself to your pathetic level?"

"First of all, I would never stoop to being the other man. Second, acting like my life is over because of some woman? I'd never do something so utterly humiliating in my entire life."

"That's because you don't get it at all! Zane, you have no idea. I love her so much I'd literally die for her"

Seeing his best friend acting beyond saving, the man hit his breaking point. "Caleb, what kind of spell did this woman cast on you? Tell me the truth, did she fucking hex you"

Before he could finish his sentence, I pushed the booth door open from the outside.

Zane assumed it was the waiter bringing drinks. His sharp brow bone lowered, and he flicked his eyelids up with extreme impatience.

The moment his gaze landed on me, the words died in his throat.

I really had no choice. There was zero heating in the hallway, and I was going to freeze to death if I stood out there any longer. I just hadn't expected the booth to be packed with so many drop-dead gorgeous guys.

Sweeping my gaze across the room, I counted one, two, three guys lounging on the couches. Among them, the absolute most striking one was the guy sitting dead center.

He was sunk deep into the expensive leather sofa in a lazy slouch, his long, knuckle-defined fingers gripping a glass of aged Macallan over ice. His impossibly long legs were crossed. Black casual wear, cold pale skin, and a face that screamed utter indifference to the world.

He looked like the kind of guy you did not want to cross.

That definitely had to be the guy tearing into Caleb just a second ago. Because the annoyance and mockery from that sweeping glance hadn't faded from his face yet.

But right now, those ruthless eyes were locked dead onto me, dazed. He didn't move a single muscle.

Well, this was awkward as hell. Should I say hi?

"Why did you come alone?!" Caleb stopped his pathetic sniffling, hugged a liquor bottle to his chest, and shot up from the table, shattering the weird tension in the room.

I remembered my mission. Screw saying hi. Rolling my eyes, I marched straight in, pulled a thick stack of legal analysis reports from my bag, and slammed them down hard on the table right in front of him. "Finish analyzing all these cases and send them to her by 8 AM tomorrow, got it?"

It was an unspoken rule between us.

Whenever Caleb threw one of his temper tantrums, his girlfriend's go-to move was to block him. Leave him to cool off for a few days, and hed sort himself out. But whenever I showed up carrying a task she assigned to him, it meant she was throwing him a bone and actually trying to coax him back.

Calebs gloomy face instantly cleared up into brilliant sunshine, a grin stretching so wide it practically reached the back of his head. Still, he forced a stubborn pout onto his lips.

"Hmph. Is that it? I'm not that easy to win over! She thinks she can just brush me off with some homework?"

I really wanted to smack the back of his head. "She also said 'love you, love you, love you the most', okay?!"

The second the words left my mouth, a sharp gasp echoed through the room.

"Holy shit! Zane, your drink is spilling all over your hand! What are you spacing out for, looking like your soul just left your body?"

Caleb finally snapped out of his lovesick daze. He turned around and cheerfully announced to the room. "Zane, we're gonna take off now."

As Caleb turned his back, Zanes gaze bypassed him. Like a thief in the night. It stealthily landed right back onto me.

Caleb dropped me off outside my dorm building and practically sprinted away. I had woken up way too early today. Exhaustion dragging at my bones, I climbed up into my bed.

Chapter 2

I was getting ready to catch some sleep.

As I lay down, a notification popped up on my phone.

[Help. My best friend is a bloodhound when it comes to catching guys hitting on his girl. How do I slip past his radar and steal her away from him?]

Holy shit, that is juicy!

My drooping eyelids snapped open. I tapped on it without hesitating.

[My bad for the clickbait title. I don't mean to be the other man, and I'm not trying to replace my best friend either. It's just that I met his girlfriend for the first time today, and discovered she's an absolute bombshell. I didn't know someone that hot could actually exist.]

[I'm getting off-topic. I actually just wanted to ask every time my best friend's girlfriend looks at me, my heart races, my blood pumps frantically, and I have no idea what to do with my hands or feet. My whole body even gets this tingling sensation. What exactly is going on with me?]

[My best friend is insanely obsessed with her. He doesn't allow any guys near her, and his radar is razor-sharp. If anyone around him even has the slightest thought about her, he instantly catches on.]

