Easton

“You can’t keep having these kinds of conversations with yourself. It’s not very productive.”

“Mr. Long, your friend is here to pick you up,” one of the nurses said.

He looked behind him and smiled. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

The nurse looked at him a few minutes longer, and he didn’t break eye contact. Whatever she had seen, he wasn’t going to be embarrassed or upset. He’d deny whatever accusation she threw his way.

She nodded and withdrew.

“That was a close one,” Carla said.

“When I leave here, you can’t come with me.” He turned back to look at her.

Over the past couple of weeks, he’d noticed her image was a little fainter, showing him she was nothing but the ghost in his mind. It had been nice to imagine it was her though. The one thing he couldn’t deny was how much he loved being around Carla. She’d always been so much fun.

“Easton, you and I both know I’ll be wherever you need me. This isn’t my choice. This is all up to you.” She folded her arms. “What are you going to do?”

He closed his eyes, took several deep breaths, and opened them again.

Carla was gone.

Getting to his feet, he made his way inside. Axton and Taylor were waiting in his private room.

Axton held his bag. “You ready to go?”

“Yeah, I’m ready to go.”

There was no reason for him to stay here. Nothing holding him back.

He’d done the time, and now it was up to him to get out of here.

He followed Axton out of the center, having already signed all the necessary paperwork. Taylor opened the trunk of their car, and he watched as Axton put the bag into it. Then he was standing right in front of him.

Easton jerked back a little.

“I know you hate me, and I wish there was another way for this to have happened. I love you, man.”

Axton hugged him.

Easton stared past his friend’s shoulder to see Taylor smiling at him, tears in her eyes. Her pregnancy was really showing now, and it wouldn’t be long before she gave birth. He’d missed a lot in his friend’s life already, and he didn’t want to miss anymore.

“You keep hugging me like this and Taylor’s going to wonder if you love me or her.”

Axton laughed. “Asshole.”

“Just saying.” He climbed into the back seat and looked back up at the center. No one came out to offer him goodbye. Other than the programs, he didn’t get close to anyone. He spent most of his spare time in his room, alone, talking to Carla.

Axton climbed behind the wheel, and then Easton was watching the center fade into the distance.

“Where do you want to go first?” Axton asked.

“My apartment. I need to clean out the trash. Unless you guys did it for me,” Easton said.

“No, we didn’t do your apartment. Taylor and I haven’t got anything to do today. We’ll help you.”

“What’s Romeo and Karson doing?” he asked.

“They’re with Paul. We’re working through a brand-new software program, but it’s hitting a couple of snags.”

“Paul is a perfectionist.”

He nodded.

The conversation was all very safe. Easton wasn’t sure if that made him comfortable or not. He’d been in a rehabilitation center, and now, he really didn’t understand his place. It would be all so easy to conjure up Carla, to listen to her talk.

It wasn’t even Carla talking, just him and his thoughts. They were easier to listen to.

Music filled the air, and he was glad for the break.

He’d never been like this, unable to break the silence. The awkwardness. He’d always been the kind of guy to fill it with goofy shit, to make people laugh.

That had all changed now.

He was classified as an alcoholic, or was it a past alcoholic now?

“Hi, my name’s Easton Long. I’m one of the Four Kings, I’m an alcoholic, a loser.”

This wasn’t what he wanted from his life.

Fortunately, the drive to his apartment didn’t last overly long. Once Axton parked, Easton grabbed his own bag from the trunk and looked toward his friend.

“You don’t have to come up.”

“We want to,” Taylor said. She pushed her arm through his. “We’re all family, right? We’re all that’s left. We’re going to be here for you.”

“Great.” He hoped he spoke with enthusiasm. He tried, but the truth was, he wanted to do this alone.

He hadn’t seen his apartment in over six weeks. He couldn’t even remember the state of the place.

Rather than push them away, he followed them right up to his place. He inserted the key into the lock, and then the wave of old alcohol washed over them.

His apartment was completely trashed, and this was why he’d been wanting to avoid them coming here. On the night before Axton knocked him out, he’d partied hard. There had been a couple of whores he’d hired to entertain him. He had blood work done at the rehabilitation center, and he was all clean, which was a miracle in itself. This was why he’d decided to take this new chance and to hold onto it. He didn’t want to let it go, and it would be so easy to do.