“Fuck, you can’t say shit like that,” I groaned, my cock straining against the zipper of my slacks.
“Gave you a nice incentive though, didn’t I?” she said with amusement.
“Yeah,” I chuckled, “you did.”
“I’ll, um, let you get back to them. You’ll call me? If you tell them?” she asked. I could hear the hope in her voice, how much she wanted to know.
“Yeah. We still gotta Facetime before you go to sleep so I can do my accountability check,” I said, smiling again when I thought about what she might reward me with if I grew a fucking pair and talked to my parents.
My arousal was quickly extinguished by the sound of a throat clearing behind me.
I swore my stomach dropped straight through the deck and onto the ground below.
“Fuck,” I spat, hand flying to my chest.
“Enoch! What’s wrong?!”
“Shit,” I muttered. “Nothing, baby. I’m fine. Just, got spooked. Almost dropped my phone off the deck.” I cleared my throat. “I’ll call you back later, okay?”
“Okay.”
I hung up, staring at Sebastian who was leaning against the wall.
We stared at each other for the longest minute of my life until he broke the silence.
“I gave you a beer yesterday.”
My muscles tensed painfully. When I didn’t say anything, he continued.
“I knew something was off. More so than you having a girlfriend.” I shivered, crossing my arms over my chest as I watched him put the pieces together. “I mean, the Nox I knew, he wouldn’t be caught dead cussing at his mom or his sisters. You never cussed like that before. I thought maybe it was the military that changed you…And your girlfriend, she’s an addict too? Sounds like drugs. You doing them together?”
A rush of indignation had me flaring my nostrils, “Not that it’s any of your business, butno, she doesn’t do drugs and neither do I. I’ve never even had a gummy. And you’re right, I’m not the Nox you knew five years ago. Because I’m an adult. Because I’ve been through shit in my life that’s, yeah, made me a little rough around the edges, but I’m proud of where I am right now. I’m a year sober. And before you ask, yes, I accepted the beer, though I shouldn’t have, but I didn’tdrinkit.”
Sebastian’s eyes narrowed and he mirrored my stance, folding his arms across his chest.
“So, what the hell happened yesterday? That your new normal? Is that what we should be expecting from you now? Erratic, angry outbursts and lies?”
I took a deep breath, determined to hold my calm demeanor, if only to prove him wrong about my behavior being erratic.
“No.” I licked my lips, eyes darting to the sliding glass door where I knew my family was and could probably overhear if they focused hard enough. “As you heard while you were…what? Eavesdropping? Spying?”
Sebastian shrugged.
“Anyways, as you heard, I am preparing to tell my parents tonight. About getting sober. And yesterday’soutburstwasuncalled for and a direct result of the fact that I hadn’t been prepared to be around alcohol.”
“They know you’re alcoholic?” he asked skeptically.
I shook my head. “No. They don’t know anything about me because I’ve kept everyone out of my life except for Jae for the last four years.”
“Because you’re hiding your addiction?”
I nodded.
“So, that was all bullshit from Jae last night about the religious rules or whatnot?”
I sighed. “Yeah. He was just trying to protect me. I haven’t felt ready to come forward. And he agreed to lie for me. Which before you get all judgmental about it, I know it’s fucked-up, but he’s my brother and I would do the same for him. He’s been through hell and back for me while I got sober and I’m not gonna have you judging him for choosing to protect me.”
He took a deep breath, his head bobbing as he processed the information. He scratched a hand over his neat beard before dropping his hands back to his sides.
