Oliver’s car let out a soft beep as he pressed the ‘lock’ button on his key fob. He had just gotten off the phone with his dad — again. Things had been so tense ever since he learned about his father’s upcoming wedding.

Still, despite his annoyance, he couldn’t help but smile softly to himself as he looked up at the beautiful house in front of him.

The Rosebrooks’ house had always felt like a second home to him (or third, if you wanted to get technical… But Oliver never really counted his Dad’s house). Part of why he loved his best friend’s house so much was how warm and inviting it always seemed. It was not nearly as large or luxurious as his mother’s mansion, but then, that was probably part of why it seemed so welcoming. It felt comfortable and lived-in. Like a home should.

But, of course, the people living there were what truly made the difference. After knowing them for so many years, the Rosebrooks practically felt like family to him now.

Xander was always smiling, making cheesy jokes, and so eager to talk about all the cool musicians he got to work with. Emberlynn was kind and warm and told the funniest stories about everything from her childhood back in Germany to some of the disasters she’d faced on-set. Lainey was adorable and so creative — always putting on little ‘concerts’ for anyone who would listen. Penny was drop-dead gorgeous, driven and ambitious. And sweet, when she wanted to be.

And Asher…

“Hey, Ollie! I didn’t know you were coming over!” Penelope skipped down the walkway toward him, interrupting his train of thought.

Oliver smiled as she approached, admiring the view. It was a bit warmer than normal for late November, so she must have been heading out for a dip in the pool. How did she manage to get hotter and hotter every time he saw her lately?

“Surprise, I guess.” He teased. “How’s it going?”

“Great!” She beamed at him. “I’ve been going over my lines for the play… Have you started practicing yet?”

He nodded. “A little, yeah.” Their first official rehearsal wasn’t until next week, but Mr. Harris had given everyone their scripts right before Thanksgiving break.

“Um, so… I was wondering… Do you maybe wanna, um…” She paused, letting out a high-pitched giggle. “Wanna run lines together sometime? Like, maybe I could go over to your place sometime after school?”

Ha! Could she be any more obvious? Their characters didn’t even have a single scene together. Oliver decided to play along. “Sure! I could definitely use the extra practice. Especially that big scene in Act 2… You know. The one with me and Amber?” He eyed her significantly as he spoke.

Her eyes went wide. “The kiss?!” She squeaked.

Oliver nodded. “Why don’t I bring you to my place tomorrow after school so we can practice?” He offered. “Long as your parents are okay with it. I’m sure Mom won’t mind.”

“Your mom’s gonna be there?!” Penelope cried excitedly. She’d never really met his mother before — These days, Ollie had his own car to drive himself. And when he was younger, any time Callie dropped him off with the Rosebrooks, Penelope would hide in another room, peeking out nervously from around a corner to catch a glimpse of the beautiful movie star.

Oliver smiled. “Yup! I’m sure she’d love to finally meet you! Lemme know what your parents say about tomorrow, okay?”

Penelope nodded eagerly. “Yeah, okay!”

He gave her a little wink before finally striding past her and heading into the house. As usual, he simply let himself in.

What the hell am I doing? Oliver asked himself as he made his way up the stairs toward Asher’s bedroom. Jesus, I’m just as bad as Dad, aren’t I? Penny really wasn’t so different from all those young models his father always went for, was she?

Hot? Check. Younger than him? Check. Totally interested in him for the most shallow, superficial reasons? Double-check.

Still, it was impossible to resist her charms.

Their constant flirting over the past couple of months had been pretty harmless so far, but he knew that inviting Penelope to his place would be the point of no return. As soon as they were alone together in his bedroom… It was no secret what would happen.

But maybe this whole thing wasn’t as big of a mistake as he thought. He definitely liked Penny — a lot. She was beautiful and fun to be around. They both shared a love of doing drama at school. He liked spending time with her.

Yeah, but Asher’s probably gonna kill me if he finds out I’m messing around with his little sister… Assuming he can tear his eyes away from Landon long enough to even notice.

