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.

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

stepped inside, she froze. Her red–rimmed eyes snapped to mine, her

just short of the bars. “Tell them. Tell them I’m not crazy. That we love each other! That we‘ re supposed to be a family!” Her voice cracked, her hands gripping the cold metal.

exhaled sharply, fighting the heat rising in my

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

stretched between us.

you worked hard?”

again, her

officer beside me shifted uncomfortably, just

as I was.

Then Vivien stopped.

dark eyes glistening with something

recognize me?” she

down

“What?”

laugh escaped her lips. “I

tilted for a second.

No.

that wasn’t

“Of course, you didn’t see me, but I was always in the background. Listening to you talk to her while I knew

the fuck are you

closer to the bars, a twisted smile on her

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 again,” Her voice softened, almost dreamy. “But

blood turned ice cold.

hands curled into fists at my sides,

THE TRUTH

11 288 Vouchers

I swallowed hard, my voice like

parted, her face slack with

Texas. Sol did the research, found the

Perfect.

way into my

Laura in a coma.

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