My True First [18+]

Chapter 14

The door behind my little brother closed. I let out a sigh, still unsure of having made the right decision.

I knew Amelia and her husband would take good care of Tim. They also had a kid, after all. Antoine was well-behaved like my brother and quiet, unlike him.

Sky and I would travel to my hometown once she was ready. My decision to ask her to go there with me wasn't something I contemplated at first. When it came to Sky, very few things were predictable. With her, I did and said stupid shit and found myself swinging from one emotion to the other.

One minute, I wanted to kill O'Brien and wipe the stupid superstar smile off his face, and another, I was telling my buddy that Sky and I were nothing.

I wish she could unhear those words. Not because I was suddenly free of my deep-seated commitment issues and not because I was going to make her my girlfriend, but because she felt hurt. Knowing what I knew about the asshole she'd dated, I didn't want to be yet another guy who wronged her.

Seeing the vulnerable hunch in her shoulders when we left the restaurant that night felt awful. I wanted to tell her that it wasn't her; it was me and the way my life was. I said those things because I didn't want Aiden to start his everybody needs somebody speech.

The guy was right, but his life wasn't mine. His girl saved him in more ways than anyone could imagine. They had a whole fucking lot of history and feelings so strong Aiden would kill for them. I knew he would understand if I told him the truth — the entire truth, but I wasn't there yet.

If I learned anything from the years in which I had nobody to lean on, it was that not all people were hardwired to deal with crap. Not everyone could. Some looked the other way, and pretended the issue didn't exist. Some got tired of it. Some used drugs or alcohol to forget the problem was there.

Then, there were people like me, who didn't have a choice other than doing the right thing. The sad truth was, doing the right thing often meant you had to do it alone.

Yet, I felt guilty, hence my decision to ask Sky to travel to my hometown with me. I didn't want her to stay alone in the apartment on her autumn break. New to the city, she didn't have time to make many new friends apart from Ellie.

The forecast promised good weather for once, and there were some beautiful places I wanted Sky to see. Taking advantage of my days off at work to breathe some fresh air and relax wasn't a bad idea. We worked our asses off with the business center project. I wanted to have some fun, and for some reason, Sky was the person I wanted to have it with.

"I'm ready." Sky lingered in the doorway, gripping the straps of her girly travel bag. She drew the eye. Even now, when she was dressed in skinny jeans and a V-neck tee, I couldn't look away.

Partly it was because of the thin cotton of her shirt, snug around the fullness of her breasts. They weren't big, but I knew they would fit in my hands.