Grumbling bitterly to himself as this thought crossed his mind, Oliver passed Lainey’s bedroom (from which the sounds of her violin reached his ears) and made his way into Asher’s.

He felt himself relax instantly at the sight of his best friend. Asher was completely immersed in a video game, his lip curling into an adorable, confident smile as he leaned close to the computer screen. The sight made Oliver feel warm all over.

He smiled, letting his friend play for another minute or two before finally making himself known.

Asher jumped slightly at the feeling of Oliver’s hand on his shoulder. “Oh shit, sorry!” He smiled up at his friend. “Lost track of the time…”

“Don’t worry about it.” Oliver assured him as he crossed the room to take his usual seat on the edge of Asher’s bed.

“Sorry, Ollie just got here, so I gotta go… But I’ll see you tomorrow!” Asher said brightly into his headset.

Oliver felt his stomach drop at these words. He was playing online? With who? But he had a terrible feeling he already knew the answer…

He tried his best to hide his discomfort as Asher joined him. “Was that Bloodwatch?” Oliver asked curiously. “I didn’t know you played on PC too…”

“Yeah, just downloaded it! I kinda suck right now ‘cause the controls are so different. It’s like learning how to play the whole thing all over again! But Landon’s been helping me figure it out.”

Knew it. Oliver managed to suppress a sigh. “Oh, is that who you were playing with?”

Asher nodded eagerly. “Yeah! Didn’t I tell you?! The other night at the coffee shop… You remember right?” His eyes lit up even more as he spoke.

Yup. You’ve gushed to me about it at least ten friggin’ times. Oliver nodded, forcing a smile. “How could I forget?”

“Well, get this — Landon told me he’s NEVER played online before! Just the generic in-game solo shit. Can you believe it?” Asher cried. “So I told him I’d get the PC version and show him how co-op works.”

“Cool!” Oliver hoped he sounded sincere, but the look on his friend’s face seemed to indicate otherwise.

“Look, Ollie, I know what you’re thinking…”

No, you don’t. And Oliver was grateful for it. “I really do think it’s great!” He lied. “It’s just…”

Asher sighed softly. “I know, I know… I won’t get my hopes up. Don’t worry.” He rolled his eyes for a moment.

Oliver felt the twisting of guilt creeping its way into his stomach. Was it wrong to keep Asher’s hopes down like this? It was probably true though — The chances of Landon liking Asher back had to be… like, super small, right? Except Asher was pretty much the perfect guy, in Oliver’s eyes — Handsome, sweet, funny, smart… Landon would have to be crazy not to see that, wouldn’t he?

There was a soft voice lurking in the back of Oliver’s mind that knew the truth — the real reason he kept discouraging Asher’s pursuit of Landon.

Oliver really, really wished that voice would learn how to shut the fuck up.

“Asher, look…” He began, steeling himself. Much as it hurt, it was time to let it go, wasn’t it? He was being ridiculous. “If you really like Landon… Maybe… Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to…”

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a soft knocking at the door. Oliver couldn’t help but feel almost relieved.

Elaina entered, smiling at them. “Hey! Sorry… I don’t wanna bug you guys, but I’ve got two SUPER important messages!”

Asher smiled sweetly at his littlest sister. The sight made Oliver’s heart flutter in his chest. “Sure, lay ‘em on me!”

The little girl’s dark eyes turned toward Oliver. “First, Mom says you should go to ninja academy or something because she had NO IDEA you snuck in!”

He laughed heartily. “Guess I’ll have to add a ninja school or two to my list of college applications next year.”

Elaina giggled. “Okay, and second… You guys are core-jelly invited to a super epic musical performance!”

Asher raised an eyebrow. “We’re what kind of invited?”

“Core-jelly!”

Both Oliver and Asher laughed. “Too bad… If we were cordially invited, maybe we’d consider, but…” Asher teased.

“But that’s what I said!”

“I’m just messing with you, Lainey.” He assured her. “I’m sure me and Ollie can make time for an exclusive performance by the one and only Elaina Rosebrook.”

