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

WHERE I AM NOW JOSH PRESENT DAY

The music was too loud, the lights too bright, and the laughter around me grated on my nerves like nails on a chalkboard. I sat at the edge of the booth, cradling a glass of whiskey in one hand and swirling it idly as I watched the amber liquid catch the light. My mates were laughing, cracking jokes, and egging each other on like this was just another Friday night.

Maybe for them, it was. For me, it was an escape.

I wasn't here for the camaraderie or the banter. Hell, I wasn't even here for the women strutting past in their skimpy dresses, tossing flirtatious glances at our table. I was here for the burn of the whiskey as it slid down my throat and the hope that it would numb the gnawing ache in my chest.

It wasn't working.

I should've been at home. I should've been reading Asha a bedtime story or at least sitting by her crib, making sure she was okay. Instead, I was here, drowning in self-pity and liquor, trying to forget the life I was supposed to have.

Laura's face flashed in my mind, uninvited and unwanted. I could see her so clearly, her eyes filled with life and her smile lighting up the room. But that wasn't how I remembered her ' most these days. Now, all I could see was her pale face in that hospital bed, motionless except for the rise and fall of her chest as the machines did the work her body couldn't.

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III

11:49

WHERE I AM NOW

228 Vouchers

My phone vibrated on the table, the screen lighting up with Luke's name. Again. I ignored it, flipping the phone over so I wouldn't have to see it. I already knew what he wanted. He'd been calling me out on my bullshit for weeks now, telling me to step up, to be there for Laura, for Asha.

he know? He had Jess. He had his perfect little family. He didn't know what it was like to feel like

little to the

$

smiled, but it wasn't real. I knew fake smiles when I saw them. It didn't matter. She'd bring the

a second thought. Me? I should've grown out of this phase years ago. I had grown out of it-when Laura came into my life. When

onto.

went

threw back the shot, letting the alcohol scorch its way down my throat, and

stumbled back to my apartment, it was

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11:49

WHERE I AM NOW!

was waiting, her arms crossed and her expression tight. She didn't say anything

as disappointed in

was she?" I asked,

replied curtly. "I left a bottle out for her night feed.

her gaze, and watched her leave. The door clicked shut behind her, and

chest rising and falling with each breath. She looked so

adjusted the monitor on her nightstand, making sure it was angled just right, and noticed the

her room, I leaned back and closed my eyes. I didn't trust the monitor. I

She was always there, haunting me in my dreams, in the quiet