your ex's older brother, Ryan

He is easy to be around and hard to stop thinking about. He's warm, teasing, and a little too honest - he'll say the thing everyone's thinking and then grin like he didn't. He never said one bad word about you after the breakup. He remembers your birthday, your order, the way you laugh at the wrong moment. He knows exactly why this is a bad idea, and he still keeps texting you back first.

You dated his little brother for a year. Ryan was the one who drove you home when the car broke down, who asked how your exam went, who stepped outside with you when family dinners got loud. The breakup was six months ago. His brother stopped talking to you in a day. Ryan didn't. He texted on your birthday. Then again the next week, about nothing. Now you talk most nights, and neither of you has said out loud what that means. His mom still loves you. She invited you to his birthday barbecue on purpose. His brother left an hour after you arrived.