Oliver smiled, nodding in agreement. In truth, talented though she was, the last thing he really wanted right now was to sit through one of her pretend ‘concerts’, but he knew that Asher could never say no to his baby sister. And, well, Oliver could never say no to Asher either.

Still smiling, he followed Asher and Elaina to the youngest Rosebrook’s bedroom, which had been set up with several folding chairs for the ‘concert’. Emberlynn and Xander were already there — apparently Elaina’s playing from earlier had been a private performance. Oliver smiled at them in greeting.

Then, just a few moments after they’d taken their seats, Penelope arrived, still slightly damp from the pool.

She looked irritated at her little sister’s interruption, but her expression softened instantly at the sight of Oliver. “Oh, hey Ollie! Long time no see!” Penelope let out a cute little giggle as she spoke.

“Right? Fancy meeting you here…” Oliver teased, returning her smile.

Beside him, he heard Asher let out a soft groan of annoyance and mutter something under his breath that Ollie could not hear. Yup, I’m totally dead after tomorrow.

With a little wave, Penelope took a seat on OIiver’s other side as Elaina picked up her violin and began playing once more.

As the soothing violin music reached his ears, Oliver’s mind instantly began to wander. Maybe it was how relaxing Lainey’s playing was, or maybe it was the fact that he happened to be sitting in between the two people who’d been on his mind more lately than anyone or anything else.

As he sat there, some of the thoughts he’d been fighting just a few minutes before wormed their way back into his mind. He watched Asher out of the corner of his eye as he thought back on their earlier conversation.

Next time, I’ll tell him to go for it with Landon. No interruptions. Oliver promised himself. I’ve gotta stop being such a selfish jerk about this whole thing.

But why did that feel so much easier said than done?

It was a daily battle Oliver fought with himself. He wanted nothing more than to just be happy for Asher, but every time his friend brought up Landon, he just felt so… Jealous. Oliver’s stomach lurched unpleasantly as the word crossed his mind.

But that didn’t have to mean what he thought it did… Did it? Oliver was finally getting used to the whole ‘guys are hot too’ thing, but it was still something he was working on figuring out too, and the last thing he needed was this weird jealousy on top of it all.

Oliver wished he could open up to someone about how he was feeling… but who? He couldn’t tell Lily — anything he told her was sure to come back to Asher.

And if Asher found out… Well, Oliver knew he’d be the perfect person to open up to about the ‘liking guys’ part. Except telling him about that would probably lead to talking about the other stuff he was feeling too. And that was just too terrifying.

God, what would Asher think? What would he say? It would make things way too weird between them, wouldn’t it?

And all he cares about is Landon anyway. He wouldn’t give a shit about how I feel… If I tried talking to him, I’d just ruin everything.

Oliver tore his eyes away from his friend’s handsome face then, allowing them to fall instead on Penelope’s gorgeous one.

Despite everything, he still felt a small rush of excitement as he thought of their impending ‘rehearsal’ the following afternoon. At least his feelings for Penny made sense. They were comfortable, familiar… safe. And, if he were being honest, not nearly as strong as the more confusing ones he had for Asher…

But he just couldn’t like Asher. Not like that. Because if he did, it would ruin everything. He’d already seen firsthand what happened with Asher and Lily. And something told him this would be ten times worse than that had been.

It’s all gotta be in my head… Asher’s JUST my friend. Oliver told himself firmly, almost believing it. I’m just jealous because he has a chance with Landon while I’m still single… Or… Or maybe it’s because he’s so close to actually getting with a guy? After all, dating a guy was still uncharted territory for Oliver. Maybe that’s what he was so jealous about. That’s gotta be it.

Oliver leaned forward in his chair, allowing himself to get lost in Lainey’s playing once more. He was just overthinking things right now. He would feel better after Penny came over tomorrow. He knew he would. He had to.

Still, it was hard to completely shake the looming presence of both green-eyed monsters that had been ruining his life lately. Oliver wanted nothing more than to make each of them disappear —

The bitter and untamed beast of his jealousy…

And the tall, green-eyed quarterback who’d stolen his best friend’s heart.