Page 99 of Vegas with my Brother’s Best Friends

Sarah leans forward and wraps her arms around my neck, hugging me tightly.

I swallow hard and hold her back, keeping my tears at bay for now. It’s painful fighting them off, but I manage to as we fall apart.

“I should probably go and sneak back into our room,” Sarah says as she swings her legs off the bed.

“What are you going to say if he knows you’ve been gone?” I ask her, following her to the door.

She shrugs. “Took a walk. Couldn’t sleep.”

“Thank you for coming to talk to me,” I tell her, my voice full of sincerity. She didn’t have to do all of this.

Sarah turns to me and smiles in a bittersweet manner. “I’ll talk to you again soon. I’m sorry I have to sneak around and do this. Ryan is just really upset, and I don’t want him to think that I’m betraying him too or anything.”

I nod in understanding. If Ryan feels attacked on all sides, he’ll really regress into himself. I don’t want that.

I hate that he’s feeling so tormented by all of this, and I wish he would let me put his mind at ease more.

But he’s stubborn. That’s part of what made him such a good step-in parent to me when we were growing up.

He refused to just stand aside and let me suffer because our parents couldn’t be bothered to properly raise us. He stepped up and never let the pressure make him walk away from the duty that he took up for us.

I miss that Ryan.

“Bye,” Sarah says softly before opening my door and slipping out of my room.

“Bye.”

The door thuds shut behind her, and I lock it. I’m not expecting any other visitors tonight unless someone else can’t sleep and wants to talk things out.

Which isn’t impossible given all the people who are involved.

I drag myself back to bed and turn off the light, darkness filling the room once more. I curl up on my side, feeling the same tears I fought off earlier come rushing back.

No one can see me cry in the dark.

My tears soak into my pillow as I press my face into it, my body shaking with quiet sobs as my emotions pour out of me.

At this point, I just want to go home and pretend that none of this ever happened.

Chapter thirty-four

Chapter 34: Jackson

Laughter and splashing sound below me as I stand on the balcony of our suite.

People are having the time of their lives in the pool without a problem to dwell on. At least that’s what it seems like from all the way up here.

I lean my arms on the railing, closing my eyes as a gentle breeze passes by. There are seconds when the weight of everything isn’t crushing me, and I can breathe again. Just seconds when I forget about everything that’s going on.

I glance behind me to see Tyler and Marcus sitting on the couch with their eyes on the television. I don’t even think they’re really paying attention to whatever they’re watching.

They look too spaced out.

We’ve all been that way lately. Too stuck in our own damn heads. Too caught up in the doomsday scenarios.

Truthfully, none of us knows what’s going to happen. We’ll just have to figure it out as we go along.

Marcus and Tyler immediately sit up straighter when a knock comes from the door.