BenOn Thursday morning, it took me a few seconds to figure out where I was. It wasn’t the ceiling of my penthouse in New York or the ceiling of my old room in my mom’s house. A hotel?Mila stirred next to me, and I remembered where I was. I had stayed over at Mila’s place after I had fucked her.Oh. My. God. I had been around, but I had never had sex that good. And she had been a fucking virgin. I still wasn’t sure how that had happened. Mila was everything a man could want. I had assumed she had been with at least a few of them. Even though she was single and committed to her job. Mila was beautiful and smart, and she could have any man she set her heart on.I was honored that I was the one she had chosen. I didn’t feel guilty at all. I felt satisfied. In every way.This had been a long time coming. I’d wanted Mila since I’d sold the company and come back home. And now, finally, I’d had her.A pang of guilt shot into my chest when I thought about the conversation we’d had at dinner.
Ben“I didn’t mean to get drunk at all. But you know how it goes.”“Yeah. Tequila hits you from left field, and before you know it, your balance is fucked, and you swipe your card again and again, thinking more alcohol will fix it.” Jerrod chuckled. “At least you’re back and having fun.”The same guilt I had felt earlier twisted my stomach in a knot. I couldn’t tell Jerrod I was leaving soon. Not with Mila here. I was lying to Jerrod about more than one thing. I was an awful friend.“I better get going before my mom calls the cops to look for me.”“Maybe she already did,” Jerrod said.I shook my head. “Where the hell is my shirt?” I asked, pretending I didn’t know.Jerrod pointed to it on the floor.“How did that happen?” I asked, trying to sound like it had been a blackout drunk night. I stood and walked to my shirt, picking it up and putting it on. I found my shoes, too. After I was dressed, I turned to Jerrod and Mila.“Thanks for forcing me to stay over. I think I would have pisse
MilaAfter Ben had left on Thursday, I’d showered and headed to work. My mind had been filled with Ben and everything we’d done. I was walking on air after we’d slept together.It had been so much better than anything I’d been able to do with my vibrator, and I felt like I was more of a woman now that I had lost my virginity. I reveled in the delicious feeling that washed over my body whenever I thought about Ben.I headed back to the hospital on Friday. My mind was on Ben again, but I thought about Jerrod and how he had nearly caught us. It had been a complete coincidence that Jerrod had decided to bring me donuts on the same morning Ben was naked in my bed, but shit happened sometimes.It hadn’t been the first time Jerrod had brought me donuts for breakfast to cheer me up after I’d had a rough time at the hospital. And he’d never had to worry about me having any company before.But it had been so close this time. I shuddered to think what would have happened if he’d figured out what
Mila“She looked like she was going to faint when I took her with me to clean Mr. Hendricks’s stitches.”They all laughed.“What do you think?” Claire asked me.“About what?” I sat down with them and opened my sandwich.“About Danielle, the new nurse. Have you met her?”I shook my head. I’d seen her around, but she had been shadowing the other nurses and seemed shy and unsure.“She’s so green. I’m sure she’ll cry if you look at her wrong,” someone said.“We’re placing bets on how long she’ll last.”My mouth dropped. “That’s a bit rude, isn’t it? We all started somewhere.”“It takes a lot to do this, you know that Mila,” Claire said. “Not everyone has what it takes.”I couldn’t disagree with that, but we had all learned how to cope with the horrors we saw here every day. If this new nurse had a passion for helping people, she would make it through.Suddenly, I wondered if nurses had bet on whether I would survive as well. I had started in the ICU ward in the same way. It was a hard pla
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,