[What should I do? I'm so anxious. I feel like my future is going to be incredibly difficult.]

The comments section exploded.

[Breaking news!!! Bro, if you want to be a homewrecker, just say it with your whole chest!]

[OP: I'm not trying to be the other man! I'm not like my best friend. He actually stole her from someone else to get where he is.]

[Honestly, I look down on guys like that. A real man has some dignity.]

[User: Holy shit! I think I forgot how to read. Hold up, let me get this straight. Your best friend stole her from another guy, and now you want to steal her from your best friend]

[User: No wonder you two are best friends. You guys don't do anything productive, you just love being homewreckers.]

[User: "Clickbait title" my ass. That title is exactly what's screaming in OP's head.]

[User: Am I the only one noticing how OP super casually exposed his best friend as a homewrecker? That way he can completely gloss over his own moral bankruptcy. So manipulative]

[User: This is so fucking wild. He stole her, now he's stealing her back OP, I fully support you stealing her!]

[Teach that homewrecker a lesson! Let your best friend taste his own medicine. Fight! Fight! Fight!]

[User: Exactly. If your best friend really stole her first, then you doing it isn't even betrayal. It's basically vigilante justice on a whole other level.]

[Scum stealing from scum. I'm dying.]

[OP: Right? You guys think so too?]

[User: One second ago: A real man has dignity. The next second: I am absolutely becoming the other man today!]

[User: I can't breathe. OP played all of us. I bet he was just sitting there waiting for us to tell him he's not the bad guy, so he could sweep in and steal her with a clear conscience.]

[OP: Sigh, don't say that. I really have no intention of betraying my best friend.]

[User: I just read a book about stealing someone's girl, it's packed with techniques on how to secure the spot]

[OP: I'll pay top dollar! Need it ASAP! Just DM'd you.]

[User: The internet perfectly baited the trap, and OP walked right onto the chopping block.]

[User: LMAO. Friendly advice though, being the other man has strict requirements for your face, your body, and your cooking skills. If you're lacking in any of those, I suggest you don't even try.]

[OP: I'm 6 feet 2 inches tall, packing over 8.5 inches. I've seen my best friend's, and he doesn't measure up to me. Thanks.]

The internet completely lost its mind.

[User: Over what?! 8.5 inches!!! Jesus Christ, someone is going to die!]

[User: Where did you even start measuring from? Did you start measuring from your pelvic floor muscles?]

[User: Dead. And I'm packing 12 inches. Anyone can make shit up on the internet.]

I was eating this drama up. I couldn't resist dropping a comment myself.

Chapter 3

[User: Agreed. Unless OP drops a pic to prove it, I call bullshit.]

[OP replying to me: Please don't harass me. I'm only showing it to my future girlfriend.]

This OP was so deadpan it was actually hilarious.

I locked my phone, getting ready for a quick nap. But the second I closed my eyes, an image of Caleb's friend from today flashed through my mind. I didn't know why, but reading this thread gave me a weird sense of dj vu.

I shook my head.

After Caleb patched things up with his girlfriend, he was in high spirits. He decided to treat his little sisterthe MVPto her favorite late-night drive-in diner. He swiped through his phone looking for my number, tossing out a polite invitation without even looking up. "Zane, I'm grabbing late-night food. You in?"

He definitely wasn't going to go. After all, the guy never touched cheap food. This rich boy thought even Michelin-starred food tasted like trash.

Sure enough. An expected refusal. "No."

Zane was too busy seriously scrolling through the advice the internet was feeding him.

When the call connected, I was sprawled on my bed binge-watching a show. "Not going. I'm on a diet."

"Really? Even for that 0-050-a-plate seafood steakhouse"

I bolted upright in bed. "I'm in! Why didn't you say so earlier?!"

At the exact same time. Zane's head snapped up.

Twenty minutes later.

I sat in my heels, dressed to the nines, perched on a cheap plastic chair outside a greasy, fifteen-dollar-a-head drive-in diner. Sitting directly across from me was Zane, looking equally flawlessly dressed. A Patek Philippe gleamed on his pale, sharp wrist. His hair was even slicked back with product.

