More than Siblings

"When did you start liking me, hmm..." I hadn't even finished my sentence when the atmosphere in the room suddenly turned intimate. He buried his head in my neck, his breath tickling me, making the tiny hairs stand on end. Still oblivious, I asked, "You haven't told me, when did you start liking me..." He moved closer, lightly nibbled my earlobe, and whispered, "Now's not the time for talking." Blushing with shyness, I mischievously bit his neck in retaliation. He hissed, leaned close to my ear, and said through gritted teeth, "Ava, are you a puppy?" The warm breath on my neck made me shiver slightly. My name is Ava, and I'm a nurse. The man lying beside me is Alexander, a doctor. I'm two years older than him, but he's not my real brother. No, no, no! Don't get it wrong! He's not my biological brother! He's my best friend's brother! As for why we ended up like this... it was all his doing! Like fishing, I took the bait! Half willingly, half reluctantly, we ended up discussing the "birds and the bees" in bed! At this moment, he's still licking me, and I think he's the one who resembles a dog! And me, like a bone? Just thinking about it, I couldn't help but think of bones like the tibia, ulna, fibula, radius... Alexander gave me another gentle bite, reminding me, "Can you be serious?" I nodded, just about to "seriously" indulge with him, when suddenly I heard the sound of the code lock being pressed, followed by the door opening and closing, and the rustling of slippers. He continued on top of me, but I felt uneasy and tentatively asked, "It seems like someone came to my house?" Before Alexander could respond, a shout of "Ava!" came from the living room. Our movements froze instantly. That voice was my best friend! His sister! I quickly pushed Alexander off me, like a shot, and jumped off the bed, hitting my leg on the edge. He came over, concerned, to rub it, but I couldn't worry about the pain. I pointed to the bedroom door and said anxiously, "The door! Quick! Lock it!" He understood, quickly went over, and locked the bedroom door. Just as it was locked, my best friend twisted the doorknob. Through the door, we heard her shout, "Why did you lock the door?" With a slightly panicked expression, I stammered, "I... I'm changing clothes. You go sit in the living room and wait for a bit." She kept knocking, "Just change, it's not like I haven't seen you before! Open the door, I have something to tell you." I swallowed, gesturing for Alexander to hide in the closet, while responding to her, "Oh, that was before, I've changed now! I'm shy! Go to the couch! Wait for a bit, I'll be quick." She muttered something about "nutter" and then walked away. I heard her slippers clattering on the floor and the sound of her opening my fridge. I breathed a temporary sigh of relief. Alexander, hiding in the closet, couldn't stay put and poked his head out to give me a kiss. I told him, "Stay put! Don't make a sound! I'll go handle your sister." He wrapped his arms around my waist and said, "Why don't we just tell her?" I immediately dismissed that idea! I'm not ready yet! I'm too self-conscious! Just the thought of being in a relationship with my best friend's brother makes me cringe. I gave him a peck on the lips to reassure him, "Let's hold off for now... I'm worried she won't take it well..." He responded with an "Mmm," and said nothing more. I tidied up my appearance; if you're going to lie, you have to maintain it. So, I took off the dress that Alexander had torn to shreds earlier, changed into pajamas, and opened the bedroom door to go out. I deliberately drew the bedroom curtains and turned off the lights, leaving the room in darkness so the evidence of our earlier activities wouldn't be visible. My best friend, Mia, was sitting on the sofa, cracking open a can of beer, and started chatting with me, from complaining about work to discussing love life, and even shared a lot of celebrity gossip. By the way, she studied acting and is currently an up-and-coming "star"! But I believe she'll make it big someday, and I've already decided that when she does, I'll become her manager... like the relationship between Bai Lu and her manager! She was a bit tipsy and said to me, "Men are so unreliable, like my brother." Hearing this, I took a sharp breath and cautiously asked, "What about your brother...?" She clicked her tongue a few times and said, "The chicken bones on your table made me think of my brother!" I mentally drew a big question mark and thought, "Sis, are you drunk? Besides, you're not a medical student! And... chicken bones and human bones? That's quite a stretch..." She waved her hand and said, "What are you on about! I'm not talking about dissection. I'm talking about my brother. I texted him this afternoon to bring me some fried chicken after work! He said okay on WeChat, but he's unreliable and hasn't come back yet! I'm starving! He won't even answer my calls!" After listening to her rant, I stared at the chicken bones on the table in a daze, thinking: Could these be the ones Alexander bought for his sister? And the call that interrupted our 'moment' earlier, could it have been from her? I let out an awkward laugh and agreed, "Really unreliable!" then couldn't help but glance towards the bedroom. The bedroom door had somehow been opened a c***k, and I saw Alexander's white eyes darting around. I shot him a look, signaling him to close the door quickly! But he just waved his phone. At that moment, my best friend's phone rang with a WeChat message. She glanced at it and happily said to me, "I'm heading out; Alexander just messaged me saying he's bought the fried chicken. Do you want to come over to my place to eat?" I smiled