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

MOVING ON?

The apartment felt bigger when Asha wasn't in it. Too quiet. Too empty.

I ran a hand through my hair and exhaled slowly, staring at my phone. Jess had sent a picture an hour ago-Asha sitting between her cousins at a kids' museum, her blonde curls sticking up from static electricity as she pressed her hands to a plasma globe. She looked happy. Excited. Carefree. That should have made me feel better. Instead, it just reminded me how much I hated being away from her.

I tossed my phone onto the couch and paced the length of the living room. I had an entire weekend to myself for the first time in what felt like forever, and I had no idea what to do with it.

Go out? No. That wasn't my scene anymore.

Stay in? Even worse.

Sleep? Wishful thinking.

I glanced toward the kitchen, my stomach twisting. I could cook something. Have a drink. And maybe-

I stopped short. My gaze landed on my phone again. The thought had been hovering at the back of my mind all damn day, and now it had settled there, stubborn and persistent.

Vivien.

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MOVING ON?

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1

What the fuck was I thinking?

I'd been avoiding her since... Since that night. It hadn't been anything, not really-just dinner, just talking, just something that had made me feel lighter for the first time in a long time. And maybe that was the problem

I'd spent months focused on getting Laura into the Germany program. And now? Now, the doctors had given me the kind of update that felt like a gut punch. No improvement. No change. No real hope. Laura was still breathing. Still existing. But the woman I loved? The woman I married?

She wasn't coming back.

And yet, the idea of moving forward-of stepping toward something new-felt impossible.

picked up my phone before I could talk myself out of it. My thumb hovered over Vivien's name.

What the hell was I even going to say?

Hey, want to come over?

For what? A date? A distraction?

Jesus. I was a mess.

my head, and started

Josh:

15:04

MOVING ON?

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Hey.

was it. That was all I could

almost immediately, then disappeared. Then appeared

back of my neck, suddenly

Then-

Vivien:

Hey yourself.

stared at the screen, my heart pounding harder than

there. I could back off, let things

Or-

Josh:

Dinner?

dots appeared again. This time, they

I

Vivien:

I'd like that.

Fuck.

15:04

MOVING ON?

288 Vouchers

So would I.

at Vivien's text, my

Josh:

you

overthinking. No

myself, I fired off another text to the pizza place down the street. Something easy. Casual. No

in my chest like I was about to walk into a championship game

was fine. I

to be

my contacts and hit Luke's name. He picked

answered, voice distracted. Probably wrangling

insane, right?" I

then, "I'm gonna need more context,

exhaled sharply. "I just asked

beat of silence.

"Like a date?"

a hand down my face.

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MOVING ON?

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And now I feel like an