He wore a crisp white button-down, looking effortlessly rebellious with the top two buttons undone. His sharp collarbones peeked out, half-hidden. Under the dim yellow streetlights, he looked dangerously seductive.

He didn't look like he was here to eat. He looked like he was here on a date.

Obviously, both of us had been scammed by Caleb.

Caleb stood to the side, doing introductions. "This is Zane. You can just call him Zane."

"I told you and Mom about him before. He's the guy I'm doing the game dev project with."

Caleb was getting close to graduation and had started a game development project with his friends. He even set up his own studio. Because of that, he rented a place off-campus.

He lived right there with Zane. Rumor had it the guy was insanely loaded. His family literally donated an entire building to our university.

"Zane, this is my"

Seeing that Caleb was about to blurt out "Baby girl," an embarrassingly childish nickname, I panicked and instantly cut him off. "Hi Zane, I'm Jade."

My brother and I had different last namesone took our dad's, the other took our mom's. It was a family tradition.

As soon as the words left my mouth, his pale ears burned a violent red. I couldn't tell if I was hallucinating. But his face remained completely stoic. "Yeah hi."

Greetings out of the way, I whipped my head back around. I narrowed my eyes, practically dissecting Caleb's cargo shorts and flip-flops. Then I pointed dead at the faded menu board on the diner. "0-050?"

Caleb looked unbothered. "Yeah, it says one-five-zero, right?"

"Did you eat the decimal point? It's 0-05.00."

"Alright, alright, chill. I know this is your absolute favorite, that's why I brought you here."

If I had known, I wouldn't have dressed up like this. I looked like an idiot. I turned my head. Fine, at least Caleb's best friend was stuck looking just as out of place with me.

"Hurry up, eat. I got your favoritethe Mexican mega-spicy chili cheese dog and deep-fried onion rings."

Seeing my favorite food, my temper finally cooled down a bit. Whatever, I was already here.

"Tsk, I have no idea why you like this garbage. Just the smell of all that grease makes me nauseous."

Nobody in my family liked eating this kind of heavy, explosive junk food. My entire dorm, including my best friends, couldn't stand it either.

Chapter 4

I was the only one who liked eating them. I grabbed my food and took a vicious bite.

"This is exactly why grabbing food with you guys is so boring. You just don't appreciate good food. Ugh, why doesn't a single person I know like eating this stuff"

I didn't even get to finish my sentence.

Zane grabbed the mega-spicy chili dog, thick, greasy sauce dripping from the sides, and took a massive, aggressive bite. He even gave a thumbs-up as he chewed. "Wow, how is this so good? This is literally the best thing I've ever tasted!"

My eyes lit up. Forgetting that we had literally just met, I blurted out, "Really? You like this too, Zane?"

I felt the instant thrill of finding a kindred spirit. I don't know if you get itthat indescribable rush when nobody around you understands your taste, and then you suddenly find your people. I instantly felt the distance between us close.

Caleb was dumbfounded. He stared at the scene in absolute shock. "Zane, wait your highness. Do you not remember last time when you said the white truffles at that three-star Michelin restaurant in Manhattan tasted like moldy mud"

"Cough! Cough"

Zane choked, coughing sharply twice. He shot Caleb a dark, warning glare as he coughed. "Caleb, just because you have trash taste doesn't mean you can accuse other people of hating it."

Caleb: "??"

Caleb was always like this! Every time he saw someone eating junk food, he acted utterly horrified. Like it was physically impossible to understand.

"Exactly! Zane, if you like it, eat as much as you want. Ignore him."

I pulled out a napkin and smoothly handed it over, pointing at the corner of his mouth. As he took the napkin, his fingertips accidentally brushed against the back of my hand. His skin was scorching hot.

Smiling brightly, I kept eating and pushed the rest of the mega-spicy chili dogs and deep-fried onion rings closer to him.

Seeing me take someone else's side, Caleb frowned. "Hold on, Jade. Don't forget who your actual brother is."

As those words dropped, Zanewho had been quietly wolfing down his foodfroze.

I was too busy inhaling my food to care, my words muffled through a mouthful of cheese. "Oh, now that you mention it, I actually think Zane acts way more like my brother."

At least we liked the same food.

