Two weeks had gone by, and Brooke and I hadn't spoken, nor had I seen her as she was staying at friends'—or so I hoped. The thought that she might have spent her nights with her boyfriend was breaking my heart asunder. But she was right. I couldn't give her a good reason not to give her cherry to her boyfriend. I was a hypocrite. I wanted her to save herself for me, yet I wasn't willing to take her, either. I wasn't ready to commit to her, to bind my life to hers.
My erectile problem was still present although my cock had shown some encouraging signs that it might snap out of it soon. I was able to get hard once or twice a week by myself, even if I needed to visualize my baby sister's goddess of a body to achieve that; nevertheless, it was a step in the right direction.
I was hurting bad every day because of Brooke, because of Shannon, because of me... I was resolved to get over my sister as soon as possible and to start fucking whatever I could get my hands on—provided my cock played along. I had no shot of being happy in this life anyway. If I couldn't be with my sister, there was no hope for any form of happiness. Certainly, my hope for happiness had already died if she gave her virginity to her boyfriend.
***
It was Friday night, and my friends—who had begun taking notice of my increasing depression—wanted me to go out with them to a bar we had visited once before, and since I hadn't been outdoors since I was out with them last time, and since they didn't leave me much choice in the matter, I was out on a bender with them. Upon sitting at the bar, one of my friends was quick to note that my sister was there, as well. I glanced at her table and saw that her precious boyfriend was there with her along with a large group of friends, Veronica included. My celebrative mood instantly took a nosedive.
Brooke looked stunning. Absolutely drop-dead gorgeous. Her cherry red lips were noticeable even from that far away, and so were her deep cleavage and lush body. She was a head-turner, and my friends were kind enough to continue reminding me of that. I tried persuading my posse to migrate to a different bar, but since I couldn't give them a reasonable excuse as to why I wanted to leave, they refused. Brooke was aware of my presence from the second I'd gotten in, and her bitter scowls were as versatile as plentiful. I ignored her completely and engaged in a drinking stamina contest with my friends, who didn't seem to care that I didn't even say hello to her.
Sometime after my third pint, I received a text, "You look even worse than last time :("
It was Veronica. I cut my eyes at their table and caught her smiling at me. Brooke looked away the second I met her eyes.
I texted, "What are you talking about? I was at the top of my game last time."
She laughed as she texted, "You and your sister... wanna talk about it?"
I texted, "No. Not really. I doubt she'll let you talk to me regardless."
Veronica texted, "I don't take orders from no one. I do what I want. Get me a beer."
Once her beer was placed on the counter, Veronica joined me. "What's shaking, homeboy?"
I cocked a brow, smiling. "
Homeboy
?"
"I got you to smile."
I chuckled.
"And to laugh. That's worth another beer."
"Well-played. But maybe first start with this one?" I gestured at her beer and glanced at Brooke, who stared back at me quite despicably. "I think my sister is less than pleased to see you here. It's best you get back to your table. I don't want you two—"
"Josh, I know how to handle Brooke." She sat next to me. "No need to worry."
I shrugged my shoulders. "If you say so."
One of my buddies joined us. "Oh... it's you."
He clearly remembered Veronica from the movies, when she'd pretty much ridiculed him.
"Yeah, it's me." She darted a hostile look at him. "Now go away."
He gave her the evil eye and went to sit farther down the counter.
"You two really hit it off." I laughed, and Veronica giggled along.
"So I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that you're still in love with whomever that girl is and that it hasn't gone well thus far."
Brooke and I traded another bitter look.
I turned back to her as I swigged my beer. "Veronica, I think you're psychic."
"I'm not psychic, just observant. I'm really good at reading people. It's like my gift." She took a sip from her beer.
"Trust me, you are a girl of many gifts."
"Too bad that some people can't see that."
"Ex-boyfriend?"
"Boyfriend
s
."
"Then it's their loss, because you can overflow Santa's sack with your gifts."
"Is that so?" She smiled. "Do tell."
"I find it hard you need
me
to tell you about your gifts."
"And still..." she started, patiently waiting.
"Alright. Let's start with the obvious: you're attractive, you're—"
"
Attractive
?" she echoed, her brow arching at the insult. "Wow, you're
really
not interested in me."
"I wanted to go with hot, but I wasn't sure if that's cool."
"Hot works." She giggled. "Still a long way to fill Santa's sack. Carry on."
"You're
smoking
hot, you're hilarious, you're sharp, you care about people, you're sensitive, you're intelligent, you're a good friend, and clearly, you're quite observant, just to name a few, and I barely even know you."
There was an awkward silence for a moment or two.
"Jeez..." she murmured, a bashful simper crossing her pretty mouth. "Apparently, I have more gifts than I thought."
I finished my beer. "Yes, you do."
"It's weird, you know..." she mused a minute later and pensively sipped on her beer.
"What is?"
"You, me... this."
A worried look furrowed my brow. "
This
?"
"Don't freak out; I wasn't implying anything. I'm just saying that... I normally don't have such good conversations with guys, but with you it feels..."
She pulled her blond hair back as she nervously looked away.
"Yeah?"
She turned her head back to me, locking our eyes together. "... effortless."
Another tense silence took over.
"Veronica, you're ruining this. I don't have female friends, and I'm enjoying your company, but—"
"My bad; won't happen again."
"Good girl."
I got another beer, and we continued to drink, silently ruminating.
