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

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THE TRUTH

288 Vouchers

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.

pacing. Back and forth, her arms folded tightly over her stomach. Her usually perfect raven hair was a mess, her makeup smudged like she had been crying for hours.

red–rimmed eyes snapped to mine, her face crumpling into desperate relief.

That we love each other! That we‘ re supposed to be a

heat rising in my chest.

tighter, her whole body shaking. “I worked so hard for us. Don’t you see that?” Her voice grew frantic. “You

thick silence stretched between us.

mean, you worked hard?”

started pacing again, her breaths

me shifted

as I was.

Then Vivien stopped.

dark eyes glistening with something

recognize me?”

down

“What?”

there.” A breathy laugh escaped her lips. “I was the nurse.”

world tilted for

No.

that wasn’t

continued, her voice eerily calm now. “Of course, you didn’t see me, but I was always in the background. Listening to you talk

what the fuck are you

step closer to the bars, a twisted smile on her lips.

“Sure, sure… I gave her a little sedation at the beginning. Just to make sure she didn’t wake up. But that was only once to twice…I think.” She nodded frantically. “Only that one dose almost stopped her breathing, so I didn’t do it

blood turned ice cold.

my sides, rage boiling under my

THE TRUTH

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voice like

her face slack with realization.

whispered, ignoring my question. “I heard you tell your sister you were thinking about moving to Texas. Sol did the research, found the right school, got

Perfect.

had stalked me. Manipulated her way into my life. Into my daughter’s life.

kept Laura in a coma.

wire. I forced myself to stay still, to not grab the bars