At my words, Zane's dark eyelashes jerked hard. He slowly, methodically tilted his head up to lock eyes with me. His normally cold, pitch-black eyes were now glossed over with a wet, intense sheen. The sharp corners of his mouth twitched, fighting a losing battle against a massive grin.

Right then, Caleb slapped his hand on the plastic table, pretending to be furious. "Jade! What the hell does that mean?"

"Just because Zane is better looking than me, you're ready to disown me? You're such a player! If you think Zane is hot today, then tomorrow when you meet an even hotter guy, are you gonna just"

Thud.

The heavy sound of a glass slamming down on the table cut him off.

"Caleb, don't you think you're crossing a line?" Zane's voice was deadly calm.

"She is an independent person with her own mind and free will. You can't just forcefully control someone for your own selfish reasons. I think everyone has the right to choose whoever they want. Don't you agree?"

His tone was dangerously displeased. A heavy reprimand. Yet beneath it, there was this weirdly dark, coaxing undercurrent. Almost as if he was encouraging me to be bold, to just go for it.

Completely ignoring Caleb's stunned face, Zane shot a lightning-fast, subtle glance in my direction. He spoke with fake casualness. "Anyway, if I ever get a girl"

He abruptly bit off his words, shifting gears. "I would fully and unconditionally support her. Whatever she wants to do is entirely her freedom."

"I wouldn't interfere with her social life. I would never restrict her. I would only care about making her happy."

He had to be talking to Caleb. Because of how he tore into my brother the other day. I could tell he also thought Caleb's controlling behavior was a massive red flag.

Even though I had no idea why he was suddenly bringing it up right now.

Chapter 5

Still. I flashed him a sweet smile, my eyes curving. "Zane, you're so understanding and open-minded. I think whoever ends up as your girlfriend is going to be incredibly lucky."

While I was talking, my foot accidentally stepped on his under the table. I was just about to apologize.

Zane shoved back hard from the plastic chair, the legs scraping against the pavement as he stood up. His chest heaved sharply, his breathing ragged and heavy. A dark, unnatural flush completely overtook his usually cold, pale face.

He ripped his gaze away, his fingers curling into tight fists at his sides, visibly fighting to keep himself under control. He forced his voice to stay as level as possible.

"I just remembered I have something to take care of. You guys finish eating. I'm heading back."

Caleb: "?? Wait"

He turned his head to look at me. "Do you feel like he's acting a little weird?"

We finished eating. After splitting up with Caleb downstairs at my dorm, it was already midnight.

I went up, washed my face, and climbed into bed. The second I unlocked my phone, I saw the thread I'd been following had updated ten minutes ago.

I eagerly tapped into it.

This time, the update was just three short, punchy words.

[She likes me.]

[User: ????]

[OP: The three of us grabbed food together today. I just threw together a casual fit, but she kept staring at me!]

[OP: She really loves eating those mega-spicy chili dogs and deep-fried onion rings, but my best friend absolutely hates them. He even had zero emotional intelligence and said the food smelled!]

[She looked visibly shut down. It's so obvious things aren't great between her and my best friend.]

[OP: Seeing her look so crushed literally made my chest ache. To make her happy, I immediately grabbed a chili dog, shoved it in my mouth, and told her she has incredible taste. You guys have no idea her eyes instantly lit up. Like dazzling stars in the night sky, radiating this mesmerizing glow, like shattered glass over ice catching the light]

[OP: Getting off track. When my best friend saw her looking at me like that, he got pissed. He even purposely exposed the fact that I hate eating greasy fast food.]

[So manipulative! But what I didn't expect was that she actually stepped up and told me to just ignore my best friend's bullshit]

[OP: Then my best friend got even madder and subtly reminded her exactly who her boyfriend is!! And guess what she said]

The smile on my lips vanished.

Wait a second, why does this sound exactly like what happened to us today? The exact same mega-spicy chili dogs and deep-fried onion rings Caleb hating them Zane loving them

I ruthlessly squashed that ridiculous thought.

Caleb's best friend was famously cold and ruthlessly sharp-tongued. Sure, he had been pretty nice the two times we hung out, but it wasn't hard to tell that in his bones, he was an aloof, untouchable guy.

There was zero chance he was this hopelessly delusional OP on Reddit, dreaming about stealing someone's girl.

