Stay With Me (She's With Me #2) - Jessica Cunsolo Page 0,26

Annalisa sitting directly in the middle of the booth, right across from her brother.

“Hi,” Luke says, presumably to all of us, but never once looking away from his sister.

Something akin to sympathy crosses Annalisa’s face, but it’s gone almost as fast as it was there. She crosses her arms and glares into the distance.

“We’re here. Tell us what you know.” Aiden cuts right to the point.

Luke looks longingly at Annalisa for a couple of seconds before tearing his gaze from her and looking at Aiden.

“I’m sure you’ve noticed the shiner I’m sporting?” Luke says with a noncommittal gesture at his face.

“I’m guessing it happened last night,” Aiden states more than asks.

“Afternoon, actually. But you should’ve seen the other guy.” Luke’s voice squeaks in what approaches a laugh.

“Around the same time Greg’s injuries also occurred?” Julian asks.

Aiden leans over the table. “Cut the bullshit, Luke. Why are we here?”

Luke sighs and slumps back in his chair. “As you all know, I’m clean now. I’m trying to get my life back together, but it’s hard. The friendships I’ve burned, opportunities I’ve ruined, relationships I threw away …” He looks at Annalisa, who looks away quickly, as if embarrassed to have been caught looking back at him.

He clears his throat. “I just—I want things to go back to the way they were before I got messed up with heroin, the way it should’ve been if I’d avoided falling in with the wrong crowd.”

Annalisa fidgets in her seat, no doubt trying to keep the promise she made before we left—that she wouldn’t explode on her brother. She’s one of the most stubborn and headstrong people I know. She’s determined to remain mad at her brother, so his emotional confession is probably driving her crazy. Julian grabs her hand and she noticeably calms down.

“But my life hasn’t been back on track like I want it to be,” Luke solemnly continues. “I slipped up. As part of my recovery, I committed to staying sober. No drugs, no prescription medication, and no alcohol. But yesterday, I was just sitting in my self-loathing, thinking of all the ways I fucked my life up, all the steps I could’ve taken to avoid Mom’s death, to avoid losing my sister, the only person who matters in my life right now …” He takes a deep breath. “I went to one of my old bars, had a couple of drinks—”

Luke shifts in his seat. “A couple of drinks in, some of my old ‘buddies’ told me that our old dealer was out of jail, thinking that I’d want to pick up some heroin. But the thought of that dealer had the opposite effect. I didn’t want any part of it, I didn’t want anything to do with him. In fact, I hated him. He got me hooked on the stuff; he ruined my life. He was the little devil on my shoulder, encouraging me to choose the drug over my family, over everything.”

I’m holding my breath. Beside me, Aiden tenses. Is he following my train of thought?

Luke runs his hand through his hair and winces, holding his arm close to his chest. “I didn’t really think—I knew I had to go confront him. I left the bar and walked around his old neighborhood, not really thinking about anything except my hatred of him.”

Oh God, please don’t say what I think you’re going to say. A large and comforting hand lands on my thigh, and it reminds me to breathe. I put my hand on top of Aiden’s without looking at him, entwining my fingers in the spaces between his.

“Eventually, I found him; he was already a little doped up. He smiled and said he’d known it would only be a matter of time until one of his most faithful customers sought him out. I didn’t think, I was just so drunk and angry, I threw a punch. We fought, and I don’t really remember what happened after that.”

“What are you saying, Luke? Why are you telling us this?” Annalisa blurts out, angrily wiping a stray tear from her eye.

He rubs the back of his neck with a little difficulty, looking solemn and regretful.

“I need you to know my side of the story, Anna. I wanted you to know how much I love you and how sorry I am for screwing up.”

Annalisa rears her head back as if Luke had delivered an invisible blow.

He takes a deep breath. “I don’t know if I did it, I don’t know how he ended up