Ben“So, what are you doing to do, then?” Jerrod asked, leaning on the bar with his elbow. He had a beer in his hand, and his words were already starting to slur a bit. We’d been drinking a while.“I don’t know, yet,” I said.“But you can’t just hang around here and do nothing. Didn’t you leave and quit everything to run that company of yours? And now you’re not there, but you’re not doing the firefighter thing here, either.”I shrugged and took a sip of my beer. I wasn’t going to tell Jerrod that I was headed back soon. I was merely spending as much time here as I could before I had to leave. I suddenly had so much to lose, and I couldn’t talk to anyone about it. I was lying to my best friend and my girlfriend. Calling Mila my girlfriend had a beautiful ring to it.“It’s just a lot for me to deal with,” I said. “Besides, I have a ton of cash, and I own a million-dollar company. I can do whatever the fuck I like.”Jerrod shrugged. “This isn’t the Ben I know. We had all these plans, re
BenMila nodded and grinned. We stood together as we shuffled toward the bar. I held Mila’s hand, and we let the crowds push us together. Instead of getting upset about being shuffled around, I embraced the situation. A few times, I brushed my hand over her ass or her breasts, touching her as much as I could without being too obvious.Mila giggled when I did. “You’re impossible.”I grinned. “You’re irresistible.”We got to the bar and ordered our drinks.“Let’s have shots,” I suggested.Mila agreed, and we ordered Tequila. It was my weakness. As soon as I started, I knew I wouldn’t stop, but I was already tipsy, and I wanted to get drunk with Mila.After we took our first shot, I pressed my lips against Mila’s ear.“This makes me so horny for you,” I whispered.Mila giggled and leaned against me. I put my arm around her. We weren’t being very careful, but I was sure with the crowds Jerrod wouldn’t be able to see us.“When can we do it again?” I asked.“Right now, we should just get th
MilaI had to work on Sunday. After the number of shots Ben and I had done at the bar and all the alcohol I had put away with Skylar last night, I had a hell of a headache, and I felt like shit. I shouldn’t have had so much to drink when I knew that I was going to work again the next day.It wasn’t that I wasn’t able to do my duties or take care of my patients, but still, feeling like death-warmed-over wasn’t great when I needed to be sharp and ready to save lives.I had to stop drinking so much. It wasn’t that I had a reason to drown myself in alcohol – every time I had gotten so drunk it was because I was out with Ben and having a good time. It was more like I was relaxed and able to let go of all the pressure at work completely when I was around Ben. I had never been able to do that before, which was saying something. When I was with Ben, I felt like I could just be calm.Now, all I had to do was be relaxed and let go without so much alcohol in my system. The only time I had done t
Mila“Stop saying ‘we’ like you’re one entity,” he spat. “Yeah, I’m pissed off. And I have every right to be. This is fucking ridiculous. I can’t believe you would fuck me over like that.”He was starting to swear. It was an indication of how angry my brother was. The more he swore, the angrier he was.“I thought we were close,” Jerrod said.“We are.”“No, we’re not. If we were, you would have talked to me about what was going on. Instead, you snuck around behind my back, and you’re dating my best friend. It’s disgusting.”We had been wrong, and Jerrod had every right to be upset. But he had come to me without warning, and he was challenging me in my own home. Naturally, my temper was going to rise to match his, and there was no way we were going to be able to talk about this like adults.Jerrod walked to the couch opposite me and sank down into the cushions. Finally, I sat down, too. It was as if the anger had left Jerrod and now he was deflated.“This is so fucked up,” Jerrod said,
BenI had expected to hear from Jerrod the moment Mila had let me know he’d been to her place to confront her about our relationship. I couldn’t believe it had come to this. I had been an idiot to think that our being together wouldn’t come out somehow.I had no doubt that it was our stupidity at the bar. We had been flaunting it, all over each other. And Jerrod had been so different when Mila and I had come back from the bar. I had thought it was because he was drunk, but I knew Jerrod almost as well as I knew myself. I knew what he was like when he was drunk, and that hadn’t been it.The only reason I hadn’t realized something was up right away was because I had been arrogant enough to think that just because we wanted it to be a secret, no one would find out, no matter what we did.We had been fools.Jerrod had already confronted Mila, and I was upset that I hadn’t been there to protect her. No doubt, Jerrod had not been pleasant with her. Jerrod had a short temper on a good day, a
BenI shook my head. “You’re not letting me do anything. And you’re not going to let her do anything, either. We’re both adults, and we can make our own decisions. She’s your little sister, but she’s far from being a baby. She’s twenty-five. Or did you forget she’s not in high school anymore?”“Would it have made a difference to you?” Jerrod asked.“Fuck you, man,” I said. “You know this has nothing to do with her age. I know you’re pissed off, but you don’t have to be such a dick about.”Jerrod’s arm shot out, closing the gap between us as he grabbed me by the shirt. He pulled me closer. If it weren’t for the space between us, he would have been right in my face.“It’s my sister, Ben.”“I know,” I said. I wasn’t going to lose my shit. I didn’t want us to come to blows. We had fought before, but it had never been a full-on fight. This time, we wouldn’t stop. If it came to blows now, we would fight until one of us put the other down. I didn’t want to do that to my best friend.When I d
MilaOn Thursday, I finally had a day off again. Even though my days off were still as often as they used to be, it felt a lot longer between them with all the double shifts I was working. At least, the ward was calming down. Most of the accident patients could be moved to regular recovery rooms and beds were emptying in the ICU. It was always good news when we had less work because it meant that people were getting better.Or passing away, but that wasn’t the case, here.My phone rang. It was Danielle. I smiled and answered.“Are you off today?” Danielle asked.“Yes. I really need this break.”“I hear you,” Danielle said. “It’s dull without you, though,” she said.I told her I would be back tomorrow, and we ended the call. Danielle and I had been getting closer over the past week. She was a sweet girl, eager to learn, and her compassion was staggering. But she was young, and she struggled under the pressure sometimes. She was a little squeamish when it came to blood and puss, which
Mila“I guess I can’t blame him. If you were my sister, I would have wanted to protect you from the world, too.”I shook my head. “He can protect me without stopping me from living my life. So, was he pissed off?”“Yeah, he was. He has this ‘I-don’t-care’ attitude that scares me.”I sighed. “He had the same with me. What if he’s done with us?”“I don’t know,” Ben said, and he looked as depressed about it as I felt. Jerrod had been like a brother to him, too. I knew that it was as much of a loss to Ben as it was to me. I thought about something and frowned.“When was this?” I asked. “When did he talk to you?”“On Monday.”“That was three days ago. Why didn’t you tell me about this?” I had called Ben the moment Jerrod had left my apartment. Why was he keeping it from me?“I didn’t know how to tell you. It wasn’t a good conversation at all, and after how upset you were about your conversation with him, I didn’t know how to talk to you about it. I should have, but I’ve been sitting on thi