Off Limits Collection by Jane Anthony

Author:Jane Anthony [Anthony, Jane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blue Rebel Publishing
Published: 2020-01-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

AJ

"AJ!" My eyes drift open, still glazed over from the nightmare attacking my subconscious. "Are you okay? You're screamin’ in your sleep."

Casey's eyes are as crisp and clear as the afternoon sky outside her bedroom window. Just staring into them fills me with an instant sense of calm. "Yeah. Bad dream."

The nightmares have started up again, as fresh and vibrant as ever. Every time I close my eyes, all I see is wreckage. The taunting sounds of sirens and screams fill my ears. I hear Jillian crying my name, but I can't find her. My arms and legs are concrete. No matter how many times I try to move, I’m stuck.

Concern crosses Casey's beautiful face, a look I inadvertently put there. Punishment for mistakes I’ve made and can't undo. I finger the scar in my hairline. The puckered flesh is a visual reminder of the damage still lingering inside.

Casey's fingertips follow mine, tracing the Frankenstein mark on my forehead, proof of how broken I once was. "Tell me about this."

I pull a Marlboro Red from the box and hold it up between my fingers. “You mind?”

“Nah. Go ahead.”

Lighting my cig, I take a long drag, holding the sweet smoke in my lungs before letting it out. Casey rests on my shoulder, extending two fingers and taking the cigarette from my hand. I watch the orange glow on the cherry as she places it to her lips and takes a hit before handing it back. She exhales slowly, letting the smoke billow out of her gorgeous mouth.

“I was in a car wreck,” I say, flicking my ashes into a half-empty Solo cup on the table.

“A bad one?”

"Bad enough. But the accident isn't the worst part. It's what happened before it that haunts me." I pause to take a drag on my cigarette, summoning the memory that won't leave me alone.

“I found my sister in bed with my best friend. Shit got ugly.” I slip the cigarette between my lips and pull before handing it back to Casey a second time. “I wasn’t too keen on the idea of them together. I guess I wasn’t too keen on the idea of anyone touching my little sister.”

“Overprotective brother syndrome.” Smoke curls around Casey’s lips when she talks.

“Yeah, I guess. Some words were said, some punches were thrown. I got in my car, just to blow off some steam, ya know? Next thing I know, I’m in the hospital hooked up to all kinds of machines and shit. Jillian’s crying at my bedside. I lost two weeks of my life asleep.”

The butt sizzles as it hits the water in the cup, and I continue. “My mother’s dying wish was for me to watch out for my sister, and I accepted the task so literally that I almost killed myself in the process. I’ll never forgive myself for what I put Jillian through.”

Emotion stings my eyes as I remember how small and meek Jill looked in the chair next to me. She didn’t leave my side.

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