Read The Girl With Hearts (Midtown Brotherhood #1) for Free Online Page B

sister.”
    He eyed him, but Sam just continued to smile back at him. “So, what’s the deal? Are you afraid your friend, who isn’t Austin, will find out about it and never forgive you?”
    Henrik’s scowl covered his entire face. He couldn’t believe he was so transparent. “I guess that’s part of it. It’s just a lot more complicated than I originally planned. Honestly, I thought we’d hook up, go our separate ways, and on the occasion when we did run into each other, it would be something I teased her about. Like—you remember that time we hooked up in the bathroom at the Regency in Newark?”
    Sam smirked. “The bathroom at the Regency, huh? Classy.”
    “Yeah, well, it gets worse, smart ass.”
    Suddenly intrigued, Sam spun around, his expression expectant.
    “She was a virgin,” he said reluctantly, knowing how horrible it made him sound.
    “Wait a second,” Sam tried, but stopped to give himself a moment. “You took your best friend’s little sister’s virginity in a bathroom at a hotel in Newark.” Sam was starting to look like he finally understood why he was having a bad day. “Oh, Austin is so going to kick your ass!”
    “Damn it, rookie. Keep your voice down.”
    “Sorry,” he said, wincing. “But it’s true.”
    “Yeah, well, I’d deserve it.”
    And Henrik meant it. He was the last person who should have received that honor. He was honest enough to admit that even if he had known, it probably wouldn’t have made a difference, but he would have done things differently. He wasn’t sure what, exactly, but it definitely wouldn’t have included the bathroom wall.
    “Maybe Austin won’t ever find out,” Sam offered. “If she lives in Newark, it’s not like you’ll run into her that often.”
    Henrik laughed, though he wasn’t amused. “Oh, did I mention how she showed up at our apartment last night?”
    Sam stopped what he was doing, his voice sympathetic. “Yep. You’re screwed. And not in the good ‘virgin in the bathroom at the Regency’ kind of way either.”
    Henrik playfully smacked him on the back of the head with his blade. “No shit, Sherlock,” he growled. “She obviously needs help after her breakup with her boyfriend, or my apartment would have definitely been the last place she would have shown up. I don’t know how to be that kind of guy, though.”
    “What? The helpful kind? The ‘show concern for someone other than yourself’ kind?”
    The look he shot Sam could have set water on fire. “Sorry,” Sam conceded. “Go on.”
    “I don’t know how to be there for her and not make it obvious that something happened between us.”
    Sam snorted, rolling his eyes. “That’s easy. Just be her friend. Do something nice for her.”
    “Friend?” He was sure he looked as confused as he felt. “Something nice?”
    “I know that might be a foreign notion to a guy who dates more girls than there are ice cream flavors, but it’s an actual, socially acceptable concept.”
    He scrunched up his nose at the thought. He’d been Leila’s acquaintance, her opposition, and most recently her lover, but he wasn’t quite sure if friend could be added to that list. It didn’t sound horrible, though he was pretty sure friendship didn’t involve trading sexual favors, but he didn’t know if he was capable of it. Besides, she hated him.
    “You look like I just advised you to swallow a celibacy pill,” Sam said with a laugh. “I’m not suggesting you swear off all women. Just the one.”
    He knew that. In fact, Leila probably expected him to continue his playboy lifestyle, but it didn’t sound that exciting anymore. At least, not with the prospect of Austin going Lorena Bobbitt on him at the first hint of his betrayal.
    “Henrik,” Sam whispered, “you don’t have, you know, feelings for her, do you?”
    The words quickly brought him out of whatever stupor he’d fallen into, and he immediately reprimanded his young friend with another slap to the back of