Lizzie

It feels as if someone is peering over my shoulder; I can feel warm breath on the back of my neck. It makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I turn swiftly, ready to push back. Then I get a shock. He's standing right behind me. SHIT. He's been hovering and watching me, gazing longingly at his photo? Fuck's sake. I hope not.

"What are you doing here? I ask, then notice Denver is standing right behind him.

"What are you doing?" Brandon asks me with a smirk on his face. Yep, busted, I bet.

"What's that supposed to mean? Obviously, I'm standing in line for a McDonald's." I don't tell him that Lilly has gone off to buy sexy lingerie for a hot date with Denver this evening. He grins; his dimples show- the ones I love and want to touch.

Brandon is looking fucking hot today; I have to tear my eyes away from him because just looking at him is heating me up inside. His hair is flopping all over his face. I resist the urge to move it away with my fingers and to feel his locks. I can tell by the way he's looking at me that he caught me staring at his photo on my mobile. His arms are looking amazing, and it takes all my might not to trace his tattoos. One is of a rose, and at the bottom of the stem is a heart with our initials on it. I'm not sure how a future girlfriend will take that. Guessing not too well; she'll probably ask him to remove it. I'd like to see how that goes down, since we've been besties since age 5.

"Were you staring at my photo?" His voice holds humor. I'm blushing like a thirteen-year-old. I swipe his bare arm, noticing he's wearing a tee that he's cut the arms off. Well, it looks good even if he has mutilated a perfectly good tee. Why he can't just buy one is beyond me. That's Brandon for you. He'll take expensive jeans and cut into them too; I mean, it's not like you can't buy them. It drives me insane; he knows it. I bet that's why he does it, to rile me some.

"Don't be so stupid. I was about to browse through my photos whilst I wait." I move along in the line; he shuffles behind me, and Denver behind him.

"Morning, Lizzie," Denver says. "Where's Lilly at?"

"Ah, she had something to get. We're going to meet by the fountain as soon as I can actually get our order in." He nods and folds his arms. Brandon leans forward and whispers in my ear. Shivers run up and down my spine; my stomach knots, tingles, and feels like a zillion butterflies have just woken up. I feel myself moisten. Holy crap.

If this is what he can do to me just whispering, what would happen if we were an item and he was sliding his tongue into my mouth? Okay, I need to stop thinking that right now. I'm getting turned on standing in a line outside a McDonald's.

"You were. I caught you. I hope you're not being weird, Lizzie Baby." Jeeeesus, now I'm really getting turned on. This is so bad. He's my best friend; I can't afford to ruin it with this ridiculous crush I've got on him.

Instead, I push him back a little. He's so solid though he doesn't even budge. "I told you, I'm scrolling. Besides, it's a nice photo. Why wouldn't I look? That's what photos are about. You remember the time they were taken." He grins knowingly. Bastard. I want to slap him right now; he's irritating me, and I'm flustered like hell.

"Whatever you say, Lizzie Baby." I turn around and face the back of the man I'm standing behind and fold my arms in front of my chest. Brandon laughs. I move my right foot back and stand on his foot. He laughs louder; I can imagine his head snapping back and his electric-blue eyes shining. Forcing myself to stay facing forward, I will the line to move faster so I can at least get our food and meet Lilly. I'm sure she's done shopping by now; how hard can it be to choose sexy lingerie for a wild night of passion with your boyfriend?

"Just don't get all fucking weird on me," Brandon says, his voice now a little more serious.

"Like I would." I retort without glancing back at him. Finally, the line is dwindling, and I'm about to be served.

"What can I get you?" asks the boy with red hair behind the desk.

"Two Big Macs." Yes, I am really hungry, and I don't need to watch my weight. "And two strawberry milkshakes please."

"Do you want fries with that or a meal deal?" I press my lips together whilst I think.

"She'll have the two meal deals." I hear Brandon pipe up from behind me. Honestly, really?

"Fine," I say, not impressed that he's now making decisions about my order.

"Denver and I will have the fries." He says, then tells the guy behind the serving counter that he wants two cokes as well.

I pay with my debit card, wait for my order, then move away as soon as the paper bag with it in is handed to me. "Can you move out of my way, or are you just going to block me?" Brandon moves obligingly; Denver trails off in front of his face, buried into his phone.

"She's only in the mall; you'll see her in like ten minutes," I tell him.

