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

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THE TRUTH

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THE TRUTH

JOSH

The call came just as I was leaving practice.

“Mr. Saunders?”

“Yeah, this is him.” I balanced my duffel on my shoulder, pushing open the car door.

“This is Officer Ruiz with the Austin PD. We have a woman in custody, Vivien, who listed you as her emergency contact.”

I stopped mid–motion, gripping the door frame. “What?”

“She was picked up outside a coffee shop after causing a scene. Barista called it in–said she was aggressively confronting a blonde woman, screaming at her.” The officer

hesitated. “She’s requesting that you come down to the station.’

I clenched my jaw so tight I thought my teeth might crack.

“What does she want from me?”

“She’s insisting that you validate her story. That she’s not crazy.”

I scrubbed a hand down my face. “Jesus Christ.”

The drive to the station was a blur of anger and disbelief. I knew Vivien was struggling, but this? It was unhinged. I had a bad feeling in my gut, one that only grew worse when they led me down a hallway toward the holding cells.

THE TRUTH

11 ******

“She’s in here,” the officer said, stopping in front of the cell.

her stomach. Her usually perfect

froze. Her red–rimmed eyes snapped

love each other! That we‘ re supposed to be a family!” Her voice cracked, her

sharply, fighting the heat rising in my chest. “Vivien, what

for us. Don’t you see that?” Her voice grew frantic. “You just have to tell them, Josh! Tell them it’s not

silence stretched

hard?” My

started pacing again, her breaths erratic.

me shifted

as I was.

Then Vivien stopped.

her head, her dark

recognize me?”

slid down my

“What?”

A breathy laugh escaped

for a second.

No.

that wasn’t

me, but I was always in the background. Listening

the fuck are you saying?”

a step closer to the bars, a twisted smile

eyes darting around like she was lost in a memory. “Sure, sure… I gave her a little sedation at the beginning. Just to make sure she didn’t wake up. But that was only

blood turned

curled into fists at my sides, rage

THE TRUTH

11 288 Vouchers

I swallowed hard, my voice like gravel.

her face slack with realization.

to Texas. Sol did the research, found the right school, got the job-” She

Perfect.

her way into my life. Into

kept Laura in a

body tensed, every muscle coiling like a live wire. I forced myself to stay still, to not grab