Letting My Brother's Best Friend Take My V-Card

BACK TO THE PAST JOSHUA

I gripped the steering wheel so hard my knuckles ached, but I didn't loosen my hold. The tension had taken over my entire body, and no amount of tightening or clenching seemed to release it. My jaw throbbed from how tightly I'd been grinding my teeth. My head spun, replaying the moment over and over again. The sound of her pained gasp, the way her body stumbled back, the blood on her face - all of it burned into my memory.

I hit Laura.

Sure, I didn't mean to. It wasn't intentional. I was in the middle of a fight, and she got caught in the chaos, but none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was the fact that I hurt her. She'd tried to stop the fight, tried to pull me out of my rage, and I repaid her by hurting her. My foot pressed harder on the gas pedal, the engine growling beneath me as if it shared my anger. Anger wasn't the right word, though. I wasn't just angry. I was fucking furious. At myself. At the whole situation. At Tim. But mostly, at myself.

"Fucking idiot," I muttered, slamming the heel of my hand against the steering wheel. The sound of the impact didn't satisfy me. It wasn't enough. Nothing was enough to match the storm brewing inside me. I hit the steering wheel again, harder this time, and then again. Each slam echoed in the confined space of the truck, but it did little to ease the pressure building

0.00%

12.28

BACK TO THE PAST

288 Vouchers

in my chest.

tried to check her injury. The

first time. She didn't need to say more. Her words hung in the air between us like a loaded gun, ready to fire off the painful truth. Something happened to her. Something bad. And it's made her scared to the point where

the wheel again for good measure. "Fucking hell, Josh." My voice was raw, frustration spilling out with every word. "You' re no better. You just

make her feel unsafe.

hardly focus. I could hardly think straight. All I could think about was Laura. Her face. Her tears. The ice pack pressed against her nose. The way she'd looked at

hated myself right now. I hated that I let things get so out of

288 Vouchers

me to everything else. Blinded me to

slammed my palm against

But how the hell was I supposed to fix this? How was I supposed to make up for what I'd done? She said it wasn't my fault, but that didn't matter. She flinched because of me. She looked at me with fear in her eyes because of

but it didn't work. The anger, the guilt, the shame - it was all still there, bubbling under the surface, ready to boil over at any second. My mind

What kind of shit had she been through to make her react

the intersection. I couldn't stop thinking about it. About her. About the look on her face when I reached for her. About the way she'd pulled