LOGINADRIANWell, maybe I was an asshole.Because I didn't say a thing after that stupid slip. And, unsurprisingly, Julia left in a haze.No slammed door. No final speech. Just the sound of her picking her clothes up off my floor, the quiet of a woman rewriting every soft thought sheâd walked in with, and then⊠nothing.I sat on the edge of the bed for a long time after that, phone in my hand, her name still near the top of my recent calls like that meant anything useful. I thought about ringing her. Once. Twice. My thumb never made it to the button.What was I going to say?Sorry I used you to drown out another girl? Sorry her name came out when it was your body under me?I couldnât even explain it to myself. Or rather, I could, and that was worse. So I kept telling myself I didnât understand. That it was shock. Timing. A stupid slip with no meaning attached.It still left me fucked.I dragged on a shirt, pushed a hand through my hair, and went downstairs because staying in that room m
TESSAIâd been counting the hours by the way the light moved across Rebeccaâs floor.Not because I cared about her house, but because counting made the dependence feel less absolute. Morning against the far wall. Noon over the glass coffee table. Late afternoon stretching toward the doorway I wasnât supposed to use without help.Help. Everyday for the past fucking monthThe word alone made my jaw ache.Still, I'd endured the bitter taste of it. Ensured it for the past fucking month.Brian had left me here like a package with instructions. Keep her off the headlines. Keep Liam from finding a clean route back to her. Let her recover. As if recovery was something you could store in a spare room and check on between more important crimes. Surpsingly, Rebecca agreed, which somehow made it worse. She hadnât agreed out of softness. That alone was clear. After all, I was a problem that belonged to the same bloodline that had already taken enough from her.I hated that I needed her.I ha
ADRIANItâs one thing to see your half-brotherâs girlfriend naked and doing it in her room. Itâs another thing when she walks into the bathroom with no explanation and sees you naked too.That second version doesnât leave cleanly.It sticks.Matter of fact, both of them stuck.All through the rest of the day, it stuck. In the locker room. On the ride back. In the quiet of a house that suddenly felt too small for the amount of people living in it. Every time I closed my eyes, I got the same useless replay: steam, the door opening, Bianca frozen on the threshold like sheâd walked into a mistake she couldnât unread.And then I started imagining it.Imagining her. What would I have done if she walked inâFuck. Stop.I needed it gone.Not managed. Not reasoned through. Gone.So⊠I did something I knew I'd end up regretting eventually. I called Julia.She picked up on the second ring, voice already warmer than it should have been after the way we left things before the game.âOh. So
MIAâYou know, you donât have to drive me to my office. I can take a cab orâââHow else would I say thank you for last night?â Brian answered, glancing from the driverâs seat just long enough to catch the redness spreading across my cheeks.I turned away and bit my bottom lip, blushing like some high-school girl whoâd just hit the jackpot with her crush.Well, to be honest, my current situation wasnât too far from that.It wasnât every day Brian Callaghan fucked the brains out of you, served you breakfast in bed, then topped it off by driving you to work.Definitely not the Brian Callaghan Iâd known for the past couple of yearsâbut Iâd enjoy it for as long as it lasted.âYou still havenât told me why you broke into my workplace last night.ââMaybe I just missed you,â he said.I rolled my eyes, and when he noticed, a small smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.âWhat? I canât miss you anymore?ââWe both know thatâs not the reason,â I murmured. âNow tell me.âThe expression on his face
ADRIANâTheyâre a very physical team. I know a lot of you guys are gonna try and put on a show cause the scouts are watching, but my advice would be to keep it simple. Especially if you want to play the rest of the league with your bones in the right places.ââTheir center is especially tough,â Julia continued after Coach. âSo, Max, itâll be your job to go toe-to-toe with him and make sure he stays as far away from the shooting and point guards as possible. Can you do that?âMax answered across from me with a nod, looking everything but nervous for the upcoming game.âGood,â Coach said. âNow huddle up.âAndddd that was the part where I left the locker room. There was no point faking chemistry with a bunch of guys that made it pretty clear they hated me⊠especially after what happened in the shower room last time out.But of course, before I could even make it out, Julia blocked me from reaching the door.She stared at me with a mix of heat and anger in her amber eyes.âAnd where the f
BIANCAI'd made my decision. I wasn't returning to OnlyFans. Not until I'd properly gotten over whatever this sick tug in my head was. Do it. Don't do it. Frankly speaking, I was tired of the constant back and forth in my own head. So, what better way to deal with it⊠than not deal with it all. âBulletproof plan Biancaâ I gave myself a soliloquised high-five before rolling out of bed. Specially rolling through the part Max had been on earlier this morning.He'd left in a rush. And between the beads of sleep still clinging between my ears and eyelids, I couldn't make out if he was saying something about âbaschenbar prakishâ or⊠oh. Basketball practice.I squeezed my eyelids together and got rid of the last sliver of sleep still holding tight, then rose to my feet. A ghosting ache lingered between my legs, a soft, persistent reminder of Max's⊠mhmn. Heâd fucked me like he held a grudge, and clearly, my body was still yet to recover from it. I wobbled towards the door, and then, f







