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

LET'S FORGET

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LET'S FORGET

JOSH PRESENT DAY

It had been months since I felt anything close to lightness. Life had a way of pressing its weight into you until you stopped noticing just how heavy it all was. But tonight, for the first time in what felt like forever, I didn't feel the weight quite so much. We'd won. It wasn't just any win either-it was one of those gritty, hard-fought games that reminded you why you fell in love with football in the first place. The kind of game that made you forget for a second that there was anything else in the world but the field. I sat in the locker room, peeling off my gear as the guys whooped and hollered around me. Sweat slicked the air, and the locker room smelled like victory-adrenaline and exhaustion mixed with relief. For once, I didn't feel like a spectator in my own life. I felt... alive. "Saunders!" Mateo, one of our linebackers, called out from across the room. "We're heading out to grab some drinks. Celebrate the win. You coming?"

Before I could answer, one of the rookies, Jackson, laughed. "You know Saunders doesn't go out, man. He never does. Family man. Right, big guy?"

I hesitated, my usual excuse dying on my lips. Normally, I'd laugh it off, tell them I had to get back to Asha, or that I wasn't much of a drinker. But tonight... 10:52

LET'S FORGET

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Tonight, something in me shifted

"Fuck it," I said, standing up and tossing my towel into my. locker. "One drink."

The room went silent for a beat, and then chaos erupted.

"YEAH!" Mateo hollered, slapping my shoulder so hard I nearly stumbled. "Saunders is in!"

"Finally!" Jackson added, throwing his arms in the air. "It's about damn time, man."

once, that little voice in the back of my mind-the one that always brought me back to Laura, to guilt, to everything I was

and for the first time in months, I wasn't going to let myself sink back into that

filled with cowboy hats, country music, and the smell of barbecue wafting through the air. The guys wasted no time, ordering rounds

as they talked trash about rival players and argued over who had the worst game-day

said, nudging me with his elbow, "How about that pretty brunette over

10:52

LET'S FORGET

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woman at the bar, her long hair cascading

brush it off, but before I could stop myself, the

Married man

a second, the

did I. It wasn't like I'd been hiding it-everyone knew about Laura, about what happened, but I didn't talk about her much.

pity creeping into the edges of the moment. But I wasn't about to let my

suddenly, slamming

it didn't

yeah! Shots it is!" Mateo shouted,

tension eased as quickly as it had come, and soon, the table was filled with little glasses

lifting his shot

win,"

keep it coming," I said,

10.52

LET'S FORGET

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