and declined, using "dieting" as an excuse, and while telling her, "Stay a bit longer," I opened the door, eager to see her off. She called me "insincere" and "a fake friend" before stepping into the elevator. Watching the elevator doors close, I let out a long sigh, finally relaxing the tension in my heart. Safe at last! Just as I happily closed the door, Alexander emerged from the bedroom and hugged me tightly. Like a hungry wolf, he pinned me to the sofa and started kissing me all over, teasingly saying, "Don't you think this is exciting? Like the thrill of being caught in a secret romance?" I called him a "p*****t!" He replied, "Then let me show you just how much of a p*****t I can be!" Then he knelt down and started to undo his belt. I watched his Adam's apple move up and down... Girl, it's getting hot in here! We were both eagerly undressing, but just then, the sound of the digital lock echoed! I jolted and quickly pushed him away. Before he could run back to the bedroom, the door swung open. Mia's voice rang out, "Ava, I forgot to give you the lipstick. I bought two, and I brought..." Her words halted as she saw us both disheveled. The air froze for a moment! The three of us stared at each other, wide-eyed. After a long pause, Alexander finally broke the awkward silence, saying to his sister, "Hi." Three minutes later. Alexander, Mia, and I sat awkwardly on the sofa together. After a long silence, Mia finally asked, "When did you two start this?" I hung my head, wishing I could just find a hole to crawl into! Alexander remained silent, not saying a word. Seeing our silence, she excitedly guessed, "Was it during our last trip? I had a feeling something was up with you two back then!" She was referring to our trip to Jiangnan during the May Day holiday half a year ago. Mia, Alexander, our childhood friend Bin, and I had planned a trip and stopped at a restaurant to eat... We chose a local restaurant known for its unique style. The waitress, a young girl, seemed to be a "face enthusiast"! When she brought the menu, she didn't even glance at us, directly handing it to Alexander with a blush. I complained to Mia, "I can feel the world's cruelty towards us plain folks! But I have to say, your brother's really had a glow-up over the years!" She glanced at me and said, "Don't drag me into your ugliness." Then she joked, "Why don't you just become my sister-in-law..." "Stop!" I quickly interrupted her, "I wouldn't dare date a college kid. I'm afraid if we break up, he'll call me a lowly community college grad!" Just as I finished saying this, Alexander, who was ordering, looked up from the menu and gave me a glare. This was a joke he made years ago, and it became a running gag between us. That summer, I was 20 and he was 18. I was interning at a hospital, and he had just finished his college entrance exams. I went to his house for a meal and happened to see him filling out his college application on the computer. I couldn't resist messing with his hair, only to have him impatiently swat my hand away. Mia said from the side, "Don't disturb our family's genius while he's applying! The entire Brown family is counting on him to bring honor." I teased, "Oh, really? So, kiddo, what did you score? Which college are you aiming for?" He gave me the same glare and said something that made me want to scream. He said, "It's definitely better than your lowly college." I couldn't hold back and blurted out, "Damn!" ... Returning to my thoughts, I continued to banter with Mia at the table. After the playful exchange, I felt exhausted. The restaurant, being a popular spot during the tourist season, was crowded, and the food took forever to arrive. I hadn't eaten since morning and was starving. So I told Mia, "I'll go buy some snacks to tide me over." Alexander said, "I'll go with you." I replied, "It's fine, I can go by myself. Just tell me what you want, and I'll get it for you." His expression turned sour, and he stopped talking to me, getting up to head to the supermarket on his own. I trailed closely behind him into the supermarket. I scanned the shelves row by row with my eyes and finally found what I wanted to eat, but my height was too short to even reach the edge of the bag. Just as I was about to give up and grab something else, I suddenly felt enveloped in a warm embrace from behind, followed by a warm breath tickling my ear. My body froze; I wanted to turn around but was held too tightly to move, and then I saw Alexander's arm, wearing a Casio camouflage mechanical watch, reach up to the shelf above my head, taking down snacks, one by one, and handing them to me, still encircled in his arms... I quickly pulled myself out of his embrace. For some reason, I suddenly felt a bit flustered, and my ears inexplicably turned red. Awkwardly clutching the snacks, I mumbled a "thank you" to him. I wasn't sure if he heard it, but I saw a faint smile tugged at his lips, making him look especially charming, just like Yu Huai in "With You," that backlit shot... it made me lose my focus. At the checkout, he quickly stepped ahead to scan and pay. I tried to transfer the money to him, but he refused to take it. Back at the restaurant, we were still arguing about him paying earlier. I playfully hit him with the snacks, adopting a mock authoritative tone, "Kid! Take the money already. You don't even have a salary, consider it my treat." He grabbed my hand that was hitting him, with a hint of annoyance, "Don't call me a kid, and besides, you're only two years older than me." "Even if it's just one year, I'm still your elder!" I stood on tiptoe to pat his head, then dashed off, completely oblivious to the waiter carrying a teapot behind me. "Hiss—" "Ping pong!" "Pa!!"