Having secretly begun a relationship with my best friend's brother.

Ashley and I had been secretly dating for a year. He was my best friend, Sarah's, younger brother. He was shy about going public, so we agreed to tell Sarah after a year.

On our anniversary, I got a text from Ashley: "Dinner at my place tonight. I'm going public."

Excited, I arrived at the Miller house that evening, only to find a delicate-looking girl sitting beside him. She was the girlfriend Ashley intended to introduce.

I composed myself, forcing a smile. "Ashley, hi! …and you must be…?"

His face paled. He panicked.

1

It was our anniversary. My boyfriend, Ashley Miller, texted, "Dinner at my place tonight. I'm going public."

Relief washed over me. Finally, I wouldn't have to hide our relationship from my best friend anymore.

Ashley was Sarah's younger brother, and we’d been secretly dating for a year. In the beginning, he'd been worried I'd dump him, so we agreed to tell his sister once things were serious, after a year. Now he was keeping his promise.

I called him, but it went straight to voicemail. On the third try, he finally answered.

"Hey, Ash, what's up?" His tone was flat.

"Just wondering, what should I wear tonight?" I figured his parents might be there, so I wanted to be prepared.

"Anything's fine. Whatever. I'm kinda busy. Gotta go. Talk later." He sounded distracted.

He hung up before I could respond. I stared at my phone, confused. He’d invited me, hadn't he? Why was he acting so indifferent? Maybe he really was busy with work.

Before I could process it, Sarah’s texts bombarded my phone:

[OMG! HUGE NEWS! My little bro is bringing his mystery GF home for dinner tonight!]

[Come over! Moral support! Help me vet her!]

I could practically see Sarah’s gossipy, excited grin. I hesitated, then replied:

[Actually, I was hoping to introduce my BF to you tonight too.]

Sarah responded with a string of exclamation points.

[!!! Is it National Boyfriend Day or something?! Bring him along! My parents are out of town anyway.]

[It's a date!]

I agreed instantly.

With her parents away, I didn't dress up too much. I grabbed a fruit basket and headed over.

Standing at their front door, a wave of unease washed over me. I shook it off, figuring I was just nervous about Sarah's reaction to our secret.

Sarah flung the door open, grinning mischievously. Assuming Ashley had already told her, I blushed and handed her the fruit. She took it into the kitchen.

As I turned to put my purse down, I froze. There was a purse identical to mine on the entryway table. It definitely wasn’t Sarah’s; she was more into edgy styles, not this classic, elegant bag. And on the shoe rack, next to Ashley’s sneakers, sat a pair of white heels that matched the purse perfectly.

It hit me like a ton of bricks.

"Crash!"

Ashley stood frozen, a shattered fruit bowl at his feet. "What are you doing here?" His voice was a mix of shock, panic, and a flicker of guilt.

"Funny story," I said, my throat tight. "You invited me."

His expression shifted. He yelled t...