Plus, Caleb and I weren't even dating. It was definitely just a bizarre coincidence.

The commenters were losing their minds.

[User: Holy shit, you can't just stop right at the climax! This is basically like stopping mid-shit!]

[OP: She said she said she actually thinks I'm way more like boyfriend material! And she said my future girlfriend is going to be so incredibly lucky ahhhhhhh!!!]

[OP: Sigh. Family behind the screen, tell me if she actually confesses to me, should I say yes? After all, I'm a man with morals. I really can't bring myself to betray my brother.]

[User: WTF!!! Seriously?! Is it really getting this wild?!]

[But damn, your best friend's girlfriend is that bold? She actually said all that right to your best friend's face??]

[User: So what did you do? Did your best friend not literally try to murder you on the spot?]

Chapter 6

[OP: No, I left immediately.]

[User: Bro, you walked away at the most crucial moment???]

[OP: Sigh, you guys don't get it. She intentionally stepped on my shoe right then I was afraid if I stayed any longer, the situation would completely spiral out of control.]

[User: Spiral out of control? She just stepped on your shoe ok, I get it.]

[User: I get it too.]

[User: Wait, what does that mean? What do you guys get?]

[User: It means he pitched a tent.]

[User: OP, you absolute]

[User: Hold up, am I the only one who thinks this whole situation is weird as hell?]

If the food was just a weird coincidence there was absolutely no way stepping on his shoe was a coincidence too, right?

And those exact words

Realizing something, my fingers flew frantically across the keyboard.

[Me: OP, did the girl explicitly say she wanted you to be her boyfriend?]

[OP: She didn't say it that directly, but that was absolutely what she meant.]

[Me: Could you tell me exactly what she said?]

After hitting send, my heart slammed erratically against my ribs. I just realized my palms were sweating profusely.

It had to be a misunderstanding. It had to be. We had only met twice. How could it possibly

[User: Yeah, OP, the fact that you're dodging the question means you're totally guilty.]

[User: Pack it up, everyone. OP is definitely just making shit up. His best friend's girlfriend is so unlucky to be the target of his sick delusions.]

[OP: I am not making this up! Everything I said is the absolute truth!! Her exact words were that I'm way more suited to be her brother than my best friend is!]

[She even complimented me, saying whoever ends up as my girlfriend is going to be incredibly lucky! See? Doesn't that mean exactly what I said?]

[User: ??? OP, are you fucking serious?]

[User: Don't make me laugh. Which part of that translates to her wanting to be your girlfriend?]

[User: Confirmed. This guy is just suffering from a massive case of delusion.]

[OP: Heh. I finally understand why there's so much jealousy on the internet. You guys just can't stand seeing someone else happy. A bunch of bitter haters!]

The internet was dying of laughter. But I was literally dying inside.

That was exactly, word-for-fucking-word, what I had said!

So this OP was actually Zane?

My brain short-circuited.

I bolted upright in bed. Through the chaotic, swirling mess of my thoughts, I dragged in a deep, shaky breath. With trembling fingers, I typed out one final question.

[OP, is your name Zane?]

But a split second later, I frantically hit unsend.

It was way too reckless. If it wasn't him, fine. But if it was him my identity would be completely exposed too.

I sat frozen on my bed, taking two agonizing seconds to collect myself. I crawled out from under the covers.

Walked out onto the cold balcony. I dialed Caleb's number. I decided to verify this in a completely different way.

"Hey, Caleb"

I paused, dragging out my tone into something dangerously sweet. "Caleb~. I think I'm starting to like someone."

Before he could even process that, I dropped another massive bomb. "He's a tattooed biker."

Over the phone speaker, the rapid clicking of Caleb's gaming keyboard instantly stopped. "What did you just say?"

I heard his heavy gaming chair scrape across the floor. He didn't even care that his character was probably getting headshot.

He grabbed his phone and roared directly into the mic. "Say that again?! Who the hell do you like?!"

But underneath Caleb's screaming, my ears caught another sound.

A sharp, violent clatter. Like a glass slipping from a tense grip and slamming hard against the granite kitchen counter. Then, a jagged, ragged intake of breath.

Zane was there