"Funny," Denver says. "Actually, I'm checking the stats out on the football. Our town is playing today." He cocks his head to the side. "Say, shall we all go over and watch?"

"Great idea," Brandon answers.

"Nope," I say. "I'm having a girls' day out with Lilly. Tammy is joining us soon."

"No way. Is she up to coming out?" Denver has compassion in his voice. He's such a gentle giant.

"Apparently." Brandon raises his eyebrows. "It may do her good to carry on as normal," I add. He shrugs his shoulders.

"Hey guys, over here." We turn at the sound of Lilly's voice. She's waving frantically, spots Denver, and realizes the lingerie bag has the store's name emblazoned all over it. Hurriedly, she stuffs it in her oversized Gucci bag and heads our way.

"What are you guys doing here?" Lilly stands on her tiptoes to give Denver a kiss. He slides one arm around her waist and pulls her to him. I'm jealous. Not of her kissing Denver, but the fact that some guy is handling her like this; it must feel amazing. I want that to be Brandon who does this to me.

We make our way to the fountain area and sit. I hand Lilly her milkshake and start tucking into my burger. Damn, it feels good, so much better than all that vegan stuff my mom insists we eat. Sometimes, she'll allow Nina to make dad and I a roast on a Sunday and she'll have some nasty lentil bake. Yuck, I hate that stuff.

Brandon sits beside me and stretches his long, muscled legs out in front of him. He's wearing board shorts. I can see his lean muscles and the faint stubble on his legs. It's as if I'm being hypnotized, I'm so drawn to them. He doesn't notice; he's now busy checking out a girl standing by the fountain about to step into it. She's pretty, I suppose. Tall, slim, long wavy blonde hair. Her skirt barely covers her ass and her tight tiny top accentuates her large breasts. It turns my insides into knots, and I have a nasty case of jealousy starting to burn its way through my body. I hate it when I feel like this. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it.

It's wrong; I shouldn't feel the way I do, but I can't help it. I so want Brandon, and I want him to want me too. Only, seeing how he's checking that girl out, I know it'll never happen. Not in a million years. He thinks I can't see he's checking her out because he's wearing his aviators, but only Brandon is a red-blooded guy and he's also a serial dater. I've lost count of the number of girls he's been with. He doesn't brag about it, and to be honest, Brandon doesn't talk to me about who he sees or when he sees them. I know though.

The nights he isn't with me, he's with a girl. That crushes me. "So, what did you guys do last night?" Lilly asks, then sips on her strawberry milkshake.

The guys look at each other but don't say anything. "Denver." Lilly's voice is serious and demands a response. He looks sheepish and tries to avoid eye contact with her. "That's it," she says. "I know you did something bad, or else you would have bothered to message me back. Don't you think I'm not mad as hell at your ass, Denver Parsons." She has spoken. It's cute, and she is totally adorable when she's mad. Her cheeks have red splotches. Cute.

"Nothing much. Just hanging, you know, guy shit." Brandon drawls. His drawl is so damn sexy, it does something to my insides. He still hasn't stopped looking at that girl. I want to go over, grab her by her long hair and shove her face into the fountain to make her look like a drowned rat instead of Barbie on steroids.

"Yeah, nothing much," Denver adds. Lilly raises her eyebrows.

"That's your excuse for not returning any of my messages, is it? Lizzie and I were really worried. You should have at least messaged me back, Denver." She sips on her milkshake and turns her head to the left to avoid looking at him. Our girl is mad at her guy. He knows it. He at least has the decency to look sorry.

Denver gets up from Brandon's side and goes to sit by Lilly. He puts one of his strong arms around her shoulders. "Hey, guys just need a little time sometimes, darlin'." And just like that, she rests her head on his broad shoulders. All is forgiven. I'd be giving Brandon a hell of a load more shit, to be frank.

Only he's pissing me off right now for catching me staring at his photo and because I'm spewing green with envy over Barbie over there. I can't be bothered to go into one with him about last night. The way he cuddled into me and held me so tightly was enough to tell me something bad happened. I'm just relieved that they're both alright.

"Guys." We hear Tammy's voice filtering through the children playing and screeching around the fountain. We all look to our left, and there she is. The Tammy as we know her. Not the broken girl from last night, who looked like her world had been taken away from her. In her pale pink denim cut-off shorts, pink t-shirt with I've Got This emblazoned all over it and her hair swinging in a high ponytail, she looks like she's got her shit together.

Only we all know that underneath Tammy is as fragile as a cracking glass.