All Chapters of Rule Number One: My Brother's Best Friend : Chapter 101 - Chapter 110

I can feel a fight coming on, but I don't want to argue here, in the middle of the hospital. "Let's get him home," I say to Sean, then I lift Donnie into my arms. "How do you feel, sweetie?" I whisper to him."My stomach hurts," he says, and he begins to sniffle. Sean follows us out of the ER."We had to take a taxi," he says, as we walk towards the car. The accusation in his voice is back. "Because you had the car.""I was getting groceries," I say, a little defensively."With your phone off?" Sean sounds sceptical, but I don't respond. The truth is too terrible to admit, but I know I'm going to have to.We spend the day cuddling Donnie on the sofa, reading to him and letting him watch tv. He's very shaken after getting his stomach pumped and can only eat liquids. I blend him smoothies and milkshakes all day and use up all our applesauce and yoghurt. By evening, he's exhausted, and he goes to bed early.The moment he's down, Sean and I look at each other. The time for our fight has f

I'd been suspicious at first, of course, but within a few weeks, I had realised this guy was for real - he wasn't just saying what I wanted to hear in order to get me into bed. In fact, he held me off for some time, telling me he didn't want just another meaningless hookup. When we finally did sleep together, it was fire. The most passionate and intense experience of my life. And it never stopped being that way with him.At first, everything about Jason and his lifestyle was dizzying and exciting. We were spending all our time together, and he was sweeping me off to fancy clubs and bars almost every night of the week. His hand on the small of my back, steering me to the VIP room, the two of us tipsily wrapping ourselves up in one another in the leather booths, not caring who saw. His kiss. God, his kiss...We didn't have to hold back, because we knew that we wouldn't be around each other forever. There was never any talk of this lasting for the rest of our lives. We were young, and we

I tell Sean that I have another date, but I don't tell him it's with Jason. Sean knows the whole story, of course, and shares my assessment that Jason is bad for me. I feel guilty not telling Sean the identity of my date, but I push this guilt away. The Weekend Club is supposed to be about discretion. Sean doesn't need to know everything.The night of my date with Jason, I catch a train down to Manchester. I'm fidgety all the way there. Am I really doing this? It feels as though it can't be possible, not really. I should be older and wiser than this. But here I am. Doing this.Of course, it doesn't escape my notice that the restaurant he's picked is the same one we went to on our first date. It's a rooftop restaurant that overlooks the city. While it's too cold to sit outside this time of year, the inside part is also beautiful, with carved wood ceilings and large windows that give you unparalleled views of the city below. I still remember our first date there: the thrill of going out

"Yes, I am," I reply finally. "Happy enough, I mean. I think when you're young, you think the point of life is to be happy. But as you get older, you realise happiness is like any other emotion: it comes and goes. The goal is to be content with your choices, even if they don't always make you happy.""That's very wise," he says slowly, and his gaze becomes unfocused, as if he is lost in memories. He swirls his wine slowly. "I think being an adult is about finding a balance between honouring our responsibilities, even if they aren't always gratifying, and leading a life that feels aligned with our desires. As important as responsibility is, we cannot forget to live our lives for ourselves. In fact, I think we have a responsibility to those we love to try and enjoy life as much as possible. It helps us show up better as friends, partners, parents, lovers.""You have kids?" I ask, my mind snagging on the word parents.He laughs. "No. I guess I mean that part theoretically. But I also lea

I don't want to interfere in your marriage, Jazz," he says, "but I don't think it's right that Sean blames the Weekend Club, or you, for what happened with Donnie. That could have happened when you were doing any number of things. You have to be able to live your own life and turn your phone off sometimes, whether it's on one of your dates or for some other reason.""But I broke the rules we'd set out," I say at once, defensiveness of my husband leaping up inside of me. "In any other situation, he would have known why I had my phone off and he wouldn't have worried. That's why he was so worried--he didn't know why he couldn't reach me.""I'm not saying you didn't do anything wrong," he says, "I'm just saying I think it's an overreaction that he made you stop the Weekend Club.""He didn't make me," I say, a little annoyed now. "It was my idea.""It just seems a bit like he wanted it over sooner, but didn't want to say it.""We were always going to stop after ten," I say, bristling.Jas