Best Friend's Brothers: A Why Choose Romance by Natasha L. Black

Author:Natasha L. Black [Black, Natasha L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-28T16:00:00+00:00

20

JULIE

I should’ve resisted going home with Darren, moving in temporarily with Kendall’s brothers. I knew that. But I couldn’t bring myself to say no. I was frightened of Eric, I admit it. And being with people, especially those I cared about, felt right to me. I would feel safer with them and damn the consequences later. There would be hell to pay, probably, and a hell I knew I deserved. I’d slept with my best friend’s brother. I had kissed the other two. I had lain awake at night trying to convince myself I couldn’t agree to what Jeremy suggested. But there was this well of loneliness in me, of fear and need and something that felt like homelessness. Like I didn’t belong anywhere. That feeling got smaller when I was with the brothers. There was no rational argument against a sensation of closeness and safety that I wasn’t sure I had ever had before.

I called Kendall on the drive over and told her about Eric, about how I called Darren in a panic and planned to stay with her family. She was all for it, said something like what Darren had earlier—that she was gone all night and I needed someone with me. I parked outside the gorgeous brownstone and walked up the steps outside.

Darren unlocked the door. I found Kendall waiting along with Jeremy and Rory. There was a stack of pizza boxes on the counter, the smell of spicy, hot food enticing me. I hugged Kendall and we whispered for a few minutes about Eric as I piled my plate with slices of supreme and loaded some banana peppers on top from a Styrofoam container. Rory passed me a cold beer. I hadn’t even realized I was hungry, but when I bit into the first slice, the heat of the sauce and spices hit me and I felt ravenous. They were talking to me and around me, a happy, noisy sound. I kicked off my shoes under the table and gobbled my way through three slices and drank my beer. My head ached less, and a comfortable fullness and warmth settled over me. Kendall gave me a squeeze and said she had to go to a party but she’d call in the morning. I blew her a kiss.

“Keep these boys in line for me,” she said wryly and took off.

Darren walked her out to her car and then locked the front door. When he rejoined us, I took my plate to the sink and dropped my bottle in the recycling. We moved to the living room, and I piled on the oversized sectional with them. Rory put an arm around me and checked in on me.

“I’m okay, better now that I’m here,” I said wholeheartedly.

“I’ve put in a call to Eric’s parole officer,” Jeremy said, “and I’m looking into ways I can maneuver around his use of the ER where you work. Relative to his current address it’s not the closest medical facility. Two urgent cares, a clinic with walk-in clinic, and another hospital